Elliot Lake Writers' Workshop Assignment

Another ELWW class tomorrow and I had a lot of fun with this month's assignment which was to write two very short stories using the same characters in each but changing a few words to make the stories very different one from the other.

Example:

ELWW Assignment for April 19^th class

(1)   Down the Aisle

I stand, proud, excited and blessed, at the front of the church.  When I catch my first glimpse of her my breath is taken away. I am the proverbial Cheshire Cat.

She is stunning in the long white bridal gown that kisses the church aisle with each step she takes toward me on her father’s arm.  The white lace veil hides the pretty smile that offers me her loving promise of forever.  The wild white roses hide the hand that will soon wear my ring.

The Wedding March fills the air and the happy guests stand up, turn their heads to view the wonder of her beauty as she appears to glide down the aisle toward me.

For two years we dated before I at last found the courage to propose.  “Barbara, will you do me the honour of being my wife?” I asked.   She hesitated.  I braced myself for a rejection.  And then like summer rain her soft, sure yes filled my happy heart.

And now we stand together, side by side, in this sacred place.  Vows exchanged, we kiss.  The future is an open door and with loving anticipation we cross the threshold into the mysterious adventure of a brand new life together.

(2)   Rest Eternal

I stand, sad, forlorn, and forsaken on brown grass at the side of the grave.  My Barbara is taken away.  My first glimpse of the coffin as it is lowered into the ground returns me to that moment when she breathes her last pain-filled breath.   I  am an empty shell.

She was fragile and lost in the long blue nightgown that hugged the hospital bed and with each soft word she whispers love to me over the nurse’s shoulder.  Pain reveals the tightness of her lips that seek the promise of going home. The intravenous needle punctures the small hand that wears the gold band I placed on her finger three short years ago.

Nurse leaves and the room is silent.  I sit by her bedside and turn my eyes from her hand to her once glowing face.  I stare down the evil of cancer’s triumph. As she lays tired and weak I feel helpless, useless.

For twelve months she found the courage to fight the unwelcome intruder.  Together we prayed, “God, give us the strength to win this battle.”  Braver than me, she accepts her fate.  I cannot begin to brace myself for the loss of my beautiful Barbara.

And then, like winter sleet, her “yes, Lord” tears out my broken heart.

And now I stand lost and alone in this sacred place.  We will kiss no more.  The past glows in my memory but the future is bleak.  I see no door.  And in fearful depression I cross the threshold into the agonizing blackness of a lonely life alone.