literature

With this Ring, Ch. 1

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Literature Text

WITH THIS RING,
          I THEE WED


                                    CHAPTER ONE

Adeline Alexander had never once in 5 years missed a day of work. She did not come in late, nor did she take sick days or vacations. As secretary for Boston in Print, a small newspaper company with a circulation of 100 papers per month, the dedication was hardly needed. But everything Adeline did was about dedication. She always made 3 dozen chocolate cupcakes for the Christmas Bake Sale of her apartment complex every year, even though they hardly sold anything. She always watched her stock in the news, even though the small company she had invested in hadn't changed in 13 years.

And she always stopped in at the corner market to buy one single mom's home made corn muffins.

Which was exactly what she was doing at 8:15 am on December 5th. Which was exactly why she happened to notice the flyer taped to the light pole.

Her eye caught by the yellow sheet, she momentarily broke her schedule to do something totally spontaneous. She read the sheet.

The single mom, a toddler clutching to one of her legs, looked at one of her only customers with surprise. Ms. Alexander never spoke other than to ask for her muffin and to wish the woman a good day as she left. She never made eye contact with anyone, never said hello to anybody. The mother was even certain she walked the same path every day from the entrance to her apartment building to her stand, and then back to the curb, walking down and turning a corner.

So when the very neatly dressed Ms. Alexander with her pin straight brown hair and her simple black pants and white blouse turned and headed back down the curb to turn the corner, the single mother snuck a peek at the flyer to see what had captured the woman's attention.

It read as follows in bold letters.

SINGLE WOMEN!
LEFT HEART BROKEN BY THE MAN OF YOUR DREAMS?
WONDERING WHAT'S LEFT IN LIFE OTHER THAN DESPAIR?

THEN DON'T WONDER ANYMORE!!!

COME TO SANDMAN'S BAR FOR A NIGHT AWAY
FROM JUDGEMENT AND LONELINESS!
DECEMBER 7th AT 10pm!


The woman snorted, prying the toddler from her leg and lifting the child up into her arms.

"A little late for me." She muttered, unconsciously stroking the wrinkles on her face. Glancing one last time after the woman, she turned and carried her child back into the small street level apartment she rented.



Around the corner from the market, Adeline Alexander walked slowly. Her face was blank of all emotions, empty with an almost drained look to it. In her hand she carried the corn muffin, her small black purse hanging from her shoulder.

The young woman did not bother to look around as she walked, for she knew what she would see; brick buildings and metal construction sites, concrete sidewalks littered with trash, people rushing back and forth to whatever their lives demanded of them. All the same as it was every day.

The Newspaper building was nearly empty other than the editor that never left, his mousy hair disheveled, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at his computer screen, his clothes wrinkled and messy. Adeline strode past him, and neither acknowledged the other's presence.

Striding to her desk near the main office of the newspaper's manager, Adeline took comfort in the tidiness of her area. The old wood was polished to a shine, the pens and pencils were all neatly tucked into a sorter, her computer set at a perfect 45 degree angle from the edge of the desk. Slowly, she lowered herself into the black office chair that had been on sale two years ago at a three for one deal. She had been proud of the deal at the time, having supplied three employees with proper chairs. Now as she sat, she sighed deeply, her facade of emptiness dropped for a moment to reveal a deep sadness and a great wariness that settled about her soft features with intimate familiarity.

She allowed herself a moment to run her tapered fingers through her shoulder length hair, to look about herself and wonder silently if this was really where she belonged. She thought again to the flyer she had seen, its image conjuring in her mind as clearly as if she was seeing it again. There was really no reason for her to have noticed it, no reason for her to have cared. Yet as she sat there in the silence punctuated only by the tap-tap of the editor's keys, she couldn't seem to stop thinking about the words.

COME TO SANDMAN'S BAR FOR A NIGHT AWAY
FROM JUDGEMENT AND LONELINESS!


A night away. Adeline looked down at her hand that rested flat on the desk. She hadn't allowed herself an ounce of happiness in 8 years. The repetition of her mundane schedule allowed her a shield of denial, a place to hide her disappointment and pain so that she wouldn't have to acknowledge it.

Though she knew all the excuses, knew all the reasons she kept up this meager existence, for the life of her she couldn't seem to pull herself out.

When was the last time she had spoken to someone about something other than work or purchases? When was the last time she had listened to music that wasn't forced upon her at the local supermarket or in an elevator? When was the last time she had even introduced herself to someone, for Christ's sake?

Perhaps she was finally coming out of the funk she had settled into for the past 8 years then. Perhaps that was why she couldn't get the stupid flyer out of her head. Like it was in any way reputable. As if it had any validity. More likely a bunch of old women would go hoping to find some attention as they howled their dramatized sorrows to the moon.

The front door of the office screeched open and a pair of writers came in chatting with each other. Adeline shook her head. There was no time in her schedule for silly single nights. She booted up her computer and peeled off the saran wrap on her muffin. As she took a small piece off with her fingers and raised it to her mouth, the woman couldn't help but think about that damn flyer again.
Alright, because I have no program to write in on my new laptop, you poor deviants that actually check in on my page get to suffer through all my random ideas for stories that I actually get around to writing a bit of. This one should be like, a romantic comedy, if I ever finish it. It's got a fantasy twist to it; that'll come up in later chapters. I'll eventually write the second chapter to this and to SUBMIT and maybe something for The Legacy of the Dragon and SHIFTER.
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