Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Dear Diary

My friend Karen turned me on to this group, Trifecta, which comes up with writing challenges. Having some extra time on my hands, I figured I'd give it a go. It's a good way to jump start those writing gears, which have sat rusty for a while now...


This week's word is:

SINISTER
1 archaic : unfavorable, unlucky
2 archaic : fraudulent
3: singularly evil or productive of evil

Please remember:
  • Your response must be between 33 and 333 words.
  • You must use the 3rd definition of the given word in your post.
  • The word itself needs to be included in your response.
  • You may not use a variation of the word; it needs to be exactly as stated above. 
  • Only one entry per writer.

*****
Margie was typical of her time. She followed the same arc as most of her peers: School, marriage, kids, and boredom.  Few in her town veered much from the trajectory they all seemed to be on, although a lucky few inserted “teaching” between school and marriage. Often these women eventually had kids, and found themselves being pulled back into the same orbit they thought they’d untethered from.   
Margie was never one to rock the boat. A tamed, domestic future was fine by her.  She led what she considered a happy life in bucolic California. Nothing adrenaline-spiking happened to her or anyone she knew, unless you consider that one time when she snuck Edgar Allan Poe’s, The Murders in the Rue Morgue from the library because she was afraid of other’s reactions to her reading about something so macabre as death.  Upon finishing the book she often wondered if she was capable of a dark side. She tried to conjure up images of her playing the part of villain, but she was incapable of thinking of anything more extreme than dressing in black and slinking through dark alleyways.  When one lives a mediocre life, even its shadows are tame.  She eventually let go of such fantasies and settled into the life she knew awaited her. She married her high-school sweetheart, had three kids in quick succession and settled into afternoons of obligations to acronyms: PTA, YWCA, SI.
When she was delivered to her path’s final destination of boredom at age 33, she felt despair.  She reconsidered whether she was capable of a dark side. The next morning she awoke from a dream that startled her. She distractedly completed her morning obligations and once her children left for school she hesitantly approached her husband's study, put paper in the Underwood, and clicked out, Dear Diary, Apparently I am capable of sinister thoughts. I can't say I'm displeased...
## 

8 comments:

karen said...

Lovely. I like her trajectory, and the fact that she was capable of smuggling a book out of the library without guilt. =D Welcome to the playground!

yummy mummy said...

Karen, thanks for the spark. Nice to be a woman of leisure. :)

Unknown said...

Obligations to acronyms - Love it. And love her awakening as well. Nice post.

dk said...

A reminder not to lose sight of those dreams so we don't end up typing 'sinister' on an Underwood. LOL
dk

Anonymous said...

The bit about settling into afternoons of obligations to acronyms is great; says so much about that kind of life.

Anonymous said...

Interesting -- I wonder what she dreamed about! I really liked the line about living a mediocre life where even the shadows are tame.

lumdog2012 said...

Great flow and build up made this an interesting story. I like the message too!

Trifecta said...

Thanks for joining up with Trifecta this week. I really enjoyed this story. The part about a life so dull that even its shadows were boring (sorry for the misquote, your comment page closes out your post page) was fantastic. Ahhhh. . .suburbia. Great take on the prompt. Hope you'll come back and play again soon.