Sunday, August 8, 2010

Can someone invent sleep-blogging?

Jenny Matlock

It's Saturday Centus time!!

So I realize that posting once a week with just a Saturday Centus isn't exactly "posting with a vengeance" like I told myself I would. I have the stories in my head. I even have a few comics started. (Yes, that should be interesting). I just need the time! 

This is why sleep has become my biggest enemy (Not to be confused with Gravity, my Arch-nemesis). I never have been much of a fan of sleeping. I mean sure, in the morning, when I wake up and all my muscles have died and gone to heaven, then sleeping seems like pure ecstasy. Given the option though, I'd rather avoid the entire escapade. There are so few hours in a day, and so much I want to do in life, I think of sleep as the Devil stealing my life for 8 hours a day. 

After a few calculations, I have discovered that sleep has taken roughly 2,433 days of my mere 20 year life. Wow, see sleep = the Devil. I have tried to use sleeping time to my advantage by trying to lucid dream, and trying to dream up ideas for screenplays. So far no real luck. I'd love it if I could multi-task while sleeping. For instance, I envy sleepwalkers, and if they can sleepwalk to the gym and on the Treadmill without one moment of consciousness, then they are truly living (or is it sleeping?) the dream. All I can really do while sleeping is snore. 

Alas, this really has nothing to do with my Centus other than the fact that it is now 2 in the morning, and I'm trying to refuse sleep for a bit longer. Also, I'm probably rambling because there is no word limit and my fingers are celebrating their ability to dance freely. 

So, to re-focus, below is indeed my entry for the Saturday Centus   this week, hosted by Jenny Matlock at Off My Tangent. Same rules apply as always. You have a prompt you have to use in it's entirety, unaltered, and up to 100 words of your choosing to create a story. No pictures, no vulgarity, no praising Miley Cyrus.  

The prompt this week is:

"Objects in the rear view mirror are closer than they appear."

In my Centus the prompt is in bold.  I call this Centus, Divorce: An Unfinished Road Trip
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Divorce: An Unfinished Road Trip


They thought the drive would last forever. 

Their love, a 1998 Corvette, once the envy of everyone's eye, had battled mountains. Valleys. Sunrises. Sunsets. Now tired, worn, it struggled to drive. 

Paint chipped, seats torn, windshield mud-splattered. Neither passenger saw clearly, but neither admitted. 

He steered. She wanted a different path. 
She sang oldies. He needed something new. 

A pebble popped their tire. 

The engine revved one last time. The battery sputtered a last goodbye. They exited. 

Objects in the rear view mirror are closer than they appear. They couldn't be farther apart. 

After 12 years,

on the side of the road, they left it. The shell of something once beautiful. 

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~Lissa

21 comments:

  1. Lovely, creative, evocative writing! You really should write more (hint, hint!)

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  2. Great imagery for a tired marriage!

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  3. That car is such a great analogy for the failed marriage. This is beautifully written, a great use of this week's prompt! Kat

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  4. This is quite good ;-) Reminds me of an old Rickie Lee Jones song...Last Chance Texaco...well done! Peace and blessings

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  5. This was excellent. I bet that's how a lot of people feel right before they divorce unless they can rev it up again. Good, sensitive Centus.

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  6. This metaphor is perfect for a failed marriage. It takes real writing talent to spin all of that into 100 words. Great job!

    Thanks..........cj

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  7. Okay, okay...I am envious! That was beautiful. I love your use of words. You paint wonderful pictures in the mind! Your words also speak the truth! Sad, but true.

    You know that sleep walking and treadmill stuff? Forget it! I am an Ambien binge eater. Sigh.

    I am so glad that you joined our group! Your writing is wonderful!

    Malisa

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  8. Oh wow...this was so elegantly written and touched my heart deeply. I am, indeed, impressed.

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  9. I must admit my dear daughter, you are an awesome writer. I am so very proud of you. Very well written.

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  10. Another amazing contribution this week, Lissa! I really enjoyed your intro and story. Great imagery and so well written! Excellent!

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  11. Sniffle, sniffle...so sad. (You painted a sad picture today, I love it when words make me feel).

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  12. intriguing, though I cannot honesty say I understand it all, I'm not very good with metaphors but it's a wonderful piece

    & thanks for your visit and yes, it is Melissa

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  13. Great job using the car as a metaphor.

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  14. Nice, sparked some emotion within.

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  15. OK ... wow. You did a lot in 100 words. Love the analogy of the car and the relationship.

    And don't go ragging on sleep -- it is my number one interest (well, since my kid was born.)

    Happy Blogging!

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  16. i like how you used the car there as a sign of their poor marriage. very cool.

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  17. I think sleep is overrated. You will get plenty of rest when you're dead.

    How, at 20, do you know about the failure of a relationship, due to lack of maintenance and interest?

    Great job!

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  18. Lissa. I often wake up in the morning with pages of scribbled stuff, unreadable of course, in the notebook I keep beside my bed. I'm sure it is my best work. Alas, I shall never know because I can't read the silly scrawlings wandering like worm tracks across the page.

    That being said.

    Write when you can. Don't you find the words are always stored up and come out like a word-fall when you sit at your keyboard?

    I love how spare this writing is. It is almost song lyrics in its simplicity...melodic, evocative, lovely and compelling song lyrics.

    Sung to the key of loss.

    Thanks for linking. I enjoyed this.

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