Character Project #3 - Margaret

Thank you all for your comments and e-mails on the Character Project -- the weekly challenges have been a lot of fun and I have really enjoyed "getting to know" each of these characters.

Week 3 provided us with a character and an opening line and the Margaret that popped into my head was a pleasant surprise. I hope you like her too!

First line: “Margaret narrowed her eyes and stared at the spider on the ceiling.”
Name: Margaret
Age: 84
Details: Housebound; has arthritis in her fingers; husband died three years ago.

spiders, sex and the modern senior

Margaret narrowed her eyes and stared at the spider on the ceiling. At one point in her life she would have been terrified and screamed for Peter to climb up on the nightstand and kill it for her. But now Peter was gone and the spiders no longer bothered her. Unable to kill them on her own she had adopted a “live and let live” policy when it came to the creatures.

She wondered if other people – namely her daughter – could ever adopt a similar philosophy with her. Since Peter passed away, Rose had become even more opinionated about the way Margaret lived her life. Margaret wondered how the little girl who once sang and played with such joy had turned into such a bitter, angry woman.

It had been three years since Peter died lying beside her in this very bed. She had fallen asleep comforted by the familiar sound of his snoring and when she awoke to silence at 2 a.m. she knew he was gone. The couple had just moved into the retirement home and now she was there alone; unable to get out to run errands, walk the mall or see the friends from her old neighbourhood.

Rose always got annoyed when Margaret complained about being stuck in the retirement home. One Saturday Rose arrived in a huff and sat Margaret down with the head nurse to review the schedule of activities available to residents. “For goodness sake Mother, they have bingo, sing-a-longs and bridge games. What else could you want?” Margaret had never done any of these things in her previous life and did not understand why these pastimes were supposed to amuse her now that she was old and alone.

Last week Margaret found herself in the main lounge when one of the nurses announced it was time for the weekly seminar. Previously she had avoided the lectures about gentle exercise, nutrition and good sleep habits but she was at the back of the room and unable to find her way to the door before the talk started. To her surprise the room was packed as the nurse began an information session about sex and the senior. She wondered if anyone was really listening to the young woman or if they were simply trying to find out who else in the building was still interested in sex.

Now, as she looked over at Howard asleep on the pillow next to her she smiled thinking about how angry Rose would be. If her daughter was too busy to take her out of the residence now and again then she would have to find things to do on her own wouldn’t she?

Rose would not be the only one annoyed at Margaret. Last week when Howard moved into the residence, several other women informed her that as the most-recent widow in building she should not move too quickly to woo him. Margaret thought the whole idea was crazy. She was 84-years old and not willing to waste time on some silly pecking-order.

Those were the kind of issues that should have been covered in the “Seniors and Sexuality” lecture. She had not learned much from the young nurse who had been tasked to review the new rules of dating. Had she been paying attention she would have asked the truly important questions: What is the etiquette for meeting a new partner? How do you stop dating someone who lives in the same residence? How does one open a condom wrapper if their hands are crippled with arthritis? (Margaret imagined that this was not answer which would be readily available to someone calling the 1-800 number listed on the box.)


As always, I encourage you to check out http://wegotcharacter.wordpress.com/ to find out how the other writers saw Margaret!

The 'Great' Outdoors

I think I missed a memo somewhere along the line; I may be one of the few parents that did not attend the seminar about "Why kids MUST go outside". What's wrong with being inside??
Paul is a big Outdoors Guy. He likes the kids to be outside. It's like an obsession with him. For years he would get home from work and we would have the following conversation.

Paul: "Why are the girls inside?"
Me: Because they live here???
Paul: They should be outside getting fresh air. When I was a kid I was outside all the time. We would wake up, have breakfast, then go outside until lunch. Then back outside until dinner. We did not come in until the street lights came on...
Me: hmmmmm

Apparently during this wonderful 'time outside' they had adventures in the ravine, they played in the creek, they tobogganed, they bicycled... blah, blah. Once they even saw a coyote! If I put my 9 and 5 year-olds outside and did not know where they were for several hours during the day while they frolicked in the ravine child protective services would be at my door. Kids drown in creeks!
Mind you, this is the same man who suggested we go winter camping (hello.... have we just met? I don't like camping in the summer, I am certainly not doing it in the snow) and who wanted to sleep with the window open in February when we first got married.
Saturday afternoon, Paul will usually get the girls all bundled up in their snowsuits and send them out to play. They roll around in the snow banks, play with their shovels. Some days he gets all dressed up too and they head for the tobogganing hill. They come back with big smiles and rosy cheeks and Paul says: "you should have come, babe. It was fun." Oh yeah, cold weather, snow, sitting on the ground, jarring bumps on my spine -- sorry I missed that!!
For me being outside is a necessary evil -- or a punishment. If I send the girls outside it is usually it is at the end of the day when I am tired and they have been arguing for the past 20 minutes. At that point I snap and say "If you girls don't cut it out you are going to have to play outside." Will they be fighting outside? Probably, but I don't have to listen to it. Here's your hat, what's your hurry? Nowadays, if Paul comes home and the girls are playing outside he knows that it has not been a good day.
Remember high school they used to do aptitude tests to help you make career choices? One of the first questions was always: "would you like to work indoors or outdoors?" I always thought that it was the strangest question. Who in the world would choose to work outdoors? For 6 months of the year that would seriously suck. Yet, the man I married could not imagine working indoors. To him it would be a punishment (most likely because he was brainwashed by all of that outdoors time as a kid).
For some reason, the "outdoors guys" seem to gravitate to me. I think they see me as some sort of project. One guy I dated in university lived on campus. Before I go any further, I need to explain that the university I attended had a complete underground tunnel system so if you lived on campus, and you played your cards right, you could get through the full winter without EVER GOING OUT IN THE COLD. To me it was a dream come true. On a typical weekday I would spend at least 2 hours on a drafty bus or freezing my butt off at the bus stop. Meanwhile, he could roll out of bed wearing shorts and walk through the tunnel to class.
But he didn't. Each day, no matter how cold he was he would get up, put on boots, a coat, a hat and mitts and walk through the snow across campus. It was nonsensical to me! What fresh air!? It is minus 30 out there! You have a choice -- what are you thinking?
Today I am a partial convert. Now that I am a runner I enjoy it when the weather over 10 degrees Celsius. I think to myself 'this is nice weather for a run' and I actually get a little excited about it. I like to cycle and I am thrilled when I get an opportunity to get my bike out for a ride when the weather co-operates. But, I also have a gym membership so I can use the treadmill or spin bike if the weather is miserable.
Let's hear it for the great indoors!!

Character Project Week 2

As promised, I am posting some of the fiction I have been writing this year for The Character Project. Each week we are given a prompt and encouraged to submit a 500 word story about the character or scenario provided.
Here is what I came up with for week 2!

__________________________
Name: Lindsay Lahann
Age: mid-30s
Quirk: well you know, that name has got to create complications in her life…
Profession: store clerk who previously worked as a … ? … (anything you like)
Optional prompts (choose none, some, or multiple):

• The story can involve something overheard and misunderstood by either the main character or by someone else.


• There is some sort of dilemma surrounding a piece of clothing.


• Lindsay has an opportunity but may not be able to pursue it due to unusual circumstances.


• She has a strange pet.

_________________________

“So anyway, Brittany was in the store today and said I was doing an amazing job. She says that if I keep doing so good they will give me a key to the whole store. I have only been there for, like, 2 months and some girls have been there for, like, a year and they don’t have a key yet. Isn’t that exciting?…”

Sarah took a deep breathe and concentrated on eating as Lindsay prattled on. Finishing the last of her salad she thought of how quiet dinner had been before Lindsay moved in. Most often, she and her dad had watched the evening news as they ate. Tonight her dad had hit the mute button on the television so he and Sarah could listen to Lindsay tell them about her new job at a local boutique.

Six months ago Lindsay Lahann had come into their lives as her dad’s new housekeeper but now they were engaged to be married. With the wedding still weeks away Lindsay announced that she no longer wanted to clean houses and applied for a job at the mall. Sarah’s dad supported the decision saying he wanted Lindsay to be happy but Sarah knew the truth. He would be mortified to imagine his new wife cleaning other people’s homes. The job at the mall was a good compromise. The store where Lindsay worked was frequented mostly by teenaged girls so the chances were low that she would encounter any of his friends or – even worst — their wives.

“So, today we were working like crazy to get ready for a big sale that starts tomorrow,” Lindsay continued. “Sarah you should come by and check it out. I can give you my new discount.”

Sarah nodded politely and brought her empty plate to the kitchen sink to rinse it off. Given the choice between a discount and introducing Lindsay to her friends, Sarah would gladly opt for the full ticket price.

Last week Lindsay came home wearing the same t-shirt Sarah had purchased only days before. When her dad noticed it Lindsay only laughed and said she and Sarah would have to co-ordinate their outfits in the mornings.

“Wouldn’t it be so embarrassing if we both, like, wore the same thing one day?” Lindsay laughed. Sarah imagined the thirty-four year old, bleached blonde serving pre-teens at the local mall while wearing a mini-skirt and manga t-shirt that showed her belly and laughed to herself. Clearly Lindsay had a very different definition of what was embarrassing.


Check out http://wegotcharacter.wordpress.com/ to find out how the other writers saw Lindsay!