💗It’s Day 12 of the #TopsyTurvyRelationships writing challenge over on Instagram! Yesterday Rabbit sought guidance from the Tortoise. Today a character deals with her mother’s failing health. Here we go!
🔔 Chime
Tara Parker-Jones sighed and texted 💞 to her mother. Treatment was going well, but some days were worse than others. Her fingertips moved over the phone screen: Go take that nap. I’ll check in later.
Pocketing the phone, she grabbed her coat and considered her options. The closest door in the bookstore’s office led to the broom closet.
She shrugged and stepped on through…and stood on a massive front porch. “Where in the world?” The snowy woodland scene before her was unfamiliar. Apparently, she door traveled to a cabin.
She spun and faced the front door. “Okay, who lives here?” She knocked once, waited, then knocked again.
When the door finally opened, she wasn’t the only one who was surprised. Sebastian, for once, was speechless. His lips parted, but no sound came out.
“Turvy magic,” Tara said. “Are you going to make me stand out here in the cold?”
He shook his head, moving to the side. “No one ever comes here.”
“How shocking.” Tara dropped her coat on a chair as she walked into the living room.
He snorted. “No really, bookworm. Make yourself at home.”
“I don’t know why I’m here.” She plopped down on the couch.
“I was just leaving. Another happy Sunday dinner with the family.” He rolled his eyes. “Kill me.”
“Maybe if you weren’t such an a$$hole, family time wouldn’t suck.”
“A$$hole is in the genes,” he replied. “You should meet my father.”
“I’ll pass.” Tara hesitated. “What about your mom?”
Sebastian scoffed. “She has her favorite son – my brother.”
“Maybe you should try to build a relationship with her before it’s too late.” Tara looked down at her hands.
Sebastian noted her watery eyes and sat on the coffee table in front of her. “What’s wrong?”
Tara swallowed. “My mom is sick.”
His lips formed an ‘O.’ “Bad?”
“Bad.”
“Tell you what. I’ll skip the family fun – I’m on the sh*t list anyway. Why don’t I get you something to drink, and you can tell me about it?” He stood.
Tara gave a half-laugh. “Sure. What the hell.”
“That’s the spirit, bookworm.” He patted her head before stalking off to the kitchen.
Tara sank back into the cushions. This Turvy couldn’t get any weirder.
—
💗 This writing challenge runs from February 15 – 28! Stay tuned as tomorrow the next prompt is: Attend a parent-teacher conference. Since my characters do not have children, I’m going to take the writing prompt in a slightly different direction. (That post is now available – click here!)
Readers – Not on Instagram?
That’s okay! I’ll be sharing my Instagram posts daily here on my blog site AND daily on Facebook at Writer Tracy Brown so you can read them there, too. Make sure you check for a new story every day from February 15 through February 28!
What’s This Mean for Door to Door & Bellerose Witchline Characters?
I’ll be dropping Emily Swift, Lucie Bellerose, Templeton, Rabbit, Tara, Sebastian, and the rest of the crazy crew into a story matching the relationship-themed “prompt of the day” from the challenge.
If you ARE on Instagram, make sure you’re following me at https://www.instagram.com/WriterTracyBrown/ to see the posts there! But again, as long as you check out my blog list or my Writer Tracy Brown page every day, you can read all the short stories without Instagram. 🙂
Leave a Reply