It's All Over! 😭😭😭 My Last Piece of Writing for #FreewriteMadness / #NaNoWriMo

aislingcronin (60)in #freewritemadness • 5 years ago (edited)

It's the last day of #FreewriteMadness and #NaNoWriMo ... and I've found myself getting quite sappy about it all! This challenge has been absolutely incredible. I greatly enjoyed reading everyone else's posts and watching them make progress with their own writing journeys. Bizarrely, I feel as though I'm going to miss them terribly ... even though, of course, we're all still associated with @freewritehouse and we will still be interacting with each other in the future. What can I say? The sappiness is intense right now. 😉

Indeed, I took the opportunity to make my first ever DTube video outlining just how sappy I was earlier today!

I hit my 50,000 word target yesterday, but because I promised myself that I would write something every single day during November, I will follow through on that today, for the very last time. It will only be a short piece, because now that I've crossed the finish line, I've found myself suffering from an acute bout of writer's fatigue.

After this final bit of NaNoWriMo work, I would like to take a few days off from writing. I want to take some time to step away from my laptop, re-engage with the real world and enjoy my weekend ... before hopefully launching into the editing process with a renewed sense of vigour and enthusiasm. ❤️

I am responding to @freewritehouse's latest prompt, broke.

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Dreamstime

Sarah settles back into her seat by Joanne's bedside. She is sad that Mark had to go, though she understands he couldn't have simply not shown up to work...

'You okay?' Emma asks gently.

'Yeah...' Sarah shakes her head, laughing slightly at herself. 'Is it ridiculous that I miss him already?

'Ah, no. It was good of him to call in and see Mum, even if she was asleep,' Emma says with a smile, then rolls her eyes. 'And even though she would have been rude as fuck to him, if she were awake...'

'Mm. Maybe.'

Sarah seems very listless. Her eyes are fixed upon Joanne's sleeping face. Emma watches her for a moment, concerned, then asks, 'are you sure you're alright, Sarah?'

Sarah turns to look at her, 'Um ... yeah. Kind of. I don't know. I'm just tired and sore and I'm worried about Mum and I wish...' Sarah trails off, then sighs. 'I wish everything wasn't so difficult with her. Even now, with her being so sick and everything, I feel as though I still can't connect with her. There's always a wall between us. Always.'

'I know,' Emma says softly. 'I feel it too. And I don't know what the answer is. We just have to keep trying, I guess...'

They lapse into a silence broken only by the distant hospital noises beyond Joanne's room: nurses bustling to and fro, trolleys being moved around, distant monitors beeping in a nearby room...

'Oh God,' Emma announces suddenly, her eyes wide, 'she's waking up.' She hurries to the side of Joanne's bed and peers anxiously at her. Joanne opens her eyes blearily and stares up at Emma, looking somewhat bewildered to see her. Sarah runs over to her too, grabbing her arm.

'Mum? How are you feeling?'

Joanne shakes her head and brushes them aside with great irritation. 'Alright, alright, I don't need you both crowding around me like this. Let me get some water...'

'Here you go, Mum,' Emma says quickly, fetching Joanne's glass of water from her bedside table. 'Would you like me to turn on the radio or anything? I know how much you like your afternoon talk shows –'

'That damn radio,' Joanne tuts. 'I broke it the other day but I have no idea how ... don't tell the staff, though. They might make me pay for it.'

Emma and Sarah can't help but exchange an amused glance on hearing this. Their mother is clearly as irrepressible as ever.

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And now, for the final time (sniff), I will list the names of everyone else taking part in #FreewriteMadness. 😭😭😭 Make sure you go and support their work too!

@ireenchew
@botefarm
@kaerpediem
@bennettitalia
@kaelci
@felt.buzz
@improv
@ntowl
@kipswolfe
@stinawog
@byn
@carolkean
@mariannewest