Nanowrimo Blog Post 4

That’s when I stopped listening.

Brain processing.

Light bulb. Melissa should go with me. I had never thought of it, she’s just my lame neighbor who always has her face in a book, but she’s the responsible one my mom wants me to go to New York with. It’s only a few train rides anyway and her and my mom are close. Sometimes I think my mom would have wanted her instead of me because she relates to her so well. Stupid neighborhood. I’ll talk about it with her in the morning.

Next day

“Mom, I've made a decision. The next weekend that Melissa goes to NYU, I’ll just accompany her and start finding him.”

“I was thinking the same thing. So it looks like you’re going after all.”

Yes. I will finally be going to New York. The city where my dreams will come true.

NaNoWriMo Blog Post 3 (trois)

Lori

Today my son talked to me about the one thing that I’ve tried to avoid for twelve years. His father. His no good, asshole of a father.  I knew that would want to know all about him sometime, but I didn’t think today would be the day or any day, I guess. I just wasn’t expecting it but i don’t think I was prepared to ever expect it. He asked what he was like and what he looked like and I gave him the only picture that I had saved. It was of Frank when we met. Handsome, young. He had brown shaggy hair that was sort of long but not circular shaped like Josh’s. He was tall and skinny. He had on that cream dark colored coat over his gray hoodie with jeans and work boots. It was an old picture, but I had saved it just for the kids if they ever wanted to see him.

I also gave him the various letters that his father had sent him over the course of his absence. He had sent a total of like five letters to dwell in my closet never to be opened by me. I thought they might be birthday cards or something but I wasn’t sure.

That was all I could do. I don’t know if he’s opened them yet. He says he wants to find him after he graduates. I don’t know if I should let him. It can’t be safe. This can’t be normal. But he says he can’t live without knowing.

NaNoWriMo Blog Post 2 (double deluxe)

Excerpt in Chapter 2
Josh
Tomorrow I have a birthday party. I hate my family. We only have four people come to all of our events: my grandma, grandpa, and Aunt Jen. Aunt Jen just comes because she doesn't have a job or a husband and grandma and grandpa are just old and don’t have anything else to do, so of course they come to everything. I’m not trying to take them for granted, but it just doesn’t feel the same. My cousins and I all used to go to parties together and celebrate each others’ birthdays, but now nobody ever sees each other besides the occasional Facebook post here and there.  It’s like our lives got busy and everybody just drifted apart. I guess it makes sense that practically everyone else in my family went off to college before me and my sister, so of course they wouldn’t feel the need to talk to us, but it just disappoints me that they wouldn’t care to come to a swim meet of Jessica’s every once in a while or my birthday party. It’s whatever. I guess it was always inevitable. Okay, so I don’t hate my family. I just hate what’s happened to it. Same difference.

Frank

I came out here with the idea that I would start my own business. It’s always have a career or have a family, right? Well now I had a bunch of time for this stuff. But this place ain’t Disney and my dreams weren’t gonna come true anytime soon. I started up my own sandwich food truck, but apparently everybody loved the “Bacon Bacon Bacon Bacon” food truck way more and took away all of my business year after year. Stupid name, right? But they make a hell of a bacon wrapped sandwich. Well after that, I was left to find another job. I couldn’t open my own business after my last one went bankrupt and I obviously don’t have a college degree, so I started working for a temp agency. I hated it. But hey, money is money and I was paying the bills for myself with enough money left over for my fix everyday. It all worked out.

NaNoWriMo Blog Post 1

Prologue

Frank

“It was heck growing up. You don’t know what it was like coming home from school and being afraid because your mom is flying on drugs so you go and hide under your bed and listen to them scream and wonder whether your dad or your mom was going to kill the other one first. My parents were absolute pieces of ****. They fought all the time. My mom beat me a lot. She was always drunk and when she wasn't drunk she was drunk. I couldn't stand living with her and my father who had always yelled at her to be a better mom. Like that could ever happen. I looked at my friends at school and wondered what it would be like to live in a nice suburb with your nice family and nice house. I looked at them and wondered what it would be like to not have a dad who was always gone and a mom who was always drunk. What it would be like to not be beaten and come to school with some more unexplained bruises. One time my dad told my mom that he’d kill her if she hit me again. He came home that night and saw my face bruised up, so he dragged my mom out of her room by the legs, lifted her up by her throat and pinned her against the wall. Her face was turning more and more purple and I was pulling on her legs trying to get her feet back on the ground. Cause I didn't want to see my dad kill my mom. He let her go and her face was blue. She didn't hit me for a while after that. He had scared her so bad. She always beat me and called me a piece of **** and told me that I was going to heck, but that was my mom.

When it was time for me to take on that parenting role, I knew that I couldn't disappoint my kids like that. I had to leave.”

Chapter 1

Josh

I’ll be honest. I live in the lamest neighborhood ever. It's the most stereotypical place. You've got your white picket fences, neighbors who give you cookies when the new family moves in, and rusty swing sets in the back yard. Even our trees are normal. Stupid maples. Our house stands out as the only one with a red door, but other than that, we have just another cookie cutter house.