I participated in National Novel Writing Month this year, and won, of course. (to win you must write a 50,000 word novel in one month.)
Greg Powers was contemplating his life. His thick, manly fingers twirled a gold ballpoint pen as his tired eyes watched a clock tick in the darkened office. He knew what was coming- he’d known it for some time, and yet he still wasn’t ready to give it all up. “It all” referred mostly to Mr. Powers’ bank account, something he was loath to part with, especially since it had recently passed the one million dollar mark. He wrote something down on the sheet of paper in front of him and waited for the ink to dry. “The money goes to…”
His eyes scanned the clock face again. 3:01. He still had a while yet.
Mr. Powers thought of his wife, Ruth, or Ruthie, as he’d called her when they were dating. She’d taken to married life very well, always scouting ahead to find the next hiding place before they could find him… His lip curled. And she didn’t even know. What a wonderful, naïve, tart. But of course, she would receive the house, which was worth millions in itself. Greg cast her out of his mind.
Then there was Vivica, his elder (and prettier) daughter. Being the favorite she had, of course, been spoiled into sassiness, but why not? “My family deserves the best,” he thought proudly. A memory flashed to his mind, one of Rose’s 5th birthday party. Vivica had dug her hand into the cake, screaming about not getting the first piece. Rose started crying, so darling Viv offered her the squished mush from her hand out of sympathy. Greg chuckled and simultaneously felt a pang of regret course through him. There was so much left to experience, and so little time…
Greg’s eyes flashed to the family portrait on his desk, to the dark figure standing behind him. He could always delegate to Scape… but no. It was too easy, and it wouldn’t solve anything.
Rose was the only other he hadn’t contemplated. Perhaps that was because she was rather plain, or too smart, or too quiet; he didn’t know. She never really captivated him like Vivica did; too busy studying or delving into some new book. Still, he was proud of her. Even more so than Vivica, who could sass all day but still be as hollow as an empty soda can.
A smirk appeared on Greg’s lined faced as he realized the answer had been in front of him all along.
A tall purple shadow skirted past the frosted glass of his office window. Greg wrote down something on the piece of paper, put his family portrait in his breast pocket, and slowly arose from his chair.
4 comments:
Congratulations.
Must admit, I groan a bit at the concept of writing a novel within a time limit. Personally, I think targets should be applied to very few things, and certainly not writing. Nevertheless - well done. And I am curious to know who or what the purple shadow belongs to.
I like this a lot. Congratulations on completing the 50,000 novel and winning! I have no idea if I would be able to finish a novel in a month because of everything else going on in my life. Though I do have three stories started but not finished. Do you have the rest of the story posted some where else? Would love to read the rest :)
Ayya! *frantically searches the rest of your blog* Where's the rest?? *moany, waily!*
I really like the premise. I saw Despicable Me recently, and the guy at first reminded me of the Bank man. But then, he seemed to have a heart like Gru. And then he entertained the notion of passing on the responsibility to someone else before changing his mind... and then a shadow flicked past! D:
Not exactly cliffhanger-like in ending, but you've effectively provided enough background to really get a story going.
Will the rest of us humble readers ever be graced with the remaining pages? *shameless puppydog eyes* X)
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