ain't no sunshine...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIdIqbv7SPo

   She drank her tea sweet with milk, just as her mother had made for her all the years of her childhood. Perched on a high stool she had rescued a particularly rainy trash day, she curled her long toes around the bottom rung while devouring a paperback with breakfast. The sun stroked across her skin like the welcome lover she had ached for, fruitlessly, during the dark hours just before daybreak. 

   Not that this was something she thought actively about. She had learned not to; that way, she knew, lay madness. Instead she filled each moment gained from the not thinking with as much as she could. She read, painted her toenails, ran long hours with only her iPod as companion. Surrounding herself with the everyday minutiae of existing, she passed each day with forced mindlessness. It seemed a life she could handle, even if it wasn't one she could always call complete.

   Until this morning. The morning of the sunshine, warm and enveloping. The morning Bill Withers scratched through the bandages she had plastered so heavily upon the hole the loss had punched into her wall. She had spackled and wallpapered and venetian plastered over that sucker until she was sure it would show up on any x-ray slide. "I know, I know, I know..." he brokenrecord sang to her. Oh he knew alright. And she knew, too. 

   It wasn't until the page blistered and contorted with her scalding teardrops did she realise she was crying. 

Reviews

[Toon]

this is so effectively sad. she's doing everything she can to forget when suddenly it boils over and she can't contain it any more. the thing is, we can't distract ourselves forever. This is really good stuff. the last line is, I think, a really good way to end a story... or maybe a chapter. I can see her fitting in with the first chapter... i think... the one where she's imagining how the guy's earlobe would taste. I can definitely see some continuity there.

[Coyote Poetry]

I like the style of writing for this story. Remind me of a "Kosinski book". Such strong detail and emotion in your words. A very good chapter. A new day can bring some new hope. A very good ending to this chapter. Thank you.
Coyote

[Zeitgeist Manifesto]

very cool chapter. I felt as if I was an invisible man standing in the room.
It was very intimate.

[Ed Hart]

you have art in your long pencil, and you sing like a morning glory

[Tony]

So she found the way to live, without regret ni anticipation. But in a moment allowed sentimentality in. which smothers truth in mourning, and allows trepidation to block the path of Light and Faith.
Somebody, help this girl out, please.
Good stuff as usual, Jenniewren.

[Crowley]

heavy sigh...that is sad...sad like, a sad crying clown in an iron lung sad. Great write, the emotions are pretty raw and the everyday feeling of the piece weighed pretty heavy. Great job, I love your shorts.

[bluessadmood]

ohh this is new from you writing these small stories but i liked the way you went about it..
its these private small little things i would love to know about the character ..
its a way of building a complete personality..instead of just telling about it..
actually i too,ha ha ,indulge myself in lots of things together all the time
or this life could drive me crazy,its a great way to divert your mind..
this could get to lots new ideas..keep it flowing..i liked it from here
lovely write..

[Robin]

very good writing Jenny, very good ...

[paul]

wow. now this is wonderful stuff. want to read more.