fudge

Wednesday 27 July 2011

SAD ........... (seasonal affective disorder)

Write On Wednesdays


It's Wednesday which means it's time for WoW, the write on Wednesday challenge where Gll over at inkpaperpen gives us a prompt each week.

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 7 - Sit under a tree and write: Find yourself a quiet spot. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Take a look at Kirsty's/ Tree Photo. Write the first words that come into your head. Keep writing whatever comes into your head. Stop when the buzzer rings. Do this exercise over and over if you wish. If like me, you struggle with visual prompts, perhaps try sitting under a tree to write. I have heard that changing your usual writing place can spark new inspiration. Try it and see. Do both if you please!



She woke as dawn was breaking, a faint smile lingering on her lips, her whole being was suffused with a feeling of contentment, of belonging, of rightness.

As she opened her eyes she realised, it was the dream again.  She loved the dream as much as she hated it. 


She hated the nightmare while preferring its honesty.

Eyes heavy with tiredness she longed to sink back into oblivion but sleep was rarely her friend these days.

The bangle sat on the dresser, the box still open.

Dressing quietly she carefully closing the door behind her, knowing that if she woke him he would ask to come with her. Not wanting to have to explain that she needed this time on her own. He tell her he understood while the hurt in his voice told her that he lied.  He didn't understand, he couldn't, she hadn't told him.

She welcomed the chill in the air, it cleared the fog from her mind. Her breath rose around her in a cloud of vapour. The sun shone weakly at this early hour but the cloudless blue sky held the promise of a beautiful day to come.

Making her way to the tree, her footprints left a trail in the damp grass behind her.  How long had the tree stood here? Maybe two hundred years. What secrets did it hold?

She touched the rough bark, tracing the grain with her fingertips and, in a moment of impulsiveness, stretched her arms as far around its wide trunk as she could, pressing the full length of her body into it as though by some process of osmosis she might share those secrets and gain the answers she so desperately craved.
The tree shared it's secret.

The secret was in the changing of the seasons.

The promise of new life and happiness in the Spring, delicate buds, gradually unfurling, reaching out towards the sun. 

The overblown joy of the Summer, basking in the warmth, the dappled light shining through the leaves. 

The Autumn, a time to acknowledge the passing of the Summer, to gather strength for the long days ahead. 

The Winter, a time to endure the cold and darkness whilst waiting for the promise of a new Spring.

It was Autumn for her now but the Summer was still vivid in her heart,  Winter was yet to come. 


She held on to the belief, the certain knowledge, that this was the natural order of things, the way things had always been. 


The Summer she had foolishly hoped might, just this once, last a lifetime had passed her by. But there would be a new  Spring and maybe, just maybe she would find that happiness and hope again one day.

9 comments:

Jay said...

A clever correlation between self/relationships/seasons all told by the tree. Really enjoyed this - very touching, thoughtful.

No one said...

Ooh, I wonder what she hasn't told him, and why the bangle is important? Intriguing!

Tat said...

I love the seasons analogy, too. What a great story, full of unanswered questions. I'm more curious about the nightmare. What was in that dream?

Sarah said...

Thank you Jayne, it's one of those that although I like the concept I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out but I'm not sure what I would change. Glad you enjoyed it :)

The bangle is a bit of a thread running through last weeks story and reappearing again this week Sif. It is very important to her and it holds the secret. The story of the bangle is the thing she hasn't shared with him.

The dream is of the Summer Tat which she loves and hates equally because the Summer has ended.

The nightmare is of the Winter which, although she hates it is the truth. Her dreams and nightmares are beyond her control and given the choice she would take the nightmare because the moment of realisation when she wakes from the dream is so painful.

Andy said...

Wow! This is just wonderful! I just hope we also have four seasons in the Philippines, so I could relate to it much better. You have the talent of personification.

Laura Maria said...

Amazing! So much intricately connected (such as the dream being Summer)you left me in awe. I had to read it twice :)

Sarah said...

Thank you Andy. I can't imagine life.without the changing of the seasons even though I often wish it could always been summer.

thanks L, life is pretty much like the different seasons, only the lucky few get to keep the Summer.

InkPaperPen said...

I liked the connection between the seasons and the story too and that she hated the nightmare but preferred its honesty. I know what you mean about liking the concept but not being happy with the way it ends up - as you know, this was my experience this week too. You could look at re-working the concept in next week's prompt perhaps?

x

Sarah said...

I might think about doing that Gill. Sometimes things just seem right and others your left feeling you could do better. This one has a larger element of fiction in it which is possibly why I didn't think it flowed as well.