Brooke: Off to Sea
July 22, 2008
The morning was dark, the early sun fighting against a thick canvas of clouds. Slowly the stars blinked off and nodded into the hazy gray, ushering in the dawn.
The mother had been awake for hours, tending to the hearth as she plaited her hair up in a tight braid. She glanced at her daughter still sprawled snugly beneath the blankets. She always slept wildly, arms and legs bent in rigid forms. The mother could only wonder at what kinds of invisible demons her daughter was fighting.
She left the hearth, sat lightly on the bed’s edge.
“Sigridur, my star”
Eyelashes fluttered with a quiet moan.
The mother reached out, trying to ease her gently from sleep. Her hand cradled cheekbone. “The boat leaves early”
Sigridur stirred, lifted her head, “you go to sea mother?”
“Today, we will both go.”
Sigridur blinked in surprise, peering through her tangled hair. “To sea?”
“Yes.” Her mother nodded and held out her arms. Sigridur climbed into them.
“Now, let us do something about this hair.”
She pulled the golden strands away from her daughter’s face.
“Shall I plait it like my own?”
Hi. Scott said I could comment… I still feel kind of weird jumping on a family affair.
*awkward silence*
So is it cool if I believe that this one happens two and a half days before the other one? The first time I read “Sigridur” it didn’t really feel like it was in a house and after I convinced myself it was I wasn’t really satisfied. It rests easier in my mind if it was on a boat after they’ve gone to sea.
First, don’t feel weird.
Of course you can and should comment!
Plenty of non-Parker’s have commented in the past and I wish they’d keep it up.
Knowing that people are reading is a motivator, and any comments or criticisms are realllly realllly appreciated.
Second, I think you’re right. Reading over the first one it really doesn’t feel like they are in a house. I wrote that one on a whim and without much planning. I just thought of characters and wrote something kind of randomly. But now that I am pulling the pieces together and formulating a story idea, it feels right that this one happened before the other.