#AtoZ — Iris

Join me during the month of April as I blog through the alphabet. My theme will be What’s In A Name. I will attempt to write up a short fictional character sketch beginning with a different letter of the alphabet each day. Remember that a place can also be a character.

Iris

“Eerees.”

“Earrees?”

“No. Eerees. Your language, Iris. My language, Eerees.” Shyly, he repeated her name and watched as she returned his smile with a slight nod. “May I walk you to the bus stop, Eerees?”

He really wanted to spend a lot more time with her than the couple of minutes it would take to walk to the end of the block and across the street but he knew if he suggested a longer meeting she would not accept. Who knew? Maybe it would even insult her. They didn’t know each other. Not really. He had been watching her get off of the bus three times a week and walk in front of his book shop on her way to Mrs. Symons’ house where she took cooked and cleaned. Mrs. Symons was more lonely than she was old so it was not an every day thing  and Iris didn’t work long hours. He had watched her for weeks before he had the nerve to walk out to the sidewalk one day and say hello to her as she walked by. She had averted her eyes after a very slight smile. It took another couple of weeks before he had tried another hello. The next time, she had returned his greeting and before long they were exchanging a couple of sentences, mostly about the weather.

There was some chemistry there. They both felt it. As they walked toward the bus stop together, he decided that he was going to close up shop early one day and ride the bus home with her if she would let him. That way they could talk a bit. Who knew where it would go from there? He just knew that he wanted to spend a lot more time with Eerees.

Alexa

Babs

Curtis

Diane

Eve

Fran

Grandma

Harold

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#AtoZ–Curtis

oin me during the month of April as I blog through the alphabet. My theme will be What’s In A Name. I will attempt to write up a short fictional character sketch beginning with a different letter of the alphabet each day. Remember that a place can also be a character.

Curtis

As Curtis walks down the hall toward his locker he is greeted with smiles, cheers, and high-fives! He’s a hero and he has learned to greet every smile with one of his own. Sometimes it’s really difficult to return those smiles and sometimes it is even difficult to make the walk down the hall, a hero’s walk, if you will.

Curtis doesn’t think he’s a hero. He just sort of fell into the role when the gym teacher discovered he was the quarterback his high school football team was severely lacking. They trained him to hone the natural skills and they build up the anticipation. When his father wouldn’t let him join the team, the coaches even talked to him and convinced him. And the glory days began. His popularity soared and everyone knew his name and his face.

But Curtis’ life didn’t feel like anything special. Sure, he was a great football player and he received the compliments and the pats on the back with outward gratitude. Inside Curtis hated the attention and he hated the physical pats on the back because they were almost always hurting the bruises that only the padding he wore during practice and games could protect. The kudos he received stopped when he walked in the door at home. Curtis missed the hugs and the love that had disappeared when his mother lost her battle with cancer. Cancer had taken his mom and Curtis’ happiness. It had also claimed his father. Once his mom was gone, Curtis’ dad was lost to drinking and bitterness and meanness. Curtis hated it but he felt sorry for his dad, and after all, he was his dad and he hadn’t always been cruel. It wasn’t his dad’s fault, just like it wasn’t his mom’s fault that she had gotten sick and died. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.

Curtis hated the attention but he made the most of it because it was his ticket out of the house and away from his father. That’s what he was thinking as he walked down the hallway smiling and high-fiving.

 

Alexa

Babs

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#AtoZ-Alexa

Join me during the month of April as I blog through the alphabet. My theme will be What’s In A Name. I will attempt to write up a short fictional character sketch beginning with a different letter of the alphabet each day. Remember that a place can also be a character.

Alexa

Just look at her! She thinks she knows it all but when I ask her even the simplest of questions, she doesn’t know the answers. Sure she knows how many ounces make a quart or how many cups in a gallon but does she know my next door neighbor’s name? That’s info I could really used! Does she even care that she is failing me when she can’t answer my questions?

That’what gets me. I’ll ask her a question and she’ll answer, “sorry, I don’t know that one, “but she doesn’t even sound sorry. It’s just a job to her. The other day, after four “I don’t knows” I got so mad that I pulled the plug. I stomped right over to the couch, pulled it away from the wall, reached for the plug and pulled it. That’ll teach her. Now she just sits there in that black cylinder, skulking because she can’t enlighten the world with her useless knowledge anymore!

Take that Alexa!

 

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