Please Respond II

A letter from Caroline to one of her old college friends:

Dear Alice,

I was very happy to hear from you; it seems like only yesterday that we were staying up until two o’clock in the morning, cramming for science classes. I won’t say that I miss those days.

I got laid off from my job, so I have a lot of time on my hands at the moment. They had no real complaint against my work, but they decided that there wasn’t enough work for both secretaries and the other one had been working there longer so I was the one they got rid of. I have looked for another job but there don’t seem to be any around. Jonathon tells me not to worry, that he is making enough money to support us very well now that he has been promoted.

Jonathon is away again, on yet another business trip, this is the third one in as many months. I’m getting tired of it, I really am. Still I shouldn’t burden you with my troubles. How are Jack and little James?

Please respond soon, you have no idea how happy I am to have any sort of friendly human interaction.

Your friend,

Caroline

Taken from Caroline’s diary:

I tell myself that life is everything that I could want. I have a husband who loves me and wants to give me everything I need; I have a roof over my head, and all of the food I could want. This is the life that I always dreamed of when I was little, I don’t have to work, and I can live in leisure. So why is it that I hate it as much as I do?

You know what I really hate? It’s this city, with everyone in it. It would be alright I suppose if I actually lived inside city limits but instead we live out in the sticks and I have to drive in to do anything. I just don’t have the energy to drive in every day just to live, and so I find myself lying around the house not living at all. The neighbors are all uneducated, stay at home mothers who I can’t relate to, so even they aren’t companions. I have made positively no friends since we came here, and it’s already been two years.

Jonathon is home less and less. Even when he isn’t on business trips now he stays late at the office and logs more hours then anyone else in the company. I want to move but Jonathon says that to leave this city would waste all of his hard work to make his way up in the company.

To be continued...

Please Respond

Clipping from the Millville Post:

Mr. and Mrs. Yeats, of Millville, MO, announce the wedding of their daughter, Caroline Yeats, to Jonathan Blake, son of Mr. and Mrs. Blake, of Smithton, IL. Caroline Yeats is a graduate of Adams High School, class of 1991; and University of Missouri, class of 1995. She is presently employed as a secretary at Adams Elementary School. Jonathan Blake is a graduate of Peters High School, Peters, Illinois, class of 1990; and University of Missouri, class of 1994. He is presently employed as an architect by Wilhelm and Son of this city.

The wedding took place at Grace Lutheran Church this Sunday last and was attended by friends and family.

Letter from Caroline to her mother:

Dear Mother,

I know that you were worried about how Jon and I would do, living so far from you, so I thought I would write you and reassure you. Both Jon and I are very happy, he’s found a job at a local construction company, and I am a secretary at a lawyer’s office. We aren’t making a lot of money yet, but we have installed ourselves in a nice little house outside of town.

Jon works very long hours now, so I try to have dinner on the table for him when he gets home. I know that he works so hard to put food on the table but I do wish I could see him more. He says that if he works hard this year he will probably be promoted and then he will be able to see me more often. It is still hard though, when I think about the fact that I probably saw him more often before we were married.

I should write more, but I’m afraid that I have to go to work now,

Affectionately as always,

Caroline

Letter to Caroline from Jonathon:

My dear wife,

I know that this is the first time that we have ever been parted, and I’m sure it is as hard for you as it is for me, so I thought I would write you and tell you that I was doing well. Think of me being sent on this business trip as a good thing, a sign that the company trusts me. My promotion may not be a dream after all.

The company has given us very nice hotel rooms; there are advantages to working for such a large firm. They are even paying for all of my meals so you don’t have to worry about finances. Will you please pick me up at the airport on the eighteenth? My flight should arrive at three thirty in the afternoon.

Your loving husband,

Jonathon

To be continued...

The Musicians II

Following the music took Annie into the deepest depths of the ship, where passengers never went. It was deep in the hold that she finally found the players of the music she had heard. It was the same duo she had seen in the parlor before but they had totally changed. She had a musical ear, improved by the years of music lessons which her father had insisted that she take. When they had been playing in the parlor the duo had been average, not horrible, but neither had they been amazing. Now she found herself wanting to dance, to move with the music, and most of all to sing like she had never sung before.

Annie peered around the door into where the music was coming from. The man with the piano had traded his instrument for flute. They had broken into crates of toys that had been stored down in the hold and had made themselves an audience with the dolls. Tin soldiers stood in full regalia in their regiments, porcelain dolls sat like fine ladies on thrones of machinery goods, rag dolls propped up their weak backs against boxes of dry goods. It would be humorous to Annie usually, the musicians playing to the imaginary audience, but the music was such that nothing seemed funny, only beautiful.

As their song ended both musicians stopped to bow to their fake audience and then started a new song. This was a song that Annie knew and she found her words almost torn out of her, she began to sing along with the song. Instantly she was ashamed and stopped, they would surely stop playing now, they would flee, embarrassed. They surprised her. Instead the flute player put aside his instrument for a minute and walked over to where she was hiding. He didn’t say anything but he took her hand and lead her into the middle of the room where they were playing. Normally she would have objected to a strange man holding her hand with such familiarity, but nothing seemed more natural in this case.

Still neither man said anything but the man with the flute motioned that she was to continue singing, Annie couldn’t account for how long she sang, down there, surrounded by the audience of toys. Sometimes once they had finished a song, or executed some difficult part, she even imagined that she could applause. Once her voice started to go the man with the flute took her hand once again while the violinist played for both of them, they danced.

As they danced, Annie was under the impression that the man became more handsome, and slightly more youthful. She even found herself looking down at herself to make sure that she wasn’t growing older and uglier as compensation, but she was unchanged.

It was a mystery to Annie what happened then. One second she was dancing, and growing tired, in the arms of the flutiest, the next she was standing in the ship’s parlor. She expected her feet to ache but they did not, and after looking around for a few minutes, she returned to the dock. There Elizabeth was waiting for her, an abrupt call to reality.

Elizabeth demanded where Annie had been in a frantic voice. She had clearly been worried. Annie looked back at the ship only once, and then turned back. “I was looking for you, where else would I have been,” she said.

The Musicians

Annie sat on the padded bench in the parlor her cousin’s steamboat, headed down the river. Her father had been reluctant to allow her to go to the city for a few days, even though it would be on her cousin’s boat. It was only when she had told him that her friend Elizabeth would be coming with her that he had agreed to allow it.

There were a piano player and a violinist in the corner, another of her cousin’s attempts to make the parlor more high toned she supposed. His first try had been candles on every table which had been disastrous due to the rocking of the boat. His next try had been performances by a trained monkey which had tuned out to have a magpie like fascination with glittery objects. It had had to go after an unfortunate incident with a woman who was wearing a jeweled brooch. Annie couldn’t see how the musicians could go wrong however; they sounded pretty good and did add something to the room.

Annie looked over at Elizabeth, who was sitting next to her. Elizabeth was the timid one, she hadn’t wanted to go on this trip at all, the only reason she was going was that she knew Annie really wanted to go. Elizabeth was the weak sort of person that passed as ladylike under poor light. Not that Annie looked down on her for it, Elizabeth was one of her best friends, still that didn’t mean she couldn’t occasionally find fault.

The city of M____, where they were heading, was the boats last stop. By the time that they finally reached it the parlor was filled. Some of the people who came on board were of their class, not wealthy but well to do; others looked like country farmers going into the city for some business or other. They all sat together however, crowed up against one another due to a lack of seats. All through the bustle and commotion the musicians played on, as if they were the only people there.

When they reached M____ there was a great fuss in the disembarking and Annie and Elizabeth were separated in the rush. Annie stood on the dock, waiting for Elizabeth to find her, but even once everyone else was gone Elizabeth didn’t come. Annie started to wonder if Elizabeth had ever gotten off of the boat at all but wasn’t just standing in the parlor waiting for her. These doubts finally got to the point where Annie turned around and boarded the steamboat again.

The boat, so lately crowded and noisy, was now eerie and quiet. Even the crew was on shore now, enjoying a few hours liberty before they had to unload the cargo. When Annie reached the parlor and realized that Elizabeth wasn’t there she couldn’t suppress a shudder. She was all alone, and somehow it didn’t feel right. That was when she heard the music.

The music was distant, but it was a sign of life. Annie had a choice now, she could disembark the ship again, and wait for Elizabeth outside, or she could follow the music. The music was far lovelier then anything that she had ever heard and she found herself drawn to it. She even found herself thinking that Elizabeth could wait even if she was now out on the dock.

To be continued...

Units

Let us imagine a unit of family as our character, Mrs. Unit, Mr. Unit, and their two children, Girl Unit and Boy Unit. They live in the suburbs. Mr. Unit works in the city and commutes. Mrs. Unit is a stay at home wife. They sometimes have barbeque parties with the neighbors. Girl Unit grows up and marries Boy Unit2. Boy Unit goes to college where he meets a girl he marries, and so the whole thing repeats.

But that’s pretty dull, so how about we flesh out the characters somewhat. For instance let’s make Mr. Unit a strange traditionalist who still wears old fashioned hats, and overcoats. He carries a briefcase, and still takes the train into the city even though his office has a car pool.

While we’re out it we should probably make his wife a bit more fleshed out. She works a lot for charities, so even though she doesn’t have any job, she works as much as if she did. She is very involved in the schools her children go to as well. She insists that the family go to church every Sunday, even though she is the only one in the family who is religious. The others go because they want to make her happy and she is content in this.

What about Boy Unit? He likes art, and is alright at it. It’s his best subject in school, though he is pretty good in physical education as well. It’s when he’s asked to study that he has problems, doing things with his hands is something that he has never really had a problem with.

Girl Unit is the exact opposite, she reads everything that is put in front of her. She isn’t overly popular with the other girls her age, but also not totally rejected. The highpoint of her week is when she can stay out late on Saturday and go bowling with her friends.

While all of that is a little more interesting how about we make things even more interesting? After all, that’s just characters sketches and doesn’t really have a plot. Let’s start with Mr. Unit again. He doesn’t like his job much and therefore one day he quits. He starts his own business which unfortunately went bankrupt during a recession. He is now back at a desk under someone else but he has grown too used to being his own boss. There is almost daily conflict between Mr. Unit and his boss.

Mrs. Unit eventually grows tired of doing good; it just doesn’t seem to pay off like she had thought it did when she was younger. She has worn herself out trying to fix everyone’s problems but there just doesn’t seem to be a dent in them. Eventually she grows depressed and gives up. She sits around on the couch and watches soap operas and eating potato chips instead.

Boy Unit went to college for art in the end, rather then business which is what his father had wanted him to do. The girl that he meets is a pot smoking hippy who shocks his parents the first time they meet her. She is never invited over to dinner again, and neither parent goes to the wedding. His art takes off in a small way after a while and he is able to manage to live off of what he makes when combined with his wife’s income.

Girl Unit didn’t marry Boy Unit2 immediately. They lived together for a little while first. Her father doesn’t mind this but Mrs. Unit cares very much and thinks it’s horribly shameful. Several years later Girl Unit and Boy Unit2 get divorced anyway because it turns out that he’s been having an affair.

So in the end it all turns into individuals, because no one really cares about a story with no main characters. One simply can’t write a story about a unit without making the individuals stand out.

Alwilda VI

Alwilda carefully wrapped her head with a cloth so that only her eyes were visible. It had become her habit after she realized that one of the reasons people didn’t take her seriously when she was robbing them was because she looked like a young girl. The cloth not only hid this but also added mystery and intimidation to her appearance.

No sooner did the ships meet then the fighting began, there was no talk between the crews, as there generally was. It went straight to open war. Neither crew had any interest but to board the other ship and the battle raged back and forth between both ships.

Alwilda instantly headed for the prow of the enemy ship where the man who was obviously in charge stood. She recognized him of course, Prince Alf, the man who she was supposed to marry. This didn’t prevent her from trying to kill him. They had only met the once and she hadn’t really thought much of his so there was nothing to prevent her from swinging at him with full force behind her sword. He met her with a drawn sword and a resigned look on his face. From his appearance, he looked like he was half asleep even as she charged at him, she hadn’t expected him to be much of a fight but he gave her an unpleasant surprise. He was able to counter every one of her moves skillfully and even attacked in ways that she had difficulty evading.

He was more skilled then she was with a sword. Alwilda wasn’t stupid, she realized this fairly quickly. She was spending much more of her time avoiding his attacks then attacking him. It was only as his sword sped towards her head that she realized just how much better he was then she was however. She managed to avoid getting more then a nick to her face but it also cut the covering on her face. He actually dropped his sword and for the first time she saw him with an expression other the boredom on his face.

“Alwilda?” he asked her. She swung her sword around so that its point rested at his throat but he didn’t even blink. He was far too busy staring at her face with an expression of wonder.

“They told my father that you were sick and confined to bed so the marriage had to be postponed,” he continued when she didn’t say anything. His voice was still full of awe.

“I’m afraid my father sometimes lies to save face. As you can see I won’t exactly be a suitable bride for you. We’ll be leaving now. Everyone stop fighting!” Alwilda yelled behind her. She withdrew her sword and sheathed it.

“Hold on, please,” Prince Alf said grabbing her sleeve. “I said nothing about you being a bad bride. You have no idea, I had no idea I should say. You acted so prime and proper when I met you.”

“Do you know how many lectures on etiquette I had to listen to before we met?” Alwilda asked dryly.

“You too? I think you might be more suited to be my bride then any other that my father is likely to pick me. Won’t you reconsider?” He wasn’t begging, his voice didn’t have a single note of pleading, but one look in his eyes and Alwilda could tell he was being sincere.

All around them both crews had gathered and when Alwilda looked around they started cheering. When faced with that cheering mass of people who she knew really cared about her there was no way that she could blow off Alf’s proposal.

“I suppose father might have been right, about this at least,” Alwilda said, putting her hand in Alf’s.

Alwilda V

“Why wasn’t I informed of this much sooner?” the king demanded. His advisor contemplated taking the fall and then decided against it. Prince Alf wasn’t worth it in his eyes.

“I believe that His Highness was told of the pirate crew fairly early on, Your Majesty. Before they met up with this other crew they have joined with. He chose not to do anything about them.” The advisor felt a little bad about throwing Prince Alf to the dogs but nothing could really be done about it. It was better Prince Alf then him, especially since the king wasn’t likely to punish his own heir to badly.

“Send for Alf,” the king ordered one of the servants who bowed and went running out of the hall. When the king gave an order it was best to show speed, he sometimes had a short temper.

Prince Alf clearly didn’t seem to care about his fathers love for having his orders followed quickly. When he finally did arrive in the throne room it was at a slow saunter that turned his father red with anger. This wasn’t a new occurrence however, it was generally agreed that Prince Alf had grown immune to his father’s anger through repeated exposure.

“You wanted me?” Alf asked, casually standing in front of his father.

“You got a report about some pirates a while back and didn’t do anything?” the king asked.

“Yeah, some all girl crew I think, they attacked one of our scouts, why? They didn’t sound that impressive, I figured they would give up in a few months and go home.”

“They haven’t given up yet,” said the king glaring at his only child. “You better take responsibility for this mess. They’re getting to be a real problem.”

“So what do you want me to do about it?” asked Alf.

“I want that crew to stop existing and since you could have taken care of this mess before it became this large, you can go as the person in charge of taking down the pirates,” the king decreed. Prince Alf bowed, and without another word marched out of the room.

Alwilda and Kadlin were on watch when they saw Prince Alf’s ship on the horizon. That didn’t mean anything of course; ships were slow enough that they could prolong a chase for days if they felt like it. It did spell new prey for the bored crew however and Alwilda instantly called everyone to the oars. She expected a chase, most ships ran these days when they saw her ship, she was gratified to see the other ship continue to head in their direction. This meant a fight, and fights were one of her few forms of entertainment these days.

For a while her life had been full of conflict, the men of her crew hadn’t fallen under her leadership easily, there had been a lot of resistance. That has made life interesting, but after she had beat even the most stubborn of them into submission life had grown dull. Now everyone in her crew did as she commanded at a moments notice, and she was disturbed to note that most of them listened to her with full confidence as well. They actually trusted her, and thought she would do what was best for the crew.

To be continued...