In my archives I have a stack of files with fragments of stories, poems and songs. No-one else has had the chance of digging through those fragments, but I decided to share one with you today.
It’s the opening paragraphs of a fiction story. And, interestingly, it’s the only one that has a basic plot outline. I had the idea for this story back in June 2014 and wrote the opening paragraphs. Then I drew up a very basic outline for most of the story… except for the very end.
My question for you is this – what do you think is going to happen next, and what genre of book do you think this will land up being?
PS Please remember this is a first draft… and first drafts always need lots of work. At least, mine do.
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“Hey, Laura! Aren’t you supposed to be meeting people for lunch?”
Laura Michaels looked up from her computer where she was frantically trying to get the month end figures to balance.
Most people, on meeting Laura for the first time, would dismiss her as being “average”. Laura was 28, though she looked younger than her age. Her youthful looks were accentuated by her diminutive size- at five foot, four inches she was the shortest of her female friends, a fact which she had never reconciled herself to. She had a serious face that was quietly attractive until she smiled, when people around her would be amazed that they had not seen her beauty before. Her short ash-blonde hair was at present tucked behind her ears, a habit which she had tried for years to break, but which she always resorted to when she was stressed.
The slight frown that was another mark of her current tension softened into a quick smile as Laura looked across the partition at her colleague.
“Sorry Kathrine, I didn’t quite get that. What did you say?”
“I was just reminding you about your lunch date today, Laura. You are going out to lunch today, aren’t you?”
“Yup, I’m meeting some old friends in town at 12:30. Why?”
“Because it’s getting pretty late. It’s almost quarter past already.”
Laura glanced up at the clock on the office wall, and her smile faded. Briefly her face reflected shock as she registered that it was already 12:15. The shock turned to dismay as she quickly calculated the logistics of time and travel.
“Shit!” she said with feeling, “I’m going to be late!”
It was almost one o’clock before Laura got to the neighbourhood of the restaurant where she was due to meet her friends. She turned off the main road into the sheltered street where the restaurant was, and started looking for parking. For once Laura’s luck seemed to be with her and she found a parking space almost immediately. Sighing with relief, Laura parked and climbed out of her Golf GTi. Locking the car, she slammed the door and set the alarm before tossing her keys into her oversized bag and setting off down the alley towards the restaurant.
