Bells in the Rain :: Visual Dare #16
Two weeks since he’d last called. She jumped every time her phone rang, or beeped. The butterflies in her tummy grew stronger with each Facebook notification. But it was never him. Surely the end couldn’t be that undramatic? No big fight, no harsh words, just drifting. Days that go by, and it becomes harder to call than to just leave it for “tomorrow”. The rain matched her mood. Just like the day they met, a soft pattering rain, the overcast gloom making the students milling around the university forecourt count the minutes until they could return to their rooms and rug up in tracksuits and doonas, a coffee in hand, and curl up in a chair with a book, and not necessarily a text book. It hadn’t been raining when Lauren woke, but just a sad grey sky that took every last ounce of her willpower to drag herself from bed in time to make it to lectures. The rain had come later, on her way to the library, and she was forced to make a dash for the nearby student centre. A hand that wasn’t her own pulled the door open and held it for her, and together they stood in the lobby, staring in silence past the bells hanging against the window, willing the rain to pause long enough to get to where they were going. When it became apparent the rain was settled in, she turned to the stranger waiting with her. “Hi, I’m Lauren”. He grinned and stuck his hand out “I’m Paul”.
~~~
Linking up with Angela at Anonymous Legacy again for Visual Dare. Recognise anyone? Yes, I’m working on expanding Lauren and Paul’s story from last week’s dare, as part of Camp NaNoWriMo. I hope you enjoyed this snippet of their backstory.
Today’s word count : 257
Total word count : 721
Ahhhhhh so bittersweet and lovely. A breakup flashing gently back to an unpretentious beginning…..love it. Nicely done!! Thanks for participating!!
Thanks Angela! I’m not thrilled with the structure, it feels a bit confused, but it was a good exercise to work on developing these characters!
Aaaahhhh!!! what happened next… How many days till next installment 😉
You KNOW what happened next, goose! They met again in a hot air balloon!
What a nice slice of life story you’ve got going here… Excellent.
Thanks so much! A little slice from my current WIP.
This is so lovely. I really enjoyed reading this. The whole feel and tone went beautifully with the photo and I really felt pulled into the story. I agree with Jeff. A nice slice of life story – excellent!
Thanks Jo-Anne! And looking at this weeks Visual Dare, it seems there’ll be another L&P story sooner rather than later!