Rainbow, my Golden, was being incredibly difficult that day. For some reason she had decided that she was not going to pay attention to me. In all fairness, we were passing a part of the park where people sit out with picnics or barbecues. Now there was no one there at that time, but Rainbow obviously smelled meat and chicken, left behind, and she went off scavenging. (One would think I starve that dog!) Though she is incredibly well behaved, for those dog owners and trainers out there, that is the one thing I have never been able to totally control. When Rainbow smells meat, (at least now she no longer goes up to people cooking at a barbecue and beg for it!), and she knows no one is around, it is incredibly difficult to stop her from scavenging, if she is not on a leash.
So I assume Rainbow, smelled some left over meat and went off on her happy way. At first I did not mind and stayed on the path. I was at one and the same time "wool-gathering" and trying to get the pieces for "Loneliness" together in some type of flowing story in my head. Possibilities crossed my mind, and one after the other I nixed them. X'ed out the possibility and moved on to the next. It was getting frustrating and after being out for an hour or so, I decided it was time to return home. You know what they say "man thinks, God laughs".
Rainbow had other plans. I could see far away rummaging in lord only knows what, and every time I whistled her whistle or called, she picked her head up, looked straight at me, gave me her "yeah, right!" look and went right back to what she was doing. So, rather than get upset, and certainly not in the mood to chase her, I decided to sit down on a park bench and wait her out. I am never worried she will run off (she is a coward at heart), and that dog could disappear into the next county and still find me when she wants to be petted.
So there I was, sitting on a park bench in the middle of the Valley of the Cross, ruminating on past what-if's of life, trying to make a difficult story flow in my head, totally spaced out (I am usually that way!), and I see someone walking towards me out of the corner of my eye. The part of my brain that stays conscious during these times, the real small part of it, said, "forget it. no recognition" and so I went back into my own space.
That was when I heard, "Hi Teddy. How are you?"
I look up, and even the person saying hello laughed. Cause it was completely clear from the look on my face that I had NO CLUE who she was. So I look and look again, and then it hits me..."Rachel! Wow in a million years I would not have recognized you." Now before I go on, let me tell you that in that millisecond of time when I did recognize Rachel, I suddenly had my whole story - clear as the day itself. And I knew, that no matter how excruciatingly painful this meeting might prove to be, in the end it would prove its worth for my story. And thus the short story, "Together and Alone" was born and somehow already written in my head.
Oh dear reader, I will of course fill in some details, but hah! that is for my next post!
(BTW..her real name is not Rachel...names changed to protect my innocence and the innocent on this earth and all that!)
Tags: literature, short stories, books, novels, jerusalem, literary
Categories: short stories, writing, on writing series
Ruminations, Outlines, Sifting & Writing - How My Stories Are Born (Part Two)
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