Story Snippets // NaNo Update No. 3

As you can see I didn't get this post published over the weekend as I had planned.  All I can say is, that's life, people.   And you gotta live with it.   Eh, what?

The story I worked on during NaNo was actually a continuation of this story snippet which I shared with you in a post back in July.  So if you didn't read that post, and would like a little more background information, I suggest you go and read that first.  Then you can come back here and torture yourself with more.  Okay?  Okay. 



Now my story is not about a little girl, but I thought this picture was cute,
so we'll just say this is the heroine when she was young.  How's that?

Without further ado...

My story (or rather, bits of it).

*****

This Billy of whom Rosa spoke so fondly--and whom, at this point, we must assume to be the hero of our story simply on account of his current relationship to our heroine--was not by any means a man to catch the eye of the female population.  His appearance in itself was not prepossessing--in fact, he was extremely ordinary--and his manners were nothing to write home about, for though not bad, they were certainly not genteel (a fact which rendered him rather "blah" in the eyes of romantic-minded girls.)  He was short, which unfortunately has not been the popular stature for young heroes this many a day--a tall man always being preferable where romance is concerned--and he also had a horrible habit, when taking a romantic walk with his girl by his side, of forgetting that he was supposed to be "in love" and acting as if he were merely a young boy strolling down the lane with his best buddy.  No wonder Rosa shivered at the thought of such a man.

     "Anyway!"  Rosa cried, sitting up abruptly and giving her head a good shake as if to clear it of all unpleasant thoughts.  "Why are we sitting here talking about Billy?  I can think of a hundred and one subjects more palatable than that one.  And besides we've entirely strayed from the original thread of our conversation.  Which was, will you come out with me and have a little fun this evening?"

     Nancy turned back to her desk with an air of one bent on conquering a most irksome task.  "No, I think I'd better not.  Anyway, I'm not feeling very sociable tonight."
    
     "You're never feeling sociable," Rosa exclaimed.  "And you need to stop it.  You wanted to come to college, and a big part of college is being around people.  So interact with them more.  Make some friends, for goodness sake!"

     "I have friends.  You and Eva."

     "We're your roommates.  We don't count.  Come on, Nan.  Make an effort."

     "I can't," Nancy said, with a long drawn-out sigh.  "I haven't the strength for it.  Math's taken everything out of me."

     "Oh!  Would you forget about math already?"

*****

Something inside her snapped.  Slamming her book shut, she shoved it and all her scattered papers into the top drawer of her desk, and threw herself onto her bed.  She was failing at this.  All of it.  Why was she such a weakling?  Why with every thought of home did she grow sad and shaky inside?  It was natural enough for her to feel a little homesick when she first came away to college, but that was eight weeks ago now.  And she'd been home for a visit just about every other weekend.  So what was her problem? 

She had chosen to come to college because she wished to study music.    She and Rosa had, had it planned ever since they were in grade school.  Rosa would write the songs, and then she and Nancy would sing them.  Together they would travel the world sharing their music with vast audiences of people.  It had been a dream they had shared for as long as Nancy could remember, and as far as she could tell, it was still her dream.  What then was this endless tugging of her heart toward home?  Was she just being a fraidy-cat?  So comfortable in her own little corner of the world that she was too scared to step out of it and try her wings? Or was she trying her wings in the wrong direction? 

*****

Nancy had never known any other home than the little white house on the corner of ----- Street; the white house with the dark red shutters, the spacious front porch, and the gray window boxes (which window boxes by the by never had any flowers in them anymore because the Roths were experts at killing plants, and had finally decided--after a great many successes in that line--that growing things just to kill them was a bit counterproductive.  Not to mention a waste of time.) 

So yes, there were no flowers in the window boxes, but that didn't keep the Roths' home from being one of the prettiest spots in the neighborhood nonetheless.  And in Nancy's mind, one of the prettiest spots in the whole world.

*****

     "I do miss home so much, though," Nancy said, dropping her head onto Billy's shoulder and sighing audibly.

     Billy put his arm around her in a comforting, protective manner, and assured her that "home missed her, too."

     "And Billy?" Nancy asked, peering up at him with a smile.  "Does he miss me?"

     "All the time."

     "Funny," Nancy mused, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.  "Seems to me I heard him say this very day how I was coming home too often, he never had a chance to miss me."  She sat up and gave him a triumphant look which said plain as plain, "There now, young man, I've backed you into a corner.  What are you going to do about it?"

     Billy just grinned.

*****

Billy was a firm believer in the old maxim: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."  Perfection was something he never strove for.  He'd seen enough from watching his oldest brother to know that it was a never ending pursuit, and frankly he didn't have time to worry about such things.  Life was too good, and too short, to waste time chasing after stars.

*****

All of a sudden Nancy had the sense that someone was watching her.  Ending her song abruptly she turned around and saw him standing at the back of the room.  The young man who had stared at her with such admiration at the end of last week's choir practice.  That him whom she'd almost forgotten about and yet remembered so vividly now that he was standing before her. 

     "I'm sorry if I startled you," he said, smiling apologetically.  "It was just too pretty to pass by.  You sound like a chirrupy little bird when you sing.  (Oh, dear.  I do hope that was a compliment.  I definitely meant it to be one.)"  He added quickly.

     Nancy laughed and stammered out something about it "being a very nice compliment indeed."  She felt enormously awkward knowing that he'd been listening to her sing without her knowledge, but she couldn't help but respond kindly to him all the same.  There was a sweetness about him that endeared him to her somehow.  Perhaps it was the way his right eye almost winked at you whenever he smiled.  It gave him the look of a mischievous little boy, and truth be told, Nancy had a weakness for mischievous little boys. 

*****

"Maybe it was something I did.  Oh, Rosa.  Do you think we've grown apart since I've been at college?  Maybe I've changed.  Maybe Billy doesn't feel like he knows me anymore.  Maybe I've been too distracted and busy to realize that we're going in two different directions."

Nancy's face was a perfect picture of despair now, and Rosa's heart smote her.  She had no idea Nancy would take it this way.  She had been so upset by Billy's behavior and so eager to smash him for it, that she hadn't realized she'd been depending all the time on there being a logical explanation which would totally clear him and make everything right again.  And she had expected Nancy to have that explanation.  Yet here she was, totally taken aback by this report and actually questioning hers and Billy's relationship.  This was far worse than Rosa could have imagined.

"I think I've lost him, Rosa.  I've lost Billy, and it's all my fault."

    

 ~*~

Well, there you have it.  And now, confession time.  First, the second to last snippet was written as a snippet, specifically for this post, because I haven't actually written that scene yet, but I wanted to introduce you to the "other young man of the story" anyway.  (Just because.  I thought it would be more interesting that way.)  Also, the last snippet was a scene I wrote out of order.  I'm definitely not that far along in the story yet.  But I wanted to include that, too, because...well, I wanted to have some sort of suspense for you all.  And it is suspenseful, right?  I mean, you're all really confused now as to whether or not I've changed my mind about Billy and Nancy ending up together, right?  RIGHT?  (Don't give me that knowing look.) 

Okay, so please tell me what you think.  You can be honest with me.  I hardly expect you can be more critical of my writing than I am of it myself, so tell me truly.  What did you think of these?  Any glaring faults?  Are you--even the tiniest bit--curious to know more?  And just because I enjoy talking about my characters, is there any one character in particular that you'd like to read more about?  

Seriously, let's talk about it!  :)