Based On Her Beautiful Old Story…
This is a short story based on the writing prompt entitled “A writer’s fictional characters start appearing in real life”. I happen to have written a tiny novel, so this particular writing prompt sounded very interesting. I decided to try it out.
Once upon a time, long ago, lived a beautiful young woman called Sarah, who was quite a mystery. Sarah was the intelligent sort, and she had a rather different way of going about things.
Sarah liked to wake up in the morning and look outside her window. She saw from her window pane the world passing by. She had a beautiful habit of waking up early in the morning and whispering a small prayer to who she thought was God. She had learned through a personal journey about who she thought he was, and bringing the reality of good and beautiful principles into her life, was one of the things that prayer in the morning helped her do.
She liked to wake up in the morning hour, and also do a little bit of morning writing. Sarah Ritten would also get herself a cup of steaming hot coffee so that she could feel more awake and energized. The Coffee was a wonderful thing in the morning, and it was the perfect addition to a bout of morning writing.
Sarah Ritten wanted to put some divine and inspiring messages into her writing, and she did this effortlessly. She was naturally the picture of innocence and budding wisdom and this showed flawlessly in her writing as well. She felt she had a message to share with the world, like many people. So many people are born with something to say, with a mark to leave on the sands of time. It’s so wonderful when every person that ever enters into this life, fulfills the purpose for which they were born.
Sarah was good in her English language skills and when she tried to translate her abstract thoughts into words, they were indeed a beautiful picture to behold. She had written a book, a year ago, that had a couple of good reviews. This book, if promoted in full ardor, would do well she thought. Her friends thought so too.
Sarah had written a book called ‘His Lingering Perfume’ which happened to have only two main characters in it. The characters entitled ‘Him and Her’ were not named until the second chapter. The book had an intelligent narrative, that made many people fall in love with the protagonist, of the book. A wealthy young girl, but in a state of denial. Who was also a tomboy, who hated make-up. Who had a secret lover who visited her at night through a secret route only the two of them knew about?
Sarah felt in all honesty that she could relate to her character, which in part was based on the childhood version of herself. Everyone needed to read/hear/think about a relatable heroine, now and then to add color to their existence. Why did people follow the lives of pop stars and other celebrities on social media? For the same reason that Sarah tried to bring life and meaning to the characters in her works of fiction. To Sarah, every book she wrote was like an unborn child, and the characters were indeed precious and also ‘relatable’.
That morning Sarah spent close to little more than two hours refining the blog article review she was working on. The review article was about a book she had read recently called Paradise Found. Sarah knew that being an author who liked to write about her dreams wouldn’t bring her anything substantial. She was also a content writer on the side, who wrote blogs to support herself and her way of thinking.
She decided she had worked enough on what seemed to have been an article that had great potential. She looked in her bedside table mirror and stifled a yawn. She tied her long loose hair into a messy but stylish bun with a scrunchie and decided to head out to her favourite Cafe in the city. A quaint little Cafe where many like-minded individuals, who also happened to be writers sat down for a hot beverage and something tasty to eat.
She got out of her tiny suburban apartment which was looking pretty tidy that day, because she had been following this routine of late. She was aware that many young women who lived alone might have had a messy existence because it was after all their place to start with. However, there seemed to have been some benefits to the self-love and care she was showing herself, and the routine seemed to be making things fall into place. As she locked the door, and stepped out into the pavement, she heard the birds sing.
It was a lovely day, and she seemed to feel like everything was blessed and truly beautiful. In her heart, she thanked God that “she was fearfully and wonderfully made.” She may have been an eclectic writer but she believed in Biblical wisdom and tried to apply it to her life. The more she did this, she felt that God’s blessings were manifesting in her life and everything she did.
Sarah Ritten walked fitfully to the cafe which was 10 minutes away from where she lived. Everything seemed to work in her favor that day, which is something everyone secretly wished for, she was aware. She adjusted her coat and sunglasses and bought some toasty warm bread to have along with the usual coffee which was the regular fare at the Cafe she was so acquainted with.
She reached the cafe and sat down at her favorite corner. Next to that corner was a beautiful French window, that offered a beautiful view of the world outside. She looked outside, without fear of feeling like she was staring at anyone because people on the outside could not see her.
Behind her was an ornate picture with a gold frame. A quote by Jean Jacques Rousseau that went like this “I feel an indescribable ecstasy and delirium in melting, as it were, into the system of being, in identifying myself with the whole of nature.. Nature made me happy and good, and if I am otherwise, it is society’s fault.” Beautiful words, but a mystery no doubt. Nora felt that it was a good thing this picture was where it was.
She didn’t want to do any more writing at the cafe, since she needed a little break. She decided instead that she would scroll through her social media feed. Being the sort of person who loved writing, her feed was eclectic, but it had relevant and beautiful things she looked at, especially on Facebook, rather than just following the lives of people she knew. These things gave her inspiration to write rewarding things even more beautifully.
She was so caught up in her scrolling that she barely noticed a tall slender woman entered the cafe and sat at the table near the other window. Nora Eclavio did not know this woman, but for some reason, the woman who seemed exotic drew her attention.
The woman though tall and slender with flowing black hair, had freckles and sipped her coffee in a manner that would make anyone wonder if something was bothering her. She wore extremely tight skinny jeans that showed off her figure, and her nails were done. But there was an aura of youthful recklessness about her.
Sarah couldn’t help but take a liking to her. She seemed very relatable, raw, and awkward. Like the character in her book ‘His Lingering Perfume’ had come to life. If Sarah Ritten had it in her to direct a movie about her book, she would cast this woman as the lead role. Nora wondered if she was seeing things.
Sarah tried to continue to scroll through her social media feed but was a little distracted by the unkempt but beautiful young woman. She overheard from her phone conversation that her name was ‘Ramona’ and she could tell by the way she talked that she came from a wealthy family.
Sarah Ritten may not have been wealthy but she had a writer’s mind and a writer’s thoughts. For some reason, she liked this girl from afar and felt she was a lifelike version of the character in her book. Almost as though the character had decided to step out of the book, and present herself in real life.
Sarah couldn’t help but look in the direction of this beautiful but awkward young thing. With her tight jeans and bright pink lips, it was her eyes that told a story. She seemed to be the character of her book come to life. There she was, in all her finery, the main character of ‘His Lingering Perfume’ sitting down there, being herself, waiting for her male equivalent in attractiveness to come to visit her from the window. Nora Eclavio took a liking to her, because well, Ramona did have an intriguing personality.
Sarah spent longer than usual at the bustling cafe that day. She scrolled through social media and tried to avoid looking too much in the awkward but relatably good-looking young woman’s direction. She suddenly saw something that could be a line in a sequel to her book. She thought that ‘His Sexy Hair’ could be an apt title for the new book.
Sarah went home that day, feeling wonderful that she met someone who was potentially the lifelike version of her book’s character. She was happy that she also got the inspiration to write another book based on this woman. She knew for sure this book had the potential to be the next big thing. Some kind of top-selling novel. But one that was based on that beautiful old story.
