A to Z April Blogging Challenge
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/
K is for Kismet
Dan had grown up in a small town just outside of New Orleans. He never knew his father. He doubted if his mother even knew who his father was. She was very promiscuous. She had been a beautiful woman. She was long and lean, with blue eyes, and long black hair that fell, like a waterfall, down her back. She carried an air of mystique about her.
Dan adored his mother, when he was young. She loved Dan and called him ‘Her little Man’. Dan’s mother worked as a Mystic for a living. Their home was often filled with strange people and many men. Now that he looked back on it, he was sure that his mother not only sold her Mystic Readings, but her body as well.
She had been an only child and inherited everything when her parents were killed in an automobile accident. She didn’t have to work, but she loved being a Mystic.
“Besides, I have to carry on the Family Tradition,” she had told Dan.
Dan never asked his mother questions about family members and he didn’t even want to know about the Family Tradition. His mother never mentioned it again and never talked about other family members, so Dan assumed there weren’t any.
When Dan began school, he started having feelings that something about his life was amiss. Everybody that lived in or near New Orleans was a little bit strange, but Dan felt something that went further than a little bit strange.
He had finished High School and went on to college. He called his mother at least once a week, but didn’t go back home to visit with her very often, maybe once, possibly twice a year. Dan had moved to Massachusetts, once he had earned his Masters Degree, to teach and work on his PhD. He had fallen in love with another teacher, who taught at the same High School he did. After dating for eight months, Dan knew she was the one and he asked her to marry him. She said, “Yes,” so they became engaged and started planning a wedding and a life together.
Dan called his mother to tell her about the engagement and to invite her up for the wedding.
“How lovely for you. My little man all grown up and getting married. I just want you to be happy. I have to admit, though, that I’m a little disappointed that you don’t want to have the wedding here, at home,” his mother said.
Dan could hear the pout in her voice.
“But, you will come?” he asked.
“Yes. Yes, I will be there,” his mother replied.
The wedding went off without a hitch and Dan was getting used to being married, when he received a phone call from a University in Louisiana asking him to interview for a teaching job. Dan and his wife talked it over, and decided Dan should go for the job. After a little over a year of marriage, Dan found himself back in Louisiana with his wife. Shortly after, Dan’s wife told him she was pregnant. They hadn’t been trying yet, but during the hassle of moving from Massachusetts to Louisiana, Dan’s wife had forgotten to take her daily pill, several times.
Dan’s mother was beside herself with joy and had rented an apartment in Baton Rouge so she could be close by when the baby was born. Dan’s mother-in-law flew in from Massachusetts and was staying with them for the last months of her daughter’s pregnancy.
At long last, Dan’s daughter was born. She was a beautiful girl with blue eyes and black hair, just like his mother. “Was this his kismet?” Dan wondered.
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Another amazing story! My goodness, you are a compelling writer. I did feel the timing was telescoped, but that’s part of the nature of a short story.
Blessings and Bear hugs!
Bears Noting
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Thank you for your words. I look forward to writing a full version of that story. I was disappointed in my writing this morning. I was rushed and kept being interrupted. Hard to stay focused. 🙂
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This is delightful, intriguing and in all ways utterly readable writing. You have a flair for moving things along and getting a good deal of personality into a few tight phrases. This piece has real “flow”. I enjoyed it tremendously. Thank you for a fine, fine post. And for visiting and commenting on my “Kindness” post today. So very nice to meet you.
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Nice to meet you too. Thank you for your encouraging words. I felt that this piece was not my best. I was rushed and kept getting interrupted. Hard to keep the focus. I look forward to writing more on this one. I have a lot to say. 🙂
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I love the pictures you manage to create with so few words. If you ever do write a longer version of this I’d love to read it 🙂
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Thank you for your words! I have benefitted much from the A to Z blogging challenge. I have several short stories and a couple of novels in my head already. I will start focusing on them in May. 🙂
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“Everybody that lived in or near New Orleans was a little bit strange…” <— I think this is why I always enjoy New Orleans soooooooo much.
~Sha'
http://stfu4abetterrelationship.wordpress.com/
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Me too. I love New Orleans! It is so full of history and mystery. I go as often as I can and would like to live there someday.
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