So, once upon a time, I started a story. It's set in the future--but not too far out. Just a generation or so. The main character, Kiera, is the same age as me with similar hopes, dreams, and fears. She has a very ordinary life--just a little more future-y than yours or mine. So I've been working on the story (7k words, so far); but I still have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it.
Here's the first scene...
The water came out of the spigot in a trickle that slowly
filled the watering can. Remembering the old rule about watching a pot boil,
the young woman rose to her feet and dusted the dirt off her denim skirt. It
was obviously going to be a while so she should find something else to do while
she waited for the watering can to fill with filtered water. Giving the
trickling spigot one last glance, she left the porch to inspect her garden.
Two large
raised beds on wheels sat in the center of the lawn soaking up the afternoon
sun. Small patches of lettuce, salsa greens, and tomatoes filled one bed while
the other held her root vegetables and as many flowers as she had found room to
squeeze in. Running her fingers gently through the soft, cool earth, she began
to pull the tiny weeds that had come up during the day to make room for her
vegetables to grow. One of her tomato plants had started a tiny green bud that
she smiled in anticipation over. A few of the flowers had wilted, and she
plucked their heads to make room for others to grow.
Something
made her remember the watering can, and she hurried over to turn off the spigot
before the water overflowed. Lifting the much heavier can, she carried it
across the yard to her garden and gave her plants their evening drink. She
smiled when she was done, satisfied that all was well and wiped her muddy hands
on her oversized sweatshirt.
The screen
door opened and a voice called out, “Kiera, there’s rain forecast for tonight.
Do you need any help taking them in?”
Kiera looking
up to see her mom standing barefoot on the patio, and the screen door open
behind her. “Sure, thanks for telling me.”
Mom joined
her on the lawn and together they rolled the raised beds onto the patio.
Putting her watering can down next to the spigot for the next day, Kiera pulled
the waterproof shades that covered all sides of the porch down and made sure
they were securely hooked in place. She didn’t want to risk letting her
vegetables get rained on. She’d have to start all over again if that happened.
Following
Mom into the house, she remembered to ask, “Hey, is Thorne able to come
tonight?”
“Pastor
Silas has offered to lead the Bible study this time, so yes he is coming,” Mom
said, rinsing her hands in the kitchen sink. “I’m so glad that he’s able to get
the time off. We only see him during church now.”
Kiera
laughed. “Yeah, and that’s just from our pew. Let me know if you need any help
with dinner.”
“All right,
I’ll tell you. Just as soon as I know what it is.”
Mom began to rummage through the
refrigerator talking aloud to herself in an unintelligible murmur of different
food all run together. Kiera smiled to herself and sat down in front of the
computer. Opening the weather app, she saw that sure enough a storm front was
coming towards their town; and she was glad they had brought the vegetables in
when she noticed that the radiation levels were extra high.
“Really high radiation, Mom,” she
mentioned aloud.
“Oh dear,” Mom replied with her
head half in the in the refrigerator. “I guess it will all be indoors tonight
then. No barbecue, so I’ll have to think of something else.”
She returned to her murmuring, and Kiera
turned back to the computer. Since she was already on, she might as well check
the other apps. Shifting that app to the side, she opened her journaling one to
make sure no one was talking to her there. Nothing. No mail either. She
scrolled through the old messages just to make sure she had replied to them
all. Seconds later she spun around in her chair and slapped her palm to her
forehead.
“What’s the matter, dear?” Mom
asked, standing up with a head of lettuce in one hand and a half-empty jar of
tomato sauce in the other.
“I totally forgot that since it’s
Bible study night, Jade will be coming. Do you think Thorne will mind sharing
his evening? It’s probably too late to cancel, and I’m not sure what else
Brennan would do. It’s not easy to get a babysitter,” she thought aloud with a
pucker in her forehead.
“Of course he won’t mind in the
least,” Mom assured her. “Your brother loves that little girl like you wouldn’t
believe.”
Kiera grinned. “Do we have enough
food for that?”
“The three-year-old is on hunger
strike, and she asks if we’ll have enough food,” Mom told the refrigerator and
shook her head.
Now Kiera really laughed. “You’re
right. I’m being silly. Sorry about that.”
“No problem. Just come wash this
lettuce while I roll these meatballs, and we’ll say no more,” Mom said with a
teasing smile.
Her daughter stood up from the
computer and took off her sweatshirt. Washing her hands in the kitchen sink,
she began to rinse the lettuce. It would be a slow job since the kitchen’s
filter wasn’t much faster than the outdoor spigot. Oh, well. Thorne wouldn’t be
coming for another hour at least.
So, there you are! That's a current story project.
What do you think? Does it sound interesting?
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