The exercise:
Write about: the book club.
Kat hosted this month's meeting of her book club tonight. Max was terribly excited about it, especially once he found out she would be making peach and blackberry crisp to serve at the get together.
He also wanted to read one of his books at the meeting but that didn't come to pass. He was quite disappointed.
Need to get back to the House of Mercy. How does tomorrow sound? Good? All right, it's a date.
Mine:
"So... what was everyone's favorite part of the book?"
"I liked the bit with the dogs. I thought it was very sweet and reminded me of my childhood - my family always had a dog when I was growing up."
"You know the scene where the two main characters met for the first time? I don't think I could ever forget that. So romantic. So tender. Just the way Evan and I met."
"It's hard to pick one single thing out, you know? But I guess, if I had to choose just one, I'd go with the ending. It just wrapped things up so beautifully. I was sad to have to put it down for the final time, but what a perfect way to end the story."
"I loved the part with the pirates. But, as we all know, I have a soft spot for pirates. Ever since that one night stand on Halloween with that guy... what was his name again? Pete? Tom? Alex? Something like that."
"All right then. I guess I'll just crack open another bottle of wine seeing as, yet again, I'm the only one who actually read the book this month."
It sounds like Max wants to be part of the book-club! I think he should be allowed to join, and eat all the crisp he can :) Though I guess the book-club might have to lower the reading age of some of the books they have on their list.
ReplyDeleteHah, I was wondering what the punchline was going to be as I read through your piece. I did wonder if the dogs were going to turn out to have been the romantic couple and if everyone was describing the same event from a different point of view. Still, it sounds like your fictional book-club has a lot going for it, even if reading isn't the major thing! It was fun to read about.
The book club
Only half the chairs were filled this month. Two dining-table chairs were atilt because they had legs that looked like acid had been splashed on them and allowed to eat the wood away, and there was an armchair that had clearly been disembowelled by a four-year old hunting for treasure. The fourth empty chair was an office swivel chair and there were blood-stains visible on the beige leather that suggested someone had wanted the chair dyed burgundy.
"I call this meeting to order," said Peggy. She was primly dressed in a pink knitted cardigan over a white blouse with a lace collar and lacy cuffs. Her skirt was ankle-length and embroidered with tiny daffodils. "I should call the register but... well, I can see we're all here."
"Yes," said Georgina. Her voice was dull, her eyes stared into her lap, and her hands were alabaster white and shaking as they rested on her knees. "The survivors."
"That's a good name for our book-club," said Cecilie. "The Survivors book-club."
"But what if someone asks us what we survived?"
"Ladies!" Peggy's voice cut them off. "We ought to talk about this month's book. Not... not last month's."
"It was boring," said Georgina. She sighed, a wispy sound in the room. "It was lovely. I got to page 921 before I fell asleep, but it was the best sleep since... since... you know."
They nodded; they did all know.
"It was an inspired choice," said Cecilie. "How did you come up with the Sears Catalogue?"
"Oh, I think was a little lucky," said Peggy. She tugged at the hem of her skirt, her smile softening her face.
"We needed some," said Barbara, the last in the room to speak. Her voice was thick as though it had curdled in her throat, and none of the other women would look at what was left of her face. "After picking the Necronomicon last time."
Greg - I think they'd just have one book for the first part of the meeting, and then the adult book for the second part (once he loses interest and wanders off to eat all the food).
ReplyDeleteSome fantastic details in yours. I love the descriptions of each member, and the empty seats as well. I'm not sure I'd want to be a member of this book club, but I'd happily read about each month's meeting!
From a safe distance...