“Uh, NaNo?”
“Yup, welcome to the insanity. I’m Kat, that’s Glory…” and so on.
“Oh, cool.”
There were people from all sorts of different backgrounds there. Some are imports attending OSU, others are born and bred in the area, and still others were insane enough to move into the area for no particular reason at all. (Me!) There was one going after his PHD, another going through veterinary school, and assorted other majors unrelated to Writing. There was one who was a teacher, married to another WriMo.
I witnessed a laser pistol appear on lined paper, and witnessed handwriting as small as a sugar ant. I laughed, and blushed so bright at one point that I could feel my CHEST burning. True story.
But, I survived. Oh yes, I had issues because of the men in attendance. But I somehow was able to bite down on it long enough to last the couple hours I spent there. But when it was time to leave, I nearly ran out the door.
I won’t focus on the after effects of such an adventure, though.
I had FUN. Oh my gods above, I had forgotten what it was like to be with people who shared a similar interest with me! Agoraphobia sucks, and this would be one of the reasons why. I must say, here, that I never would have been able to make it if it wasn’t for my niece, Christina, aka Glory A Perrin. She was my cornerstone tonight, and she helped me to focus on the positives and shake my mind away from the negatives. I can’t thank her enough for that.
Do I think I’d be able to do this again, alone? No way in hell. As much fun as I had, and all the laughter that was pulled from me, just doesn’t make up for the shaking in my bones right now. Not one male did a thing wrong. I just don’t feel comfortable around them. I think it was the female/male ratio that helped there.
We chatted, and I didn’t even notice the other patrons in the place. I’m sure there were some odd looks. I didn’t care. We talked about death and life. About dragons and wolves. We spoke of things that probably wouldn’t have been OK in such a public space, but most of it got lost in the noisy conversations around us. We doodled, drew, colored, and wrote.
At the end of the night, we did a writing exercise. The grouped dubbed it “Jerrytales”. Want to see what I wrote? Look below. Be forewarned, I sort of messed up in there somewhere. I know I did, but I was writing as fast as I could and wasn’t really thinking overly much about WHAT I was writing…
Kat’s Jerrytales:
It was a dark time in wintry Canada when Jerry the lusty Mountie realized he was married to a wolf. Food was scarce and snow was abundant. Yet this was not what drove Jerry over the edge. The lack of electricity didn’t help, but that wasn’t what drove poor Jerry to the looney bin that January.
It was the smell of wet fur.
Jerry loved his wife. They had the perfect romance for Canadians out in the middle of nowhere. He trapped fur in the winter, she crocheted and crafted while keeping up with the house work.
But she chose the wrong time to go to the outhouse that January. It was the full moon. Crazy shit always happened on the full moon. Including wolf attacks over the last roast beef.
The wolf won.
She didn’t.
Oh, she lived through the attack, but the blue moon had brought her first transformation with it.
That was all I had written in the time we were given. Everyone started with the same first sentence, so I don’t get credit there. I must say though, the ones that were read were definitely better than mine, in my humble opinion. But that is beyond the point, here.
I.
Had.
Fun.
If I could do it again, with someone as a cornerstone like Christina was. I am SO looking forward to November 1st!
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