Alas! I was a no go for the finalists.
Louise
Being friends with Louise is like coming home.
She is the one kin to a favorite sweater, the one you shrug on whenever you have a chill or are craving coziness. She says she has known me since I was a baby - I say we knew each other in worlds before this one.
Effortless companion, giving quiet support - she is graced with a sudden spark of feistiness that makes me grin every time. Recently, months have gone by between conversations. Yet hearing her voice, the smile lighting her words and imagining her in familiar surroundings, it’s like only a moment has passed.
I wonder if this connection was sparked by circumstance, that we came together as I was falling apart and searching for myself. I was a teenager, parents just divorced, carrying the arrogance of my age with all the cluelessness that coincides. Woman-child in need of a safe haven. She had a knack for gathering in wounded souls, and providing a foundation of spiritual solidity and simple needs. I opened up little by little, in her kitchen, as we prepared food and cleaned counters. Though I surely learned many things from her, she was first my friend.
Years have crept by and still, we turn to each other when there are tragedies, family happenings or just plain longings to see each other. Now and then I chuckle, thinking of the fact that Louise is nearly 50 years older than I am - and yet somehow there is not a year between my timeless friend and I.
So now I am free to do what I want with my short piece, and I want to share it with my bloggy friends. Meet my friend Louise...
Being friends with Louise is like coming home.
She is the one kin to a favorite sweater, the one you shrug on whenever you have a chill or are craving coziness. She says she has known me since I was a baby - I say we knew each other in worlds before this one.
Effortless companion, giving quiet support - she is graced with a sudden spark of feistiness that makes me grin every time. Recently, months have gone by between conversations. Yet hearing her voice, the smile lighting her words and imagining her in familiar surroundings, it’s like only a moment has passed.
I wonder if this connection was sparked by circumstance, that we came together as I was falling apart and searching for myself. I was a teenager, parents just divorced, carrying the arrogance of my age with all the cluelessness that coincides. Woman-child in need of a safe haven. She had a knack for gathering in wounded souls, and providing a foundation of spiritual solidity and simple needs. I opened up little by little, in her kitchen, as we prepared food and cleaned counters. Though I surely learned many things from her, she was first my friend.
Years have crept by and still, we turn to each other when there are tragedies, family happenings or just plain longings to see each other. Now and then I chuckle, thinking of the fact that Louise is nearly 50 years older than I am - and yet somehow there is not a year between my timeless friend and I.
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There were nine finalists chosen, and I like four of their stories: Sandi, Nancy, Shelly and Stacey. Click on over to read about other Unlikely Friends!
it isn't easy to create a friendship between two characters when one is old enough to be the others' mother, and yet they are to be the closest and best of friends. I think you did a smashing job. do you ever find yourself wondering just what it is judges are looking for - when they either accept or eliminate? one time I got so pissed at being rejected I felt like throwing water in someone's face. I felt like it was an inside selection and that there was an "approved artist list" already in place. but perhaps that's being silly on my part and I have difficulty accepting rejection! at any rate, I think your writing is extraordinary and I make the suggestion that you keep on. and on. happy day to you Bethany.
ReplyDeleteAin't friendship grand! :)
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me more and more everyday..
The thing I all friend chemistry, God made it, and it cannot even be explained.
Your writing takes to that kitchen with you and makes me wonder about all those things learned there. You always amaze me and make want to read more :)
ReplyDelete(Yay! I can leave comments again!!!! I have been unable to do it for a while now -- kept telling me that I didn't have rights here or on any other blogger site. So glad it works now!!!)
ReplyDelete