Hear and Listen

"Are you sure you lead me right?" I asked Dianne when we stopped in front of a door. She let out a huff as if offended that I might doubt her.

"I really hope they have the books I need on audio. It would be so much quicker than trying to read them in braille," I said and laughed as I patted her on the head. Here I was talking to my dog as if she could talk back. I must be losing it.

I greeted Joyce as I stepped through the door and waited my turn to be helped. I shifted my heavy binder to my other arm as I listened to the conversations around me. It was interesting how much I could pick up about people without knowing them. Just from what they say and how they say it. The difference between hearing and listening.

"Sarah," Joyce exclaimed when it was my turn; I smiled at her lilting accent, "what can I do for you?"

"Do you have any of the pre-law textbooks on audio? It's just that it takes me so long to read anything in braille. I've only been blind for about ten months," I explained.

"Oh my dear, I had no idea that it was so recent!" Joyce sympathized, "let me see what I can find. I'm pretty sure we have some somewhere."

I stroked Dianne on the head, lost in my own thoughts. I felt the tingle that told me that someone was near just before Dianne barked loudly.

"Sorry," A voice said from behind me.

I turned toward him and gently tapped Dianne on the head, “Dianne, no barking at strangers,” I said. I smiled in the man's direction, “I apologize - sometimes she’s a little overprotective, thinks people are threats when they aren’t," I said. I wasn't quite certain that he wasn't a threat, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"I didn't mean to make her nervous," he said.

Something in his voice struck me as familiar. I tilted my head to one side, listening, hoping he would speak again so that I could place his voice.

Joyce chose then to return. “I have an old recording of some of the pre-law books to get you started, but we haven’t had anyone record the new editions yet. As soon as we get new recordings in, we’ll let you know," she said.

I nodded my head; accepted the recordings and turned back to the door, "thank you very much," I said," I knew it was a little much to hope that the recordings were current, but it was a hope all the same.

I clicked my tongue at Dianne and I felt her jump to her feet, "let's go girl," I said and let her lead me down the hall. I hoped that the recordings were current enough to get me through my tests until someone read the new versions.

I let my mind wander as Dianne lead me through the maze of halls towards my next class. I puzzled about the voice. It seemed like I should be able to place it, but I couldn't. It was like I had heard it in a dream, or it was a voice I met in passing.

I shrugged it off and clicked at Dianne, "come on," I said, "we have to get to class."

Law and History

“Did you see that last night? That was pretty rockin’ awesome,” Evan said.

“What was awesome?” Chris asked distractedly. He had his head down and his hood up, his black eye concealed behind a pair of too-large sunglasses.

“The big boxing match for Campus Fight Night on YouTube.” Evan paused, waved at one of his friends.

Chris followed Evan’s gaze, and his heart caught in his throat. Sarah was lingering near the doorway of the Student Services Office, Dianne sitting obediently at her feet.

“Yeah,” Chris said. “Awesome.”

“Whoever that blond dude is, he’s pretty good,” Evan went on. “When I first saw him, he looked kinda like a chump. I mean, obviously I didn’t get a good look at his face, but he seemed like every idiot pretty boy. Bet he’s the quarterback or something clichéd like that.”

Chris hummed and nodded. “Yeah.” He slunk toward the Student Services Office, lingered a short distance away from Sarah. He had to figure out what classes she was taking so he knew which textbooks to volunteer for, but when he peered at her binder, he saw that it was covered in braille. He wouldn’t be able to read her schedule, then. Crap. Sarah was talking to someone in the office - maybe about her schedule? Chris edged closer, shoulders hunched, head down - which was stupid, because she couldn’t see him - and then Dianne barked loudly, sharply.

Chris jumped.

“Sorry!” he said.

Sarah turned toward him. “Dianne,” she said, “no barking at strangers.” Then she smiled at Chris. “I apologize - sometimes she’s a little overprotective, thinks people are threats when they aren’t.” But there was a note of hesitation in her voice, as if she were assuming he was non-threatening out of politeness.

“I didn’t mean to make her nervous,” Chris said, and Sarah cocked her head to one side, brow furrowed. Did she recognize his voice?

And then someone from within the office said, “I have an old recording of some of the pre-law books to get you started, but we haven’t had anyone record the new editions yet. As soon as we get new recordings in, we’ll let you know.”

Sarah turned back to the door. “Thank you very much,” she said, and she sounded dejected. She clicked her tongue softly, and Dianne was on her feet, alert. “Let’s go, girl.”

Chris watched her go, wanted to call out to her. Instead, he headed into the office.

“Hey.”

The redheaded woman at the desk looked up at him. “How may I help you?”

Chris slid a crumpled application across the desk. “I was looking to be a reader.”

The woman beamed. “Well, that’s lucky, isn’t it?” She had a rolling Irish accent. Joyce, her nametag read. “As it so happens, we need a slew of textbooks read, and soon. What do you feel like, lad, law or history?”

“Law,” Chris said.

(483 words)

Girls and Jobs

Chris stared at the job postings on the cluttered corkboard and wondered how he could possibly make enough money to support his mother while he was in school.

Movement caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. A girl was walking down the hall, poking her head into every doorway. A dog trotted alongside her. Chris was surprised a dog was allowed indoors, but then he noticed the girl’s cane. Chris watched her wander down the hall toward him, intrigued by how graceful and sure her movements were. She walked delicately, like a dancer; she had glossy dark hair, flawless pale skin...and Chris’s mental track was starting to sound like a trashy teen romance novel.

She stopped at the empty Career Office and poked her head in.

"Is this the Student Services office?" Her voice was low for a girl’s, husky, made Chris’s pulse trip erratically.

His voice lodged in his throat. He panicked. "No, but I can show you where it is."

"Thank you!" She stepped out of the doorway and turned to face him, and she smiled.

Chris felt himself begin to fall; his head was swimming; he couldn’t think straight. "It's easy to get lost around here.”

The girl patted her dog on the head; it gazed up at him with big, he suspected distrustful, dark eyes.

Chris started toward the Student Services offices, then paused. "Ummm..." How would she know to follow him?

The girl smiled again, the expression sympathetic, which made Chris feel like an idiot.

"It's okay," she said. "Just keep talking. Tell me where we’re going and what you see so Dianne can lead me to the office again."

"Okay.” Chris looked down at Dianne and wondered how smart she was. He’d heard pigs were smarter than dogs. "Do you know how you got here?"

She nodded.

“Then from this door, we go left.”

As they walked, Chris described the path, noting some of the landmarks and telling stories about this statue or that hallway. He was rambling, but when he got nervous he couldn’t stop. Dianne trotted along beside them, alert, sniffing here and there.

At last, they reached the office. "And here we are."

"Thank you so much." The girl smiled, and Chris’s heart lurched again.

"No problem. It was nice to meet you..."

"Sarah," she said, and inwardly he crowed. He knew her name!

"I'm Chris," he said. A thrill shivered down his spine when their hands touched.

"Thank you again Chris. Maybe I'll 'see' you around," she said, and stepped into the office. Chris wanted to call out, ask for her phone number, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t get involved with a girl - he needed a job.

He turned away, and then he saw it, a flyer advertising a job for the Student Services Center. They needed someone who would read textbooks on tape for a vision-impaired student. Chris snatched the flyer off the wall and dashed back to his dorm room. It was perfect.

(500)

'Show' and 'See'

"Will you stop that?"

I can hear the exasperation in my mothers voice and automatically stopped drumming my fingers nervously on the car door. I clenched my hands in my lap to stop them from their twitching.

"What if Dianne forgets her commands?" I ask, "what if I get lost? It's a big campus and I don't know anyone." I try to keep the blatant worry out of my voice but I can hear it creeping in.

"She won't forget," Mom said firmly. "You have been working and training with her for two months now; been all over the campus with her. You will be just fine."

I knew it was useless to voice further concerns and so I said nothing. I remembered back on all the training I had had with Dianne, the months of hard work and building trust with her. She would be my eyes; I had to trust her. It had been difficult for me these past six months; I had always been so independent before the accident that took my sight. Now I was dependent on others.

I was so lost in my own thoughts that I hardly noticed the car slow down and stop. "I'll pick you up here when you're classes are over with for the day," mom said.

I opened the door and slid out, "No," I said, "Dianne and I will walk home. It's not that far and she knows the way."

I opened the back door and Dianne jumped to the ground; taking her place beside me, her warm body pressed against my leg reassuringly. "I'll see you at home," I said and walked away with Dianna.

**********************

"Is this the Student Services office?" I asked as I poked my head in what seemed like the hundredth door in my search for the seldom used office.

"No," a man said, "but I can show you where it is."

"Thank you!" I said and stepped out of the doorway.

"It's easy to get lost around here," he said. I could feel his presence near me, a peculiar sense that told me when someone was close. I patted Dianne on the head; more to reassure myself of her presence than anything.

"Ummm..."

I smiled at his uncertainty. It was clear that he didn't know how to 'show' me the way to the office. "It's okay," I said. "Just keep talking. Tell me where we are going and what you see so that Dianne can lead me to the office again."

"Okay," he said, though I could still hear hesitation and uncertainty in his voice. "Do you know how you got here?" he asked, and I nodded. "then from this door we go left," he said.

I listened to him describe what he saw as we walked along; landmarks that I could ask Dianna to find and she could do it. He had a pleasant voice.

"And here we are," he said. I felt a slight breeze as he opened a door.

"Thank you so much," I said and smiled in his direction.

"No problem," he said. "I was nice to meet you..."

"Sarah," I supplied, and held out my hand to him.

"I'm Chris," he said as he took my hand. His grip was solid. It matched his voice.

"Thank you again Chris. Maybe I'll 'see' you around," I said and smiled before stepping into the office of Student Support Services.

Project Assignment # 72 - Group effort

So I know we batted this idea around a little this week of writing Sarah's and Chris's story, so here we go.

I'm not quite sure how we should work it out. If it should be a writers tennis style or otherwise. Let me know what you think my fellow writers!

Regardless of format, let's stick to 700 words or less.

Overview #71: New Characters

I totally had fun writing in first person POV this week. IT was interesting the difference in the immediacy of the scene when writing from that POV rather than another.

I started the week not really knowing what to write about, and then a situation popped into my head. A man in the hospital with no memory of who he was or how he got there.

And since I enjoyed writing the first person POV so much, I created Sarah. I wanted to challenge myself to write a scene in which a sense was missing, but have it not be so noticeable.

I was a little stuck with what to write next, but I looked around and spotted my renaissance dress and that gave me the idea for Anne and Jane. it was interesting that I had originally thought to have the scene more about Anne, but it shifted to focus on little Jane. It was also interesting to write two new characters in a scene and try to make each of them distinct from the first person POV. I like how Anne focused on Jane.

I also liked the help I got in the re-write of the additional post for Sarah and Chris.

Overview #71: New Characters

So this ended up being harder for me than I'd originally anticipated, partially because I went out of town for the weekend and had to double up on homework earlier in the week as consequence. Working hard also fried my brain, because I came down with a genuine sense of writer's block near the end there.

I learned something I probably really knew all along this week: characters cannot be properly developed in isolation. Well, a writer can try it, but what results is a horrifying Sweet Valley-like disaster of boring, unbelievable exposition. Because I am me and I am long-winded, it was harder than I thought it would be creating a character in isolation, and I found myself hyperaware of how I was spending too much time developing the background characters who were just supposed to be props so the character I wanted to create could shine.

I have been dreaming up Jun Fei or a boy like him for a long time, so I was surprised when Chris came out as the most real, well-rounded, original character. Little Lillian was a struggle for me, because the overwhelming number of my protagonists are male and the last time I wrote a child prodigy he was male, but I went for it anyway. This week was a great experience, though, and drove home the reason that conflict creates a story, because an amazing character won't carry a story if he or she is alone; the characters in his world had better be interesting too.