The following was based upon a prompt in my writers group. The prompt was to write out a step-by-step instructions as if you were spelling it out for a complete novice or someone who did not speak your native language. Then take those instructions and tell a story with them. Mine, of course, was on how to create a blog on WordPress.com.
Her fingers trembled on the keys. I can do this, she thought, chewing her lip.
Site name. Name of site.
The pain of the moment struck her chest, pressing the air out with a wheeze. Curling around the pain, each click of the keyboard a Morse code of dread, she typed the name.
The “Get a Blog” blue button pulsed a beat then drifted across the screen. She smeared her left hand across her watering eyes and stabbed the button with the mouse in her right.
“An email is flying across the web to your email inbox. Please check it to verify your site registration.”
The gentle, lighthearted tone helped her breathe a little easier, An unexpected kindness. She switched to the email tab in her web browser and reloaded the page, her new-found patience serving her well.
There is was. Confirmation of the moment.
A couple more clicks and the Settings Screen filled the dark room with brilliant white light.
It asked her to commit. To make this real.
She wasn’t ready. It wasn’t time. Too soon. Too late.
It had to be done.
It was done.
With courage she never knew before, strength she never thought possible, energy that rose from depths impossible to comprehend six months ago, six months in the past when she could wake up, heart filled with the joy at the fresh start of a new day, eager to plunge into new tasks, embrace new ideas, meet old friends and new strangers, hugs, laughter, meals shared, events toasted…six months later every moment is dark, filled with agony. A shared suffering but suffering all the same…
Fingers like sausages stuffed with lead she typed:
“Alexander Smith, educator, husband, father, kind heart. 1948 – 2013”
and clicked Enter.
