Morning all and welcome to Monday. I hope you had a fabulous weekend. Mine was a busy one, but I feel pretty good about what I managed to get done. For now, what needs doing is the morning prompt. So let’s set those timers and get them done. Fifteen Minutes please.
I like this. Not sure where it is going, but I imagine something will happen well before she can leave.
Monday, February 17th: The necklace snapped.
The necklace snapped, beads went flying in every direction. “Oh no,” she cried as she tried to catch the sliding string and the beads that remained on it.
“I don’t know why you are so worried,” Carl said, the sneer staining his voice. “It’s just a cheap necklace.”
“I like it,” Lana replied. She grabbed an empty mug, checked that it was clean and unused and dropped the string with its few remaining beads into it. She then picked off the few that got stuck in the folds of her oversized and fluffy seater before lowering herself to the floor as she began to collect the fallen ones.
“There is no point in liking cheap things,” Carl drawled. “It makes you look cheap. You are better off without it.”
Lana frowned but didn’t reply as she continued to gather up the fallen beads. She felt a distinct tug on the necklace before it snapped and was certain Carl had something to do with its demise. She had, over the past few months, perfected the art of ignoring him without seeming to do so. He was her sister’s boyfriend and if the whispers were anything to go by, her soon to be fiancé. To Lana that meant she had to figure out a way to tolerate him when they were together.
As tolerating her sister was already a bit of a chore, Carl was slowly pushing her towards the edge. Lana suspected Carl realized he was being politely tolerated and had decided to push the boundaries.
‘I wonder if it is just his personality or if there is a purpose,’ she thought as she continued to gather the beads. The necklace may not have been the most expensive in the world but Lana liked it and often used it to control herself. She knew that to speak without thinking in this family often brought unwanted retribution. So she had taken to counting the beads and rolling them through her fingers almost like a rosery in order to give herself time to think through her responses instead of simply replying with her first thoughts. She counted the beads as she collected them making sure to gather them all. While she had thoughts of restringing them, she didn’t want a single loose bead rolling around the floor and possibly causing someone to trip.
‘Almost there,’ she thought as she scanned the floor for the last two beads. She found them, together, nestled in the folds of a decorative pillow. Lana slipped the last two beads into the mug and stood. Carl rolled his eyes as she turned to leave, taking the mug with her.
Lana ignored him and retreated to her room. She had agreed to come home for the summer. As the last few years she had internships and other things keeping her away she was asked to come home this summer. She graduated and did as she was asked. While home she sent out resumes and even had several interviews. A few were on the phone and a couple were on video calls.
In the end she secured a job and would be starting in just a few weeks. She had also found an apartment near the job and spent much of her time here arranging things there. At the moment everything was prepared. She could move in now if she chose even though she had a few weeks left to go. Leaving now was tempting and as Lana climbed the stairs she wondered if it wouldn’t be better for everyone.
Ten til Midnight 