A Decision

For my writing workshop. Assignment: change of character.

It was the afternoon preceding the annual summer bonfire when Sydney sat down with herself and made a decision. An hour before the event, she packed a bag with paper and a pen and walked through the woods. Her fury increased with every hurried step towards the lake, snapping twigs and stamping out the tiny lives of innocent lady bugs and less-innocent spiders. The swelter of the late afternoon sun, which wouldn’t be hindered by the trees, only caused her more irritation.

            By the time Sydney reached the lake she was beyond small emotions like fury and irritation. In fact, Sydney was so livid that one could set a match to her and she could be a bonfire all on her own. Once she felt she was far enough out on the beach, she found a dry log and flung herself onto it with paper and a pen. Down the beach, closer to the woods, a few people were already throwing sticks and smaller logs into what would soon be the bonfire. She glanced at her watch. “Twenty minutes,” she whispered to herself, then began to write anxiously.

            The letter she was writing had been coming for a long time. She was writing it to Allen, her boyfriend of nearly two years. She was not writing an angry letter to him because he was abusive, or even because she had fallen out of love with the young man. Rather, she felt he was drifting away, and she loved him far too much to continue in the current circumstances of their relationship. Sydney wouldn’t let things go any further, therefore the letter needed to be written and the issues within it discussed�"if not to permanently end things with Allen, at least to take a respite and reevaluate the relationship.

            Dear Allen, she began writing furiously, How are you?I hope you’re well. We have to break up.

            Without much hesitation, Sydney crumpled the paper in her fists and tossed it carelessly towards the lake. A moment later her pen was moving once more at an alarming speed.

            Dear Allen, she started again, I don’t love you anymore. I met a graduate student in the library and he promised to let me cook for him to my heart’s content and have lots of children and I know how much you hate it when I do domestic things because you think I’m too smart but I’m the stupidest person on earth. I want to be a stay-at-home wife. You are so wrong about me and I hate you. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. Goodbye.

            Sydney ripped the melodramatic lie into tiny shreds and discarded them on the sand at her feet. She gripped regarded the pen in her hand, then with a echoing growl she hurled it into the gray-green waters. It gave a soft plop on the surface of the lake. Fueled by the dissatisfying sound of the pen she gave another throaty sound of frustration and charged towards the lake. She thrust her feet into the shallows of the shore, shrieking and flailing her arms as her legs went up-down-up-down until the water turned murky and she was wet up to her elbows.

            Distantly, she heard someone calling her name. “Syd-ney!”

            She turned. The sight of Allen running down the beach towards her almost caused another fit of splashing and shrieking. Instead, she sloshed her way onto the dry sand to meet him.

            “Sydney?” Allen called again, this time quieter. He followed a trail of paper down to her.

            “Where have you been?” she demanded with a scowl.  “It’s been four days. You didn’t call. Last week you called me once and it was a thirty-second conversation. Not to mention your mother tells me she doesn’t even know what you’re up to.” Her throat constricted like hardening lava.

            “I’m sorry,” Allen said. He reached for her hand and felt the wet sleeves around her wrists. “You’re soaked, Syd. What’s going on?”

            “Just tell me where you’ve been!” The command erupted from her throat in half a sob, and half a scream. “Tell me!” She hit him on the chest with one wet fist.

            “I’m sorry,” he said again. This time he smiled and reached into his pocket. “I’ve been busy.”

            “Busy?” Sydney hissed. “You’ve been ‘busy’ for the past month!”

            “I know. It’s just… I was looking for this.” Suddenly, Allen was on his knee in front of her, holding out an ornately crafted diamond ring.

            Stunned and embarassed, all Sydney could do was blush. “Oh,” she murmured. “Oh, Allen, I’m the stupidest person on earth.”

Reviews

[Libby McKeown]

You took a snippet from any random person's life, and made it into a really entertaining story. I was worried at the beginning about the introduction of the boyfriend, and I sincerely hoped it wasn't one of those cliched stories about the idiot or abusive boyfriend. Instead, what I read was a masterfully-crafted sweet tale. Thanks for this believable and well-written happy ending!