Sunday, June 21, 2015

#NovelSnip

I didn't write much this week, but I did write this.  I'm having a hard time getting into a groove, to tell the truth.  I'll keep trying.

Norah perched the laundry basket on her hip as she switched off the utility room light and mounted the stairs.  In her room, her suitcases were lying open and she had carefully folded and placed items in each category of clothing - class, casual, evening, pajamas.  When padded down the hallway toward her bedroom, the basket protruding, she saw Susan surveying the preparations, running her fingertips along the pale pink bedspread. When she heard Norah’s approach, she looked up and half-smiled.

“Getting ready?” she asked.

“Yep!” Norah said brightly.  “I can’t believe it’s already time.”  She felt nervous excitement spread down her sternum as she imagined stepping onto her new campus, so much more ready than she had been for Mount Mary a year ago, and with Peter waiting to show her the ropes.

“Can I sit?” Susan smiled.

“Of course,” Norah replied, trying to keep the suspicion from creeping into her tone.  She placed the laundry basket between the suitcases and knelt before it, folding and depositing clothes into their proper piles as she went.

“So how are you feeling about Appleton?” Susan ventured.

“Um,” Norah began, glancing up to gauge her mother’s endgame.  Susan’s face was open and calm.  “I’m really excited,” she said.  “I feel like it’s the right move.”  She looked into her mother’s eyes and waited for Susan’s next inquiry.
I'm pretty sure poor Susan is just trying to be nice here.  But sometimes she says mean things to Norah, so Norah's right to be a little careful, right?  What will happen when she goes back to college, do you think?

2 comments:

mm said...

"...trying to keep the suspicion from creeping into her tone." I like it.

lee said...

Daughters leaving home. Tough topic. Wah.