theoptimisticmanatee-blog

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Short Story Series #1

I decided I was going to write short stories and then also potential scenes from my book I am writing. Just the tough scenes where I may need input or comments back. That way I can tell what works and what doesn’t in a scene. For the short stories, the bold will be the prompt and everything thereafter will be my own. Yay writing!

Doug stuck his hand in the box and immediately pulled it out. "Ow," he said. He licked the side of his index finger as if it had honey on it. Peering down in the black hole, he could barely make out the whites of her eyes in the darkness. “She must be a feral little thing”, he muttered to himself, grunting as he picked up the box. The arthritis in his joints protested this move, but pushing through the stiffness, he regained his posture. Doug shifted the box into his left arm, cradling it carefully so as not to let it fall. Grasping his cane, he headed back up the dusty gravel road that led home. 

Doug was a solitary old man; never having many visitors and keeping mostly to himself. His wife, Martha, had passed some years back after a battle with cancer and with no children between them, he was pretty much on his own. The little blue house suited him well and provided just enough privacy from the neighbors that he was content with dying there. He knew it would be soon, at least according to the doctors, but the dying part didn’t scare him. He was looking forward to death actually; he would finally be with his love once more. 

Now he was stuck with this damned cat that was dropped at the end of his drive. People had a nasty habit of bringing their unwanted pets to the edge of town and dropping them like garbage. Last month, Doug had to rescue a puppy from the country road. The pup was trapped in a kennel sitting in the middle of the street. Doug may have been a hardened, lonely old man, but he wasn’t going to let a puppy die on his watch. 

He glanced down at the box he was carrying. Now this. What was he going to do with this creature? She, or he, Doug mused, obviously wasn’t a fan of people. Reaching the faded white door, he turned the knob slowly and the door creaked open. Dust danced through the air in the last rays of the sun, illuminating a small patch of carpet on the living room floor. Resting his cane against the wall, the old man turned and flipped the switch, flooding the room in a fluorescent glow. He set the box on the table next to the washed out couch then proceeded to slowly lift the flaps. 

The cat was crouched in a corner of the cardboard box. Obviously malnourished, she looked at him with fear, but also defiance. “You’ve got some spunk left in you, huh?” Doug said to her, noting the way her eyes glinted with pride. He saw the dirt rubbed into her copper colored fur and the fleas that crawled on her skin. His heart, though weary, broke for the hard life this little cat must have endured to get here. He despised the kind of people who could mistreat an innocent life. 

“Alright missy, you’d best be able to handle being touched because you are not running around my house with all that mess on you. So hold still,” Doug slowly reached into the box, carefully avoiding the claws that caught his hand the last time, and delicately lifted her up. She hung limply from his hand, not fighting a bit, as though she realized she was finally in caring hands. He lovingly brought her to his chest and hobbled to the kitchen sink. The last of the sun was dipping below the fields beyond his window. The old man reached for a wash cloth and wet it with warm water. He sat down at the wooden kitchen table and began slowly wiping the grime from her fur. With each stroke of the cloth, she more deeply relaxed into his chest, her purring growing louder with every speck of dust that was removed. 

All clean, she fell fast asleep in his lap. Despite her shy and skittish demeanor, her deep sighs betrayed her contentment. Doug sat at the table, stroking her bony body, afraid moving would awaken her from the deep slumber. Slowly he started to remember what it was like to feel connected to the world. To have a reason to live. To love. 

The old man continued to sit until the sun was well below the horizon and the street lights had all been illuminated. He sat, stroking that cat until the feeling in his legs had long since disappeared. Only when she awoke did he dare move. She looked up in his eyes and he knew that life was good. And for the first time since saying goodbye to his wife, Doug wanted to live. 

[theoptimisticmanatee-blog]

About Me

Hopefully it’s not strange to have two posts back to back, but I’m doing it anyway so deal with it…please. 

Alright a few things to know:

I love Jesus and I love people. 

I live in the United States in a place where I wonder during the winter months why I live where the air hurts my face and question my sanity for staying, but come summer can’t imagine living anywhere else.

I recently graduated from college and got a big kid job

I majored in Mechanical Engineering.

I struggle with anxiety and depression and have recently realized the magic sorcery that is my therapist so they are back under control.

My dog is the love of my life (don’t tell my boyfriend…actually he probably already knows)

I always wanted to be a writer, but loved math and science in high school which usually makes for a more stable career choice so I went down that path and am pursuing writing on the side.

I love knitting and am teaching myself to crochet. 

Yeah! That probably sums it up! I’m sure more of my weirdness will come through later and you will learn more if you want to keep reading.

[theoptimisticmanatee-blog]

Welcome

Hi there! Somehow in the vast world that is Tumblr and the internet, you managed to find my blog thing whatever this is. I am an writer, working hard to change my title from “aspiring writer” to “published author”, but struggling to keep motivated and fine tune my skills. I figured by starting one of these things, I could write short stories, get the creative juices flowing, and hopefully, someday, finish the book that has been started for a year now. So if you enjoy something you read, please be sure to like it or comment what you enjoyed the most!