Wednesday 6 January 2016

Attention Span

In my writers' group on Monday we were given the prompt to write about a situation where your mind wanders. This was my offering. 
For audio click here 

Concentrate, I tell myself, stay in the moment. Moment, there's a nice word, satisfying to say.
Moment, moment, it’s the alliterative nature I like. Moment.
I shake my head and clear my mind, bringing it back to the here and now. The present.
Oh presents, I've seen them waiting, in shining wrapping, all for me. I wonder what's there, I wonder if it is what we wanted. 
Rodney stop it. Stop wandering. Keep focus.
But it’s tough. It’s so stuffy in here, and I can feel myself sweating. People are looking at me. I don’t like it; I hate being centre of attention. And it's so boring. Boy people can drone on at times; blah, blah, blah. It's like being in school assembly - old Mr Rice and his rambling stories of the dangers of fireworks and jumpers returned to the shops.
Stop daydreaming. Concentrate. I smile at Doreen and focus my attention. She looks stunning. Unlike the first time I saw her. She was sitting on a tube train dying for a pee. Her make up was running down her face, her tights were ripped. I thought she'd been crying, so asked if she was okay.
She was okay; more than okay, brilliant in fact. We were getting off at the same stop and popped into the pub by the station so she could use the loo. We’d shared a drink, shared numbers and then shared some good times.
Not quite as good as Maria, but there's no one as good as Maria. Just a shame Maria didn't think the same about me. Ah Maria, I thought of her shoulder, her hair, the way the mirror didn't reflect her face. I smiled to myself at the thought of her going down...
I was suddenly aware of the silence. I looked around. Everyone was looking at me, expectant faces, waiting for me to say something. Problem was I had no idea what?
“Um can you repeat the question?”
I heard people giggle, and Doreen's mother do her trademark tut.
“Please?” I added
Doreen smiled at me and the registrar said:
“Rodney Mathew Lewis do you take Doreen Louise Jones to be your lawful wedded wife?”

Enjoyed this? Why not but my novel? Click on the widgets below. 


5 comments:

  1. Savvy:-) Very good story although makes me worry about Doreen:-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. My first thought was that Maria was a vampire :)))

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think the author may have been being rude about an ex :-)

      Delete
  3. Petra Goláňová9 January 2016 at 18:03

    “Um can you repeat the question?”

    ReplyDelete