1555. She couldn’t wait

33 Replies

(The closing sentence for this story was suggested by Cath of Cath’s World.

Winnie hated school. All day was spent sitting in a hot classroom listening to boring teachers drone on and on. She couldn’t wait to leave school for her life to finally start.

Winnie hated university. A student’s life was meant to be fun, but all she ever got was assignment after assignment. And boring lectures. She couldn’t wait to graduate for her life to finally start.

Winnie hated her job working as a receptionist for an airline company. People were so rude and demanding and full of themselves. She couldn’t wait to meet Mr Right for her life to finally start.

Winnie had a couple of kids before her husband, whom she now hated, asked for a divorce. She couldn’t wait for the divorce to come through for her life to finally start.

Winnie’s kids were expensive and tiresome. Soon, surely, they would leave home and start to be independent. She couldn’t wait for them to fly the nest for her life to finally start.

Winnie was now getting on in years. She worked as a receptionist for a hardware company. She couldn’t wait to retire for her life to finally start.

33 thoughts on “1555. She couldn’t wait”

    1. Bruce Goodman Post author

      Thanks, Nitin. It’s funny you should mention a sequel about Winnie and nihilism. When I wrote it and used the name of Winnie I thought of Samuel Beckett’s play (I think it’s the one called “Breathe”) in which a character called Winnie sits on the beach cleaning her teeth while she gradually gets buried in a pile of trash thrown in from backstage.

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      1. Nitin

        Such a flippant scenario, but it’s strangely philosophical. I haven’t read anything by Samuel Beckett. I’ve read a few 20th century plays like A streetcar named desire and all my sons, but that’s about it. These days books like catch 22 or waiting for Godot give me a headache. There’s this whole new weird movement which writers like Jeff VanderMeer started. It’s full of semiotics, and it’s probably for some beatnik! Count me out!

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        1. Bruce Goodman Post author

          The Beckett play’s name I got wrong: it’s not “Breathe” it’s “”Happy Day!” or “What a happy day!” – something like that. Winnie cleans her teeth with the trash piling up and declares: “What a happy day! What a happy happy day!” Anyway…

          I must check out Jeff VanderMeer to see if he gives me a head ache. Wish me luck – I’ve just started (trying again) Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” and have been stuck on page 4 for a week. I suspect it will have to be a book I’m never going to be able to read…

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          1. Nitin

            Haha. I struggle with the classics myself. You should read Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. It’s the first book of the Southern Reach Trilogy, and it’s his best book (in my opinion). It’s creepy as f*** But he and a lot of science fiction/fantasy writers these days have this habit of leaving plot lines unsolved. It’s frustrating. They want us to use semiotics to fill in the spaces, and I find the effort too demanding. I shall check out the Becker play.

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