A New Story
This character kind of popped into my head tonight and wouldn't go away, so I decided to give her a quick story. This is the first original character story I have done in a long time. Lately I have been writing fanfic, which is a lot of fun too. I have no plans to stop doing that, but I hope to write more original stuff as well. Eventually I will post this on fictionpress.com, but there is a waiting period before you can put anything up. So for now I will post it here. Let me know what you think!TITLE: Lonely
AUTHOR: Girrlkitty
STATUS: Complete
RATING: G
CATEGORY: General fiction
SUMMARY: Why do we have to choose between success and love?
WARNINGS: None
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It has been a while since I wrote any original characters, although I have been puttering around with a few things lately. This character was yelling too loudly not to be heard, however. I hope you enjoy, and feedback is always appreciated, good or bad! Thanks to Yllek, who gave it a quick edit for me. Any errors are mine alone.
ARCHIVE: Do not archive without the author's express permission.
Caitlin wandered restlessly around her apartment, fingers trailing through the collected dust on the shelves and books as she passed by. Wryly looking at her fingertips, she figured it was probably time to do a good cleaning, but now was not the time.
She moved back and forth through the two rooms of the small space, one a living room/kitchen/dining room/office, the other her bedroom. Her cat, Mr. Shelborne, Shelby for short, finally got tired of the pacing and flopped down in the approximate middle, where he could keep an eye on her.
Caitlin moved to the couch, deciding to try some television. She flicked through 67 channels in rapid succession, nothing managing to capture her attention. Shutting it back off, she looked around the room.
“What the Hell is wrong with me tonight?” She said it out loud more to hear the sound of a voice, any voice, than from any real desire to talk to herself. She rose again, the walls seeming more like a prison than a haven at the moment.
She waited a heartbeat, not really expecting an answer, but pausing for one anyway. Feeling more than a bit silly, she stripped, reasoning that a good shower was just what she needed.
Turning the water as hot as she could stand it, Caitlin scrubbed at her skin, enjoying the contrast of smooth suds and rough poof. She stayed in until her skin was turning pink and wrinkled, deciding she would rather get out than turn down the heat. She pulled on a pair of boxer shorts and a tee-shirt, loving how free she felt without a bra to hinder her movements.
The relaxation didn’t last long however. Before she knew it, she found herself wandering around again, touching things. She stopped to look at the photographs scattered around, of friends, of family, of good times.
She wasn’t depressed. At least, she didn’t think she was. Work was good, life was good. She knew she really had nothing to complain about. So why was she trailing around like a lost puppy dog?
As she skimmed her fingers across the spines of her books, she came to rest on one of her favorites, a gushy romance novel she would never admit to reading in mixed company.
Pulling it off the shelf, she looked at the cover art, an impossibly beautiful woman gazing longingly into the eyes of an equally impossibly handsome man.
That was really the catch, she sighed, putting it back where she had found it, plopping down on the bed to stare at the ceiling. This great life, and no one to share it with.
Growing up, she had always thought she would be married by now. She wanted the husband, the kids, the house with the proverbial picket fence. But she also wanted her career, her independence, her own place in the world. She had always thought it was possible to have both. Lately, she had begun to doubt it.
It was so unfair how men could be successful and have a family, but women, even in this day and age, still had to choose. Why should she have to choose between work she loved and love itself? She knew she was capable of doing both, why couldn’t the world see that?
Fighting back the tears and knowing she had to stop before she worked herself up, Caitlin reached up to turn off the light. She rolled over, letting the darkness hug her curves.
As she let sleep claim her, she thought back over the choices she had made, knowing that, if she could do it all over again, there wasn’t much she would change. She liked who she was, what she was. She had chosen this path, and walked it with no regrets.
She just wished there was someone beside her to point out the sights and share in the beauty of the journey.
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posted by Toni @ 11:08 PM
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