When I decided to simplify my life and only do weekly posts, I had to decide if I wanted to keep doing 5-part short stories during the months with 5 Wednesdays (switched from Saturdays). I decided, yes, I will keep at it for a while anyway. The first 5-Wednesday month was in April which seemed like plenty of time for me to prepare a story. If you know me, you know that isn’t my style. I was plagued with my usual writer’s block until the 11th-hour. But inspiration came from real events. I should say, real events mostly. Real events with a little modification and a whole lot of what-if.
Our winter really was pretty mild. Dangerously so because we are looking at an extremely dry summer. And the first day of spring? We indeed had buds. That is far from typical patterns in these parts. So, it did give me a bit of a weird vibe. Enough that I wondered if I could make some sort of apocalyptical story out of it based on that vibe.
No, I have not dug a well in my backyard. Don’t come here looking for water this summer.
No, the town has not collapsed or is set on some such dire course. Yet.
No, there is no Stuart out there sharing prepping literature. At least, as far as I know. Other than the typical preppers.
If you notice, I did not name the storyteller. That was not intentional at first but then I kind of liked it. Normally, the narrator is either an observer or if in first person the hero of the story. Our heroine didn’t have a name because I liked the premise that many people have lived on our planet and adapted to survive but do we know all of their names? No, we do not. Generation upon generation of people learned to survive and we know relatively few names let alone stories. So, I kept our heroine of the story nameless. Along with her tribe. All of the names belonged outside the main family.
It may also appear that I gave the heroine certain qualities that could be classified as a diagnosis. Any diagnosis given I leave up to you. I certainly do not have the clinical qualifications to diagnose anyone.
Also, don’t give me logistics on the probability of any of this. I’m just writing to write. I accept the flaws for the sake of the overall story.
As per usual, I thought of a story idea for the next 5-part short story in July. What are the odds that I will remember it before the end of June?
Thanks for reading!
ck's days 