Shorts

Short stories and articles.

Plan C: Chapter I

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Plan C: The Meeting

            Lizzie took a deep breath and looked at the clock.  It was almost time to meet with her agent via Zoom and yet her father, Chuck, still sat at the kitchen table. Working on a crossword puzzle.  It was as if he had no intention of moving from his spot.  Yet, she needed him to move so that she could talk to her agent without an audience.  She was nervous enough, she didn’t need an extra pair of eyes watching or ears hearing.  Guilt about shooing him out of his own house prevented her from speaking up.  Especially after the doctor’s news they received yesterday.  But she just could not do this meeting with him in earshot and he was the one that insisted that she keep the meeting.

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Story behind the post: Plan B

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Welcome to July! The mid-month of the northern hemisphere summer (based on the traditional school calendar that still has a hold on so many of our schedules). This year, July also happens to be sandwiched in between two 5-Saturday months. Which means, here at ck’s days, it is in the middle of two 5-part short stories. And if you have been a reader of this little blog for a minute or two, you know I write short stories during the 5-Saturday months and you probably also picked up on the fact that when they are so close together like this, I tend to combine the stories into a 10-part short story. Much like that last sentence, the stories tend to get stretched a little thin. But I digress, let’s talk about last month’s short story first.

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Plan B: Chapter V

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Chapter V: Plan C

            Lizzie took a deep breath when she heard the back door open.  Her talk with Matt had helped her immensely to calm down enough to think rationally.  And then screaming at a train with him had drained her reserve.  She was exhausted but restless.  All she wanted was to climb into bed and make this day end but she knew it wasn’t over quite yet.  She still needed to talk to her dad and he was just coming home.

            Chuck walked in slowly and saw her sitting at the kitchen table.  He nodded his head and sat down opposite her.  Neither of them spoke and they could not make eye contact with each other.

            “How’s Sharon?” she asked finally.

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Plan B: Chapter IV

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Chapter IV: Good News/Bad News

            Lizzie rested her forehead on her steering wheel.  She couldn’t move.  Her car was parked downtown facing the train tracks and she needed a train to come by.  A big, loud train that would drown out the scream that was inside of her needing to get out.  This is how she took care of overwhelming problems in high school.  The fact that the last time she remembered coming to this exact spot was when her mom passed away was not lost on her.

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Plan B: Chapter III

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Chapter III Movie Club

Lizzie stood outside the library door Friday night wondering how this could possibly be her life now. Instead of a hip New York club she was waiting for someone to open the library, the li-bra-ry door of all places.  On a Friday night.  “Someone sure hates me,” she said and glanced upward.  As soon as she did though, the thought occurred to her if she was still back in New York she would probably be working and still wouldn’t be at a hip New York club unless she was waitressing there. “Fine,” she mumbled to no one in particular.  “I get it, I get it.”

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Plan B: Chapter II

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Chapter II: Home

            Lizzie stepped off the bus and looked around.  How was it possible that the small chunk of town she could see looked simultaneously different and yet the same?  It was the same place she could remember growing up but with subtle changes.  A Wal-Mart inhabited the old Kmart building.  A Jimmy Johns was where the old A & W building used to be but that building was gone and a new one stood in its place.  Some kind of boutique was where Hallmark used to be.  But main street was still the same road.  Probably the same potholes, she thought to herself.  Although the traffic light itself seemed to be updated to the latest standards.  It all felt slightly unfamiliar yet familiar enough she knew where she was.  The place she never expected to come back to live.

            “Is that my Lizzie?” she heard a voice behind her ask.  Charles Carter was not a small man and his booming voice matched his physique.

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Songbird: The Rise and Fall of Jimmy B. Chapter V

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CHAPTER V: VH1 Behind the Music

“Is your homework done?” Amanda asked her daughter Millie even though she knew the answer.

“I am just getting to it,” Millie replied rolling off the futon.

“I bet,” her mother said and picked up the remote.  “Let’s get rid of the distractions, shall we?” she aimed it at the television but stopped before turning it off.

“Whatever happened to Jimmy B.?” the unseen announcer in the television show asked.  “This is VH1 and you are watching Behind the Music, stay tuned.”

Amanda sat down on the futon.

“Mom?” Millie asked.  “What are you doing?”

“I loved Jimmy B.!” she said.  “You know, he was my very first concert.” She looked at her daughter.  “I was probably about your age.”

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Songbird: The Rise and Fall of Jimmy B. Chapter IV

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CHAPTER IV: Descent

Jimmy B sighed and closed his eyes. He hated playing this particular venue.  Two years ago he played at this arena and his whole life changed.  That was his first big concert with 20,000 screaming fans.  Nothing could have prepared him for the whirlwind that night thrust him into. 

For starters, his mom and his manager Pete drew definite lines after that concert.  Neither one was willing to give an inch on Jimmy’s future.  Pete was concerned with the bottom hard line: money and profit.  Namely his.  Jimmy’s mom was more motivated toward making sure her son was healthy and happy.  The two lines never crossed and Jimmy was stuck in the middle.  He often felt like a rope in a tug of war. 

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Songbird: The Rise and Fall of Jimmy B. Chapter III

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CHAPTER III: The Rise

Jimmy B’s knee bounced nervously.  He swallowed and swallowed again.  His mouth felt dry.  How was he going to sing with a dry mouth?

His new manager was looking over some forms and sat next to him on the couch.  “Son, you need to stop that thing from shaking.  I’m trying to read our agreement here.  I need to focus.”

Jimmy put his hand on his knee to get it to stop moving but it didn’t work.

“Jimmy,” his mother said, “why don’t you get yourself some water?”

He nodded and stood up.

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