06 DEC 09: "I will die in Paris, on a rainy day...It will be a Thursday." (Cesar Vallejo) Date: Dec 6, 2009 7:06:10 AM PST Author: Susan Lawson Begin writing with the words in this prompt, or change some of the specifics, like the city, the weather, the day and write as long as you can (or set a time for a specific amount of time). Every time you get stuck, go back to this quote and change specifics again. Susan Lawson Last modified by Susan Lawson on Dec 6 2009 7:20AM   Reply to this Post

06 DEC 09: "I will die in Paris, on a rainy day...It will be a Thursday." (Cesar Vallejo) Date: Dec 6, 2009 7:11:53 AM PST Author: Susan Lawson I will die in Paris on a rainy day. It will be a Thursday. It will be Paris because I refuse to go to another world until I’ve seen the one city in this world I’ve always dreamed of seeing. A rainy day because rain brings up the shadows in a way sun cannot. So much of seeming life gets rained on anyway. I’d rather go out seeing what the rain leaves. Thursday because it’s almost the weekend. There’s an expectation there that Monday cannot live up to. Mondays are often let-downs—a weekend past that didn’t measure up, a weekend to come too far away to move me. I will die in Barcelona, on a windy day. It will be a Monday. Barcelona because it is the jumping off point for all things Dali. It is by its nature surreal. Windy because the winds there that sweep over the Pyrenees are said to be the root of the painter’s mad streak. I should like to hear and feel such winds for myself. Monday, because I will want to have had the weekend, the peak experience, the full spectrum of light from which to have viewed this surreal countryside. I will die in Stockholm on a cold day. It will be a Wednesday. Stockholm because it seems to me to be all blonde and sterile there, so many blue eyes staring out at my darkness. On a cold day because cold is what it is there—everywhere really—and so I’d like to go out with that one honest insight pasted onto my breast. Wednesday because I will feel, dying, as if I only got halfway through. That’s always when the buzzer sounds for me. Best to go out caught up in the middle of things--whatever they are--than waiting for the end to come toward you. Susan Lawson   Reply to this Post

"I will die in Paris ..." Date: Dec 19, 2009 9:03:18 AM PST Author: Rebecca I will die in Paris, on a rainy day. It will be a Thursday. Crazy, right? I know I should think so. I mean, who pays attention to some county fair fortune teller? But something about the way she looked when she told me has stuck with me all these years. Maybe it was the way her hands grabbed mine across the table, hard and urgent. Or the way her wrinkled forehead furrowed down onto her brow as her eyes stared hard into mine. Whatever it was, she put a good scare in me, one I've never forgotten. While I don't believe in fortunes and ESP and all that, the idea of going to Paris has made me nervous since that day. I detoured to Amsterdam to avoid it during my college backpacking trip and have managed to steer clear of the city ever since. Occasionally people will ask why I haven't made it there in my travels, but I just shrug and say it never interested me much. If they persist, I can toss out a joke about it being "full of French people". No one ever argues with that one. So how did I find myself here, at 37000 feet, heading to the one city I've spent the last twenty years trying to avoid? I don't know what to say except that pride is more powerful than fear. My company has a new client in Paris, and there was no way around a visit short of claiming that I was petrified of the city and accepting the mental health break that would surely follow. No, I had to go. Besides, my fear is irrational. She was some low paid carney whose idea of a good time was giving small town kids a scare. I'm an adult now. I know how the world works, and predicting the future is not part of it. I mean, if she could do that, wouldn't she have invested in Microsoft all those years ago and sat back to collect her windfall? No, it's nonsense. I know it. The thumping in my chest is irrational, the remnants of childhood silliness. I'm certainly not going to let it curtail my career and ruin my reputation. I lean back in my seat and signal to the flight attendant to bring me another gin and tonic. We should be there in four hours, just as dawn breaks. I pick up the paper and scan the financial section. As I turn the page, I see the international forecast. In spite of myself, my eye scans for Paris. Sunny on Tuesday, cloudy on Wednesday, and on Thursday ... rain. unmodernverse.blogspot.com / marvelous-misadventures.blogspot.com / thesofachronicles.blogspot.com / rfhphotography.blogspot.com Last modified by Rebecca on Dec 19 2009 9:15AM   Reply to this Post

"I will die in Paris ..." Date: Mar 25, 2010 7:41:03 AM PDT Author: Susan Lawson Very imaginative! I like the whole life you create, from the narrator's avoidance behavior to her final defiances. And, of course, the intersection of coincidence at the end and the sense of mystery we're left with. Fun! Susan Lawson   Reply to this Post

Re: "I will die in Paris ..." Date: Mar 30, 2010 9:53:26 PM PDT Author: Rebecca Thanks for the feedback! I think I had the start of a 'Twilight Zone' episode there. ;) I enjoy how you capture the setting so well in each of your scenes. You chose just the right details to give a strong sense of place. You also give a good feel for each of the days of the week. Something I knew but had never put into words. Wednesdays are unfinished, Mondays are often letdowns, Thursdays are full of expectations (which explains why it's always been my favorite day - hoping can be better than doing sometimes). unmodernverse.blogspot.com / marvelous-misadventures.blogspot.com / thesofachronicles.blogspot.com / rfhphotography.blogspot.com Last modified by Rebecca on Mar 30 2010 9:55PM   Reply to this Post