It has been quite a while since I last had time to write...and I still don't really have the time. But today I decided to indulge in a day of typing away at some story ideas I've been inspired with in the past month.
As you know from my last post - my main focus these last few weeks has been to put 100% of my efforts into finding a job. This meant that I had goals every week - such as to make 15 contacts a day. Whether that be filling out an application, sending in my resume, or speaking with a company that had an opening; I did my best to fulfill my goal each and every day. As you can see, keeping my current part time job AND trying to get in 15 contacts a day easily ruined any possibility of writing or creating new plots.
But, about a week and a half ago I finally got another part time job which helped greatly in freeing up some time that I had before spent trying to find another job. Unfortunately, this job is part time, so I am now trying my utmost to find a way for these two jobs to work together.
Anyway, I suppose that that is the long and short of why I have been unable to make time for writing. But I have missed it quite a bit! Today I sat down for about 45 minutes at Starbucks and typed out a rough draft for a new storyline that I have been thinking about pursuing. Just to give you a rough idea about what I would like it to look like: I'm writing a story told from the perspectives of two people - both of whom are Lighthouse Keepers. One is a young female named Jenna who has just lost her father (isn't that original?). The state (South Carolina) has told her that if she wishes it she may take over her fathers job since he never had the time to apprentice another person before his death. The other is a young man, James Granger, who is also the keeper of a lighthouse, this one in Florida. The young man was a good friend of the girls father - they wrote each other for about 5 years. Jenna and James begin writing each other starting after Jenna sends a letter to James letting him know of her fathers passing.
So far I am still trying to think through the entire storyline, but it felt good to get a wee bit of it on paper. I haven't done much fiction in a while, so please bear with me and keep in mind that not only is this a rough draft, but also that I wrote it in 45 minutes without much of a guide as to where I was going with it. I feel awful that I do not have the time to clean it up and polish it to the sheen I would like before thrusting it before your eyes, but I fear that at the moment that would not be time well spent. So, be kind ;), and let me know what you think!
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With a glance out the window, Jenna picked up the pen and began to try and write the letter. This letter would be very different from any other she had ever written. Father is dead. Her last living relative was gone. Just like all the rest, he had taken one last breath of life before closing his eyes to the world.
It was now one week later and Jenna was the only one left to write to her father’s few friends and tell them all that had passed. He didn’t have many. Being the keeper of a lighthouse was a lonely life. Jenna had been his closest confident, friend and keeper of the house below the light. But Jesse, her father, did have a small circle of friends that he had kept up with over years. There was Ben O’Riley the lighthouse keeper in Maine. Sam Garfield the lighthouse keeper in South Carolina was another man who had been Jesse’s friend ever since they met at the National Convention for Lighthouse Keepers in 1834. Jenna tapped the pen on the paper; wasn’t there one more? Or right, James Granger in Florida. The lighthouse keeper. Being a lighthouse keeper meant that it was hard to make friends in the outside world. A lighthouse keeper was continuously busy keeping the light going. No one had time to go out into town and meet the boys at the local pub. Which meant that lighthouse keepers did the only thing they could; went to the bi-yearly Lighthouse Keeper Convention and meet up with other lighthouse keepers. After the convention they often wrote to each other for years.
So here sat Jenna, looking at the blank paper before her trying to figure out how to break the news of a death to men all over the country.
Dear Sam Garfield,
It is with a heavy heart that I write to you. I know that you and my father – Jesse Mayfield – were great friends for many years. This past week we had an accident here at the lighthouse. As my father was changing the oil in the light his cigar fell from his hands into the oil. This produced a devastating fire that my father was unable to put out. After trying for a few moments to put out the fire father began to descend the stairs to the house for a bucket of water. Unfortunately, he tripped as he was going down and fell from a great height all the way to the bottom of the flight of stairs. He retained great damage to his head, arms, and both legs were broken. I’m afraid he only lasted the night. By early morning’s light he was gone. I would like to thank you for your great friendship to my father and all I ask now if that you send up a prayer for me as it is looking like I will be taking over the lighthouse, as he never had time to train up an apprentice to take over his work here. Please ask the Lord on my behalf to grant me guidance in this new area of life.
In grief with a hope for a better tomorrow,
Jenna Mayfield~
Three letters did Jenna write so. Signing her name to each with a sigh of heartbreak. Loosing father was devastating. But being charged with the lighthouse by the state was a miracle of utterly gigantic proportions. Not many women worked the lighthouses; only three females that Jenna had ever heard of, and out of that only one remained now still the ruler of the light. The keeper of the light; that was the general title for those charged with retaining a bright yellow beam from the tall instrument of rescue. If the light went out even once you could easily lose your job. And then where would you be? Many men who worked the lighthouses were unable to ever leave unless in the day. Some loved it; the tie that bound them to the lighthouse and the sea. Mainly the sea, that call was often stronger than the call of duty the bound them to the lighthouse.
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Ughness....just re-read what I had written after copying it here, and I must say - it needs loads of work! So, sadly I do not have time for that now - but with any luck I will soon have time a plenty to dedicate to this story.
With Craic and much Love,
~Aithne Someris~
