"What was that? Confetti caught in her bangs? She reached up and swatted it away with a sigh. Beige confetti. Who has beige confetti? According to her sister-in-law, Susan, (perfect Susan), it fit in with the "Charlie and Lola" theme for Nora's party. And apparently, Nora, the 12 month old, would notice if the confetti did not match the theme. Susan had actually created the confetti herself using a three hole punch and who knows how many sheets of ecru scrapbooking paper. In fact, she had spent the last 6 weeks going on about the party plans, handmaking the three-dimensional invitations (with an enclosed menu card no less), laboring over the background music, and the schedule of events for the big day. No joke - she actually went candle shopping so that the party would have "the perfect scent to celebrate Nora's birth". Mallory had stopped to type that quote to herself on the phone as she felt she had never - and would never again - hear anything so ridiculous.
Mallory scanned the room full of happy faces, people huddled in quiet conversation near the fire. ("Thank goodness Nora was born in a cold month so we can always have the warmth and ambience created by a fire at her parties!") Five men, having lost their awkwardness after the first half hour were standing by the dining table, drinking Guinness, and laughing with abandon. Susan was fretting in the dining room, demanding perfection from the catering staff, adjusting the hors d'oeuvres on the tray before setting the server free to roam the house, feeding the hungry and the bored. It was a sight to take in. Funny how Mallory could feel so alone when surrounded by family and friends. She chuckled under her breath that this house was full of people she was related too and people she had coincidentally known for most of her life. Her real family, and her real friends, were back home in California.
Then her eyes fell upon Nora......and she said to herself, "except for you little one, you are my family". Nora was being held by her au pair, Tassi, giggling at some other cousin (Jake? Jack? honestly, Mallory couldn't remember) playing the game of peek-a-boo and causing waves of laughter from Nora. Mallory knew, even though the baby was so young, that they had a special connection. A connection that would probably trouble her Mother to no end as she grew. A bond that her brother would ignore (he liked to say that he possessed "big picture vision" when really he was just self absorbed and used that as an excuse for ignoring the delicacies of life, the nuances, the glances, the ladybugs on the windowpane that make life unique, and special, and different).
She went over to Tassi, and without a word, Nora looked at her aunt and smiled a huge, gummy smile. Mallory took her into her arms, and felt a peace that made everything else fade into the background."
That is a brief excerpt from the novel that I am writing for National Writing Month! It may not be great - I do not have time to edit as I go as I have to hit 50,000 words written on the novel no later than November 30. However, it is awfully fun, and I am enjoying creating characters and worlds and scenarios. So much better than tv for me.
This Saturday, I will be working on the book from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. THAT will be fun.
Anyway - not much of a blog post, but there you have it.
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