While I was Young (story by Jill inspired by Jennifer's photo)

-


Jennifer gave me this photo prompt on September 17, 2021. I really love this image! The shadow looks long, the road looks longer, and you see the hills off in the distance with a hint of sky. It made me feel like someone would be standing there thinking about life and living there, sort of taking it all in. And I came up with this.


While I was Young

I stood on the road, staring down the street, waiting for my best friend, Lena, to pick me up. I’ve lived here my whole life, and everything felt familiar.

It was hard to believe that I would be graduating soon. 

Even harder to believe that I’d be leaving home in August. 

I think I heard somewhere that most people go to college within a three-hour drive of their houses. 

Not me. I had chosen to go to college across the country, longer than a three-hour plane ride, even. 

Sometimes I’m really excited about that. Other times I wonder what I was thinking when I made that decision. And had I really thought it through? 

I was going to miss my mom. I mean, yeah, she annoys me like all moms do from time to time. But for the most part, I’m realizing that she’s probably actually my best friend.

I’m going to miss my friends—Lena will be right here in Pittsburgh. She must have followed that close-to-home rule.

I’m even going to miss this street—and the familiarity of it all.

I drew in a deep breath and slowly blew it out, soaking it all in.

I nodded my head, releasing the nostalgia and getting back to thinking that going to Los Angeles was a good idea. It would be an adventure, and I might as well take advantage of all the adventures I could while I was young.

Lena’s car pulled around the corner, and I waved at her. “Speaking of adventure,” I said quietly. Lena and I always had fun.

She pulled the car up beside me. “Hey, girl,” I said slowly and made a face at her. “Ready Freddy?”

She laughed.

I walked around the car, got in, and buckled my seatbelt. 

Lena finished sending a text, set her phone down, and looked at me. “Ready, Polly?”

I nodded, and we drove away from my street.


—Jill Cullen (written September 18, 2021)

These characters were mentioned in The Reminder posted on 7.24.21.


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Woods (story by Jill prompted by Jennifer's photo)

-
Image
Jennifer gave me this photo as my writing prompt on September 11, 2021. I immediately said to her, "No, another body found in the woods story!" Why does my brain always go there!? But then I wrote this instead. The Woods I first noticed my eight-year-old daughter Elizabeth staring at the wood behind our house about a month ago. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but then when I repeatedly began to see her sitting in the same position, legs criss crossed, staring toward the trees. I started to wonder if there was something more to it. “Hey, Bean,” I said to her while eating lunch. “How was your morning?” Her eyes darted from her food to mine, and her back stiffened. “It was good,” she said quietly. “Oh, yeah?” I said, starting to feel a little panic rush through my stomach. “What were you up to earlier?”  She looked down at her plate again.  “I saw you sitting out back,” I said. She slowly licked her lips. “You can tell me, Liz. Is something wrong?” I reached f...
Read more

The Reminder (story by Jill inspired by Jennifer's photo)

-
Image
  What stood out to me with this photo prompt given to me on May 7, 2021, was the XOXO on the squid. It made me think of someone signing a note. And then I wrote this story …  The Reminder      If I had known that was the last note she was ever going to write me, I would have kept it.       I had found the note in my work tote as I was looking for my lunch. I’m not sure how I hadn’t seen it earlier. It was sort of propped on the top of my bag in such a way that it was almost falling out. Except for a tiny bit of stickiness on the outside of my lunch bag, it surely would have blown away as I walked into work, and I never would have seen it.      When I had seen it, it was one of those moments that happened in the flash of a second, and maybe under different circumstances, I would have tucked it back in the bag.       But I hadn’t.      It reminded me of so many lunch bag notes that I had writte...
Read more

6.21 @ 1:26 (story by Jill inspired by Jennifer's image)

-
Image
  Jenn gave me this photo on June 25, 2021, as my prompt for the week. The beads in the pan reminded me of camp and the thought of kids sitting crosslegged around the pan sorting them or playing a game. Jenn just told me that they are actually blueberries from her yard. Now that I know that, they do look like blueberries to me, but that thought had never dawned on me until she let me know. haha. I wrote this when I still believed that they were beads, so this is what the photo inspired ... 6.21 @ 1:26      “No, that’s not the rules!” I could hear Miranda whining from several feet away and braced myself for what I knew was coming next. “Anita!”       There it was.       Two weeks into this gig as day-camp counselor, and I already had all the kids pegged—well, at least the  annoying  kids.      I walked over to where Miranda was sitting on the cement with two other girls. “What’s up, Miranda?” I said. ...
Read more