{"id":238,"date":"2020-01-16T08:37:07","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T16:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/?p=238"},"modified":"2020-01-16T08:37:09","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T16:37:09","slug":"voicemail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/2020\/01\/16\/voicemail\/","title":{"rendered":"Voicemail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo by Kevin M<\/a> from FreeImages<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Write a fragment of narrative in paratactic style. Create a series of phone messages a nineteen-year-old man leaves for the woman who has just broken his heart.<\/strong>*<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHi Lily. It\u2019s Cash. We\u2019re through?\nNo, please no. I walked all night. The rain didn\u2019t let up. So wet. Why? You\u2019re\ntearing us apart? Listen. I\u2019m working all day. Don\u2019t quit me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHi Lily, Cash. Two days. I haven\u2019t\nheard. Anything. How is this right? Owen saw you with Rosie. You were laughing.\nI can\u2019t even smile. Tell me why.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLily. It\u2019s me. Was it the party? I\ndidn\u2019t do anything. I was with Owen and Reggie. We were smoking \u2013 hardly\nunforgiveable. I will do anything. Tell me what you want.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cListen, Lily. I saw Rosie. She\u2019s not\nhappy either. You don\u2019t understand. Nothing happened. Not a minutes passes. You\u2019re\nin my head. I can\u2019t sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLily. One week. I don\u2019t want a\nletter. Face to face. Talk to me. Honesty. You need complete honesty. I agree. I\nwill be better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLily, talk to me! Rosie still has the\nring. I can\u2019t accept it. We are not through. You are tired. You are not\nclear-headed. I am doing ok. I am still strong. Let me see you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLily, what happened to your phone?\nHard to find your new number. I am worried for you. Talk to me.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLily, what does Rosie know? She stopped\nreturning my calls. Your apartment is dark. So is my heart. Where are you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLily. Facebook too?  Blocked. Complete blackout. Love is an iron\nfist. It grabs you. Never lets go. My fist clenches for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLilliputian. My name for you. But not\na small love at all.  Giant! My love is\ngiant. And the hole in my heart. Way too big. Why the silence?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLily, two weeks. Nothing but emptiness.  No answer at your door.  Rosie has blocked me. Your boss says nothing.\nHe won\u2019t let me wait. I can\u2019t wait any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLily, your apartment. Key still works.\n3 am. I am here. Where are you? Who are you with?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCops? You called cops? Key is gone.\nLily, you talk all the time. Why the silence now? Where did you go?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLily, I am trying. You have space. I\nhave patience.  Endless patience. True\nlove conquers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLily, I saw you. Car brakes.\nRear-ender. Your head whipped around. You couldn\u2019t know it was me. So much\nyelling. Now a court date. Just give me a word.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLily, three weeks. Feels like three\nyears. Give me a sign. Tell me what you need. I will give it to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLily, not what I meant. A court order?\u00a0 50 feet? A joke. Must be a joke. Not laughing. Lily, we had it good. A bold move comes next.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLily. Because of you. Alaska. The Last Frontier. End of the highway. Flight tomorrow. Outta here. We\u2019re done. You\u2019re welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Brian Kitely, 2008. “4 am Breakthrough: Unconventional Writing Exercises that Transform Your Fiction.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Write a fragment of narrative in paratactic style. Create a series of phone messages a nineteen-year-old man leaves for the woman who has just broken his heart.* \u201cHi Lily. It\u2019s Cash. We\u2019re through? No, please no. I walked all night. The rain didn\u2019t let up. So wet. Why? You\u2019re tearing us apart? Listen. I\u2019m working all day. Don\u2019t quit me.\u201d … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[51,48,28,50,49],"class_list":["post-238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shorts","tag-alaska","tag-breakup","tag-free-write","tag-parataxis","tag-voicemail","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":240,"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238\/revisions\/240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elizabetholdham.com\/wpd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}