Thursday, November 3, 2011

Excerpt from my NaNo Novel

This is the first scene from my 2011 NaNo Novel:

The sun is streaming through the window above the sink in the kitchen. A few inches to the left my daughter is kneading dough into donuts. The thoughtful look on her face makes me curious, but I wont ask her, she will tell me when she is ready.
We are making donuts for the church bake sale this Saturday.

“Mama?”

“Yes, baby?”

“Can I talk to you about something?”

“Of course.”

She nods her head, but continues to knead the dough, maybe a bit rougher now.

“Anything specific?”

“Okay.” She breathes in deeply and exhales slowly. “I can do this.”

More to herself than to me.

“Danny asked me to marry him.”

“Oh?”

“That’s all you have to say?”

“Well, all he did was ask a question, it is not like you-”

“I said yes.”

“Well, that is a whole different story all together. Your father is not going to like this, Jenna. He does not like that boy.”

She stops shaping the dough and turns to me, “Daddy is not going to like any boy I choose, but I do not care, mama. I love him. I love him with all my heart and soul and there’s nothing you or Daddy or anyone else can do about it.”

“You’re only seventeen-”

“I will be eighteen in a couple months.”

I sigh. “That’s still so young.”

“You were only sixteen when you and Daddy decided to get married.”

“Yes, but I was pregnant with your brother at the ti- oh my lord, you are not pregnant are you?”

“No, mama.”

“Thank the lord.” I wipe the flour off my hands with a kitchen towel. “Anyway, your father wont allow you to marry that boy. You’re too young and he’s good for nothing.”

“That is not true! I’m not too young and he’s got a real talent for fixin cars. We’re going to move to California and he’s gonna open a shop and I’m gonna be a model.”

“Such big dreams for such a little girl.” I set the towel on the counter. “I wish you would not be in such a hurry to grow up. You’ve got your whole life in front of you. And if that boy really loves you, he will still be there after you finish college.”

The look Jenna gives me is full of wistfulness and panic, “Why take the chance?” She looks out the window at the mid afternoon sun. “College was always your dream for me, mama, maybe it is not right for me.”

“I just do not want you to end up unhappy and unable to get out. California is so far away, you wouldn’t have any family or friends out there, what would you do if you needed help?”

“I wont be unhappy mom, and I’ll make friends, I’ll have help.”

I sigh deeply, “I don’t like this, but I’ll talk to your father about it.”

She throws her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly, “Thank you, mama.”

“Lord help me.”

“I love him, mama.”

“That’s what scares me, baby girl.”

“I wont regret this.”

“I sure hope not.”

She practically skips out of the room, a joyous smile on her face.
She’s so young and full of like, how can she want to tie herself down to a boy, when she’s only seventeen. She hasn’t even had a chance to really live life.

“This is going to give her father a heart attack.”


© November 2011




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