NaNoWriMo - 3 - Excerpt
Originally posted @ http://scruffy-duck.net
The beginning of the first chapter of my novel, currently called I Used To Be A Penguin
“I didn’t think it would be so long.”
Rob squeezed the tea bag gently against the side of the blue mug, before taking it out and dropping it into the little bin by the table. He looked around at the small group that was gathering in the room. The chairs had already been arranged into a circle by Olivia, and she was sitting waiting for everyone to arrive, and get comfortable before she started their meeting.
“What were you expecting?” Jamie asked, voice gruffer than usual, popping a locket into his mouth.
“Dunno, no one told me humans lived this long though,” Hannah said, dropping down into a plastic chair. She had red hair that needed a wash every time he saw her, and was pretty sure she must wash her hair on Tuesdays. He wasn’t going to ask her about it. It was pulled back into a tight ponytail, the long hair resting over the chair as she leaned back into it.
“I don’t think any of us expected that,” Theo put in. “I mean, hard concept, decades and decades. For any bird.”
The old man shrugged, sitting down next to her, pulling the thick green coat around him a little tighter. Rob finally remembered to add a little milk to his cup of tea. He walked over the circle of chairs, and took a seat next to Jamie, a young lad with a permanent frown on his face.
“Well the extended life span is just one of things we have to get used to as a human being.”
“I’m 58,” Theo said. “Still ain’t used to it.”
Rob smirked, nodding a greeting at Jack sitting opposite him. He nodded back, pulling off a wool knit hat. The green dye had started to grow out of his hair, the usual dark brown growing back in slightly. An inch was showing at the roots, and Rob wondered if Jack would dye it green again. Olivia had advised against, and most of the others had agreed. Dying his hair green had been an obvious way to hold on to the mallard duck he had once been, but those days were long over and he was a man now. A man with dark brown hair and a criminal record.
He’d been in prison too, the young duck, and was now sitting with a bunch of other former birds in a little room they paid the Quakers to use once a week. Probably not where he wanted to be, nor Jamie, but they knew there was no where else they could go. No one else they could really talk to like this. Rob had been grateful to Olivia for setting the group up last year, though advertising it hadn’t been easy. It was really a word of mouth sort of thing.
“Anyone heard from Lucy this evening?” Olivia asked, looking at her watch. Rob looked at the clock on the wall opposite him, it was a few minutes to seven and they would be starting to talk properly soon. Olivia liked to keep the group within certain boundaries, said it was good for them. She had some training as a nurse, and a psychology degree, so Rob assumed she knew what she was talking about. He also knew that Lucy would be late. Again. Lucy was always late. If they decided to start to meeting at ten past seven every week, the woman would turn up at a quarter past. There was something about her internal body clock that managed to be late for everything without her even trying.
“Well, let’s start anyway, and-”
She was cut off by the door flying open, Lucy running in, huffing hard, and dropping her bright yellow shopping bag onto the floor by the last empty chair, sitting down and smiling, cheeks red, chest rising and falling quickly,.
“Sorry!” she said. “Sorry.”
Thought the last of her hair was turning grey, her skin was still smooth, but she had large dark circles under her eyes. She looked around, smiling at everyone, and Rob smiled back.
“It’s okay,” Olivia said. “We were just starting.”
“Oh good,” she breathed out, relaxing a little in the chair.
“Hannah was saying while we were settling down, that she didn’t realise she would live this long. Perhaps you could tell us how you’ve dealt with the length of the human lifespan.”
“Oh I don’t know,” Lucy said, with a small shrug of her shoulders, the grey jumper shifting back a little so the material was sitting high up her neck. “Kept busy I suppose,” she continued, looking at Hannah, the young woman listening intently. “I mean, I’ve been human for nearly sixty years, but it feels like twice that.”
“Because of the insomnia?” Rob asked.
Lucy nodded.
“Took me a long time to find a sleep rhythm. Still no sure I’ve quite got the hang of it.”
She laughed, making most of the others smile as she so often did. Her laugh was nice and lights, cheery despite the stress that brought them all to the group. Even Jamie managed a slight turn up of his lips. Not that the boy would ever admit it.
“Tell us more about it, I don’t think you’ve ever really spoken here Lucy,” Olivia said, smiling herself. “Not about yourself.”
“Well I’m an old bird now, not much to say.”
“I doubt that,” Rob said, and Olivia nodded.
“I know what brought you to the group,” the woman said, “you’ve never been able to shake off the sleeping habits you had as an owl, but I’ve never heard you talk about why you decided to become a human in the first place. How you got your human name? What you did for all those years before we met you.”
Rob realised Olivia was right, Lucy spoke a lot, her voice was the most recognisable, she still had a bit of a hoot to it, behind the local accent, but when he thought about it, really thought about it, he knew nothing about it. She liked to read, read a lot because she was always awake, and she didn’t work, didn’t have a family. That he knew of.
There could be so much more to this woman.
Lucy sat up in her chair a little, looking at Olivia, no longer smiling, and everyone was silent, letting the older woman think for the moment.
“All right then,” she said, the smile returning, but smaller this time, guarded as she prepared to tell her story. “I heard about all this in 1952 from a sparrow hawk.”
The beginning of the first chapter of my novel, currently called I Used To Be A Penguin
“I didn’t think it would be so long.”
Rob squeezed the tea bag gently against the side of the blue mug, before taking it out and dropping it into the little bin by the table. He looked around at the small group that was gathering in the room. The chairs had already been arranged into a circle by Olivia, and she was sitting waiting for everyone to arrive, and get comfortable before she started their meeting.
“What were you expecting?” Jamie asked, voice gruffer than usual, popping a locket into his mouth.
“Dunno, no one told me humans lived this long though,” Hannah said, dropping down into a plastic chair. She had red hair that needed a wash every time he saw her, and was pretty sure she must wash her hair on Tuesdays. He wasn’t going to ask her about it. It was pulled back into a tight ponytail, the long hair resting over the chair as she leaned back into it.
“I don’t think any of us expected that,” Theo put in. “I mean, hard concept, decades and decades. For any bird.”
The old man shrugged, sitting down next to her, pulling the thick green coat around him a little tighter. Rob finally remembered to add a little milk to his cup of tea. He walked over the circle of chairs, and took a seat next to Jamie, a young lad with a permanent frown on his face.
“Well the extended life span is just one of things we have to get used to as a human being.”
“I’m 58,” Theo said. “Still ain’t used to it.”
Rob smirked, nodding a greeting at Jack sitting opposite him. He nodded back, pulling off a wool knit hat. The green dye had started to grow out of his hair, the usual dark brown growing back in slightly. An inch was showing at the roots, and Rob wondered if Jack would dye it green again. Olivia had advised against, and most of the others had agreed. Dying his hair green had been an obvious way to hold on to the mallard duck he had once been, but those days were long over and he was a man now. A man with dark brown hair and a criminal record.
He’d been in prison too, the young duck, and was now sitting with a bunch of other former birds in a little room they paid the Quakers to use once a week. Probably not where he wanted to be, nor Jamie, but they knew there was no where else they could go. No one else they could really talk to like this. Rob had been grateful to Olivia for setting the group up last year, though advertising it hadn’t been easy. It was really a word of mouth sort of thing.
“Anyone heard from Lucy this evening?” Olivia asked, looking at her watch. Rob looked at the clock on the wall opposite him, it was a few minutes to seven and they would be starting to talk properly soon. Olivia liked to keep the group within certain boundaries, said it was good for them. She had some training as a nurse, and a psychology degree, so Rob assumed she knew what she was talking about. He also knew that Lucy would be late. Again. Lucy was always late. If they decided to start to meeting at ten past seven every week, the woman would turn up at a quarter past. There was something about her internal body clock that managed to be late for everything without her even trying.
“Well, let’s start anyway, and-”
She was cut off by the door flying open, Lucy running in, huffing hard, and dropping her bright yellow shopping bag onto the floor by the last empty chair, sitting down and smiling, cheeks red, chest rising and falling quickly,.
“Sorry!” she said. “Sorry.”
Thought the last of her hair was turning grey, her skin was still smooth, but she had large dark circles under her eyes. She looked around, smiling at everyone, and Rob smiled back.
“It’s okay,” Olivia said. “We were just starting.”
“Oh good,” she breathed out, relaxing a little in the chair.
“Hannah was saying while we were settling down, that she didn’t realise she would live this long. Perhaps you could tell us how you’ve dealt with the length of the human lifespan.”
“Oh I don’t know,” Lucy said, with a small shrug of her shoulders, the grey jumper shifting back a little so the material was sitting high up her neck. “Kept busy I suppose,” she continued, looking at Hannah, the young woman listening intently. “I mean, I’ve been human for nearly sixty years, but it feels like twice that.”
“Because of the insomnia?” Rob asked.
Lucy nodded.
“Took me a long time to find a sleep rhythm. Still no sure I’ve quite got the hang of it.”
She laughed, making most of the others smile as she so often did. Her laugh was nice and lights, cheery despite the stress that brought them all to the group. Even Jamie managed a slight turn up of his lips. Not that the boy would ever admit it.
“Tell us more about it, I don’t think you’ve ever really spoken here Lucy,” Olivia said, smiling herself. “Not about yourself.”
“Well I’m an old bird now, not much to say.”
“I doubt that,” Rob said, and Olivia nodded.
“I know what brought you to the group,” the woman said, “you’ve never been able to shake off the sleeping habits you had as an owl, but I’ve never heard you talk about why you decided to become a human in the first place. How you got your human name? What you did for all those years before we met you.”
Rob realised Olivia was right, Lucy spoke a lot, her voice was the most recognisable, she still had a bit of a hoot to it, behind the local accent, but when he thought about it, really thought about it, he knew nothing about it. She liked to read, read a lot because she was always awake, and she didn’t work, didn’t have a family. That he knew of.
There could be so much more to this woman.
Lucy sat up in her chair a little, looking at Olivia, no longer smiling, and everyone was silent, letting the older woman think for the moment.
“All right then,” she said, the smile returning, but smaller this time, guarded as she prepared to tell her story. “I heard about all this in 1952 from a sparrow hawk.”