Writing Exercises from Serving up a Story

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

The theme is regret. The five things that you must include in your story are; October, something turquoise, apartment #304, something indestructible, something transparent. You must begin with dialogue and you must end just before midnight.

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"It's time." said the hospice nurse hovering over me. She then tended to a translucent liquid-filled bag hanging above me.

My bed was then soon surrounded by several strangers. They all seemed familiar, and yet I couldn't recollect who they were. There were many things that I couldn't remember. My head was in a constant fog and it was hard to separate what was real and what wasn't. I tried hard to think but my memory was patchy at best. I knew that I was home in my apartment, #304. My bed faced an oversized window but there was only blackness beyond it, which was unfortunate because I had spent the day overlooking the rolling hills with their beautiful colors of reds, orange, and yellows. It must be late September or maybe October I thought.

I didn't understand why everyone was so sad. There was one woman in particular with curly brown hair and hazel eyes that I found especially attractive. She looked as though she was barely able to keep her composure. I smiled at her but it only made matters worse somehow. I felt an overwhelming urge to kiss her but refrained because one doesn't just go around kissing strangers. Nevertheless, I was compelled to comfort her and reached out and took her hand and she did not object. I noticed a turquoise necklace that she had on.

"That's a beautiful necklace you have there. Where did you get it?" I asked.

"My .... husband." She said in a broken voice with tears in her eyes.

"He's a lucky man," I said in a weak voice and was now finding that my breath did not come easily.

It was then that she collapsed on top of me and sobbed uncontrollably. I stroked her soft hair to comfort her. I was confused about this woman's fuss over me. It was then in a brief moment of clarity that I knew this woman was no stranger, but my wife. I felt unbelievably stupid, but it wasn't my ignorance that was to blame, it was cancer that had metastasized to my brain. The strangers then became familiar, they were all family. I cried.

Silently I cursed myself. I had always thought that I was somehow indestructible and that I had plenty of time to do the things I wanted in life. I worked so much to provide for my family and give them the things that I never had growing up, but what I should have given them was more of me, and now it seemed that my time was gone. There was no more time to give. It was the last hour of my last day. There were no more days left. What a fool I was.