Filed under: Telling stories, Writing | Tags: #fridayflash, am writing, friday flash fiction
I wrote this for my “Start Writing Fiction’ course that I’m doing on Future Learn – it was a character sketch assignment. We had to create a character that was either based on ourself with a dramatic alteration (e.g. age, gender, etc); or based on someone we know with a dramatic alteration; or completely from our imagination; or a combination of the above. Hope you enjoy.
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Rachel has always been a morning person. Every morning she awakes at about 7am, goes straight to the bathroom and relieves herself, before gluing in her teeth, straightening her long grey hair and eating a nice breakfast. This is her only ritual. Each day is a fresh one and is usually led by a combination of her mood and the weather.
Pulling the blinds back, she is a little disappointed to unveil a day of strong sunshine and a slight breeze. Upon waking that morning, she hoped for a rainy day that would compel her to sit at her desk and write.This is the sort of weather you can only be outside in, she says to herself.
After dressing her hair in a colourful chiffon scarf to hide her receding hair line, she applies her make up to her face. Something she really enjoys these days, even though she didn’t really dabble in make up until her late sixties. Whilst squeezing into her grey summer dress, she decides that she’ll go have a coffee on the seafront with her notebook and do some people watching.
Coming out of her apartment building, she bids friendly good morning to the caretaker and his wife as she passes. They both smile fondly at her, leaving her with that warm fuzzy feeling she craves for each day. There is nothing she likes more than happiness, smiles and laughter on a day like this.
Walking down Grand Avenue in her favourite dress, she feels like the superstar she always dreamed of being and despite her aching hip slowing her down, she tries her best to walk to the cafe with the same sassiness as she had in her thirties. A cloud begins to cover the sun and Rachel thinks to herself about how much more fun everything was with her husband by her side. She sits down at the next bench and waits for her wheeze to pass.
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Henrietta Maddox Webloner 
Lovely to see your writing again Vicky! I could see Rachel walking down that Grand Avenue – nice character sketch. ^_^
Comment by Helen A. Howell June 6, 2014 @ 7:25 amI liked the line “Each day is a fresh one and is usually led by a combination of her mood and the weather” – that really gave me a strong sense of her character.
Comment by A.M. Harte June 6, 2014 @ 3:05 pm