April 10, 2008
Apr
'08
Today’s Booking Through Thursday question is: Pick up the nearest book. (I’m sure you must have one nearby.) Turn to page 123.
First of all, I just want to say that I’m not sure if I’m supposed to connect this based on what is happening in the book, but all the books currently right next to me are part of my TBR pile so I have no idea what’s going on in them! I’m going to take this as an opportunity to do some creative writing, so my “connection” is not in any way the plot of the book (and if it is, it must be magic because I totally winged it). (Actually, all the books that are next to the chair I’m currently sitting in are the ones that have newly come into my house and haven’t yet been entered into the Word file database I keep of all the books I own. I’m a little behind so it’s a large stack of books.)
What is the first sentence on the page?
“She ignored my question.”
What is the last sentence on the page?
“This neglect meant something far worse.”
Now… Connect them together… (And no you may not transcribe the entire page of the book - that’s cheating!)
She ignored my question. She was busy eating her muffin so ravenously, as if she had never eaten such a muffin before. It was cute, sweet, but I still wanted to know how she’d gotten to where she was. I looked at her intently, hoping to suggest my inquiry was serious and I was determined to know the answer, but her curiousity wasn’t restricted to the man sitting across from her.
Her eyes wandered around the cafe. Every time she experienced something, it was as if it were the first time she’d ever experienced anything like it - the muffin, the cafe, the people in it; even when I approached her and offered to buy her breakfast, she was taken aback. Had human kindness never touched her?
Her head whipped into my direction and she smiled one of those big, bright smiles that sooth even the most confused souls. Suddenly my question didn’t matter anymore and I only wanted to look into those almond-shaped beaming green eyes as they drank in my curiousity. I wanted to know everything about her, not just why she came here or what put her in the condition she was in when I found her. I wanted to know about her sixth grade teacher, her seventeenth birthday, her favorite magazine, what she did under the covers with a flashlight after her parents went to bed. I wanted to know if she enjoyed camping and whether or not she’d ever consider travelling to Chesire countryside with me to spend the night.
“What are you thinking?” she asked, her voice as comforting as her eyes. She rarely spoke, as shy as she was, but what came out where smooth, silky sounds that made one’s heart jump. Her head cocked to one side and her smile began to fade.
“Oh, nothing important,” I lied. I think we promised not to lie to each other when we met this morning, but I felt embarassed to tell her I was thinking of our future. Perhaps as far as she was concerned, we didn’t have a future past this breakfast.
“You look worried.” Her expression doubted me. I realized that she probably hadn’t even heard my question; how could such a sweet, genuine girl ignore someone this way?
I hesitated. “I’m in good shape,” I replied. I’m in good shape? What does that mean? I shook my head and lowered it down so that I was looking at the table. Sometimes a guy can say really dumb things in the presence of a beautiful girl.
“I can tell.” She smiled and then continued her observation of the room around us, apparently content with my answer. I averted my eyes from the table and looked towards the serving bar. A bit of a grin fell across my face; I couldn’t help it. She clearly had been looking and liked what she saw, and I couldn’t ignore the fact that I liked what I saw in her, too.
She scooted her chair closer to my side of the table and I wondered if I should have been noticing these things. I tend to read too much into small motions or changes in facial expressions and draw conclusions based on what I want to be happening. I tend to end up making a fool of myself based on these assumptions, but she did agree to breakfast, right? I still wondered if that was just for a free meal, if she would have agreed to anyone who’d asked. If this was a date, it was the weirdest date I’d ever been on. She couldn’t even make eye contact for more than a few minutes.
I tried to bring something light-hearted back into the conversation. “Hey, stranger, tell me your name.” I’d only just realized that she’d never told me, nor had I ever asked. We’d only been in each other’s company for an hour or so, so it wasn’t too terribly awful of us, but I suddenly felt it very important to ask her her name. I couldn’t keep thinking of her as “that girl who let me buy her breakfast;” I had to put a more suitable label to that face.
“M-my name?” she stuttered, surprised, and I also detected a hint of betrayal. I wondered if asking her name offended her, like in those old fairy tales where no one knows the true name of any of their friends, only nicknames provided as masks to cover up the true nature of the being. She stared at me almost in disgust, though only her eyes told what she was feeling. Her lips were still curved up and her posture hadn’t slumped. “Why would you want to know that?”
“Well,” I started, confused, “so I have something to call you by. Shall I always refer to you as ’stranger’?”
“I’m… perfectly okay with that.” She was uneasy. I’d made her uncomfortable by asking for something so simple as her name. “Can we change the subject, now? Ask me something else.”
This was not like her ignorance of my question. This neglect meant something far worse.
The book? Peony in Love by Lisa See. I got this from Random House a few weeks ago as a free copy, as I’m part of their Reader’s Circle. I don’t know anything about it. Also, I think it would be an interesting idea to take the first and last sentences of a chosen book (or chosen books) and write a short story out of what results.
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YAY!! Great story….I really enjoyed reading it. You connected them the same way I did. I wrote a story too. It was a fun one for me, I haven’t written for a long time.
happy BTT!!
Apr
'08
Great story connection! Very intriguing. I want to know her secrets, now.
Happy BTT!
Apr
'08
I have been meaning to read this book. Yet to be available in India!
Here is my BTT post!
Apr
'08