(no subject)
Prompt: Father
A little background writing on the family of my main character. Had a little trouble with flow on this.
Jesse remembered that her parent's relationship used to move in cycles.
Her father was an artist but a lazy one. He had big dreams but little follow through. Still, he couldn't seem to bring himself to resign himself to the real world and the tedium of a job doing menial tasks. For long periods of time he would be unemployed and spend his time around the house. This was actually to the delight of Jesse who had been close to her father and he would spend a lot of time with his daughters. His creative spirit made him a great friend and co-conspirator to his children for much of their childhood.
His wife also had dreams that seemed a bit outside her grasp though they were more traditional and involved higher status and a bigger house and more security that comes with having spare money saved. She worked as a manager at a department store most of the time. Jesse would feel guilty at times, in adulthood, to remember much preferring when her mother was not home. The atmosphere in the house would change when she arrived home and brought with her the tension of the day and the weight of resentment that surrounded her from supporting the family.
Things would continue this way for a long time until it became too much for their mother to bear. She would grow angry and go into a great fit of rage directed at the rest of her household. Things would be broken and she would find release in screaming at her children and insulting her husband. The entire fit would run the length of a day before she would break down in tears. Jesse always met her mother's anger with anger of her own but both her father and her sister seemed to pander to her in desperate attempts to assuage her anger and get back in her good graces. This dynamic had always made Jesse feel very much alone and sometimes quite bitter.
After the anger would come tears and deep depression. She would lay in bed for long stretches during the day and sometimes their father would go back there and sit near the bed. Eventually his wife would begin to suggest that they should get a divorce. She began to talk about how things might be better for both of them. A light would re-enter her eyes and she would talk about the changes she could make and it was clear that they were things she had thought about extensively.
This and this alone would always accomplish bringing about change in her father. He would get a job and for awhile would work long hours. During this time Jesse and her sister would have a babysitter while he was at work but the time the whole family was at home would become immensely more pleasant. Their mother would transform into a different person who would flirt and smile and play with her children more freely.
These were shorter periods, Jesse remembered, in her parents' marriage. Her father had far less tolerance for unhappiness than did her mother. Their household had been a constant precarious balancing act as the burden of unhappiness and discontent shifted back and forth.
Not really sure how much background I want to get into for her. I have a pretty good amount of present time content I want to write for that story. But I also think it's important to talk about where she came from. The fun thing about writing non-linearly with these prompts though is that I can explore and character develop at will. ^-^
A little background writing on the family of my main character. Had a little trouble with flow on this.
Jesse remembered that her parent's relationship used to move in cycles.
Her father was an artist but a lazy one. He had big dreams but little follow through. Still, he couldn't seem to bring himself to resign himself to the real world and the tedium of a job doing menial tasks. For long periods of time he would be unemployed and spend his time around the house. This was actually to the delight of Jesse who had been close to her father and he would spend a lot of time with his daughters. His creative spirit made him a great friend and co-conspirator to his children for much of their childhood.
His wife also had dreams that seemed a bit outside her grasp though they were more traditional and involved higher status and a bigger house and more security that comes with having spare money saved. She worked as a manager at a department store most of the time. Jesse would feel guilty at times, in adulthood, to remember much preferring when her mother was not home. The atmosphere in the house would change when she arrived home and brought with her the tension of the day and the weight of resentment that surrounded her from supporting the family.
Things would continue this way for a long time until it became too much for their mother to bear. She would grow angry and go into a great fit of rage directed at the rest of her household. Things would be broken and she would find release in screaming at her children and insulting her husband. The entire fit would run the length of a day before she would break down in tears. Jesse always met her mother's anger with anger of her own but both her father and her sister seemed to pander to her in desperate attempts to assuage her anger and get back in her good graces. This dynamic had always made Jesse feel very much alone and sometimes quite bitter.
After the anger would come tears and deep depression. She would lay in bed for long stretches during the day and sometimes their father would go back there and sit near the bed. Eventually his wife would begin to suggest that they should get a divorce. She began to talk about how things might be better for both of them. A light would re-enter her eyes and she would talk about the changes she could make and it was clear that they were things she had thought about extensively.
This and this alone would always accomplish bringing about change in her father. He would get a job and for awhile would work long hours. During this time Jesse and her sister would have a babysitter while he was at work but the time the whole family was at home would become immensely more pleasant. Their mother would transform into a different person who would flirt and smile and play with her children more freely.
These were shorter periods, Jesse remembered, in her parents' marriage. Her father had far less tolerance for unhappiness than did her mother. Their household had been a constant precarious balancing act as the burden of unhappiness and discontent shifted back and forth.
Not really sure how much background I want to get into for her. I have a pretty good amount of present time content I want to write for that story. But I also think it's important to talk about where she came from. The fun thing about writing non-linearly with these prompts though is that I can explore and character develop at will. ^-^