"So you still haven't told me why you're out here." I glanced over at Liam who was staring at me curiously.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I replied simply, stalling.
"Try me. I have quite the open mind you know."
I was hoping this conversation didn't have to happen. Nothing about the past two months had made any sense to me. How was Liam supposed to understand? Would he think I was crazy? I guess it doesn't really matter. I am crazy. "Promise not to laugh. Okay, so you know I graduated college last month? Everything was all laid out. My dad had set me up with my dream job, and I was supposed to start right away. He even hinted at buying me a new car as a graduation present. It all seemed perfect. Well, just before graduation, my friends and I went to a Medieval Fair in town. We all dared each other to get our palms read to see where we would all end up. It was all just for fun really. When it was my turn, the lady took my hand and studied it for what seemed like five minutes before she said anything. Then she looked me straight in the eye and just said, 'Australia.' That was it. Nothing else. Ever since then, I couldn't stop thinking about Australia. I even started having dreams about this place. Every night! So the day after graduation, I emptied my savings account and bought a one-way ticket. That's my story. Happy?"
Liam just stared at me. After a minute or two of the most awkward silence and his gaze being split between me and the road, he busted out laughing. "So you just took off? Just like that?"
"Um... Yeah." I neglected to mention that the dreams of Australia also included a man. He had long dark hair that he wore pulled back in a bun. He was always smiling at me. He had the most beautiful smile I had ever seen and eyes the color of the ocean. I thought this man was just a figment of my imagination. (I was very thankful for my imagination at this point.) But soon after I landed in Sydney, I found out that he was, in fact, real.
The Jackaroo Hostel was the best place I could afford, so I decided to call it home for a bit. I met Liam my first night. He was drunk at the bar next door and hit on everything that moved. I felt a little sorry for the guy, so I helped him back to the hostel. Before he woke up the next morning, I did a little Facebook stalking just to make sure that I was not about to make friends with a serial killer. A few pictures in, my heart stopped. There was Liam standing on a gorgeous beach with his arm around no other than the man of my dreams. Literally. I had flown halfway across the planet in search of something that I didn't even know existed, and here I was, helping his brother to bed after a night of too much Jack Daniels.
It turns out that Liam was in Sydney on vacation and was headed back home to Wollongong shortly. Since I had no plans and no money, he offered for me to come along. I accepted while trying my hardest not to sound too eager. "Liam! You said you wouldn't laugh! Let's change the conversation. Tell me about your family."
"Well, the best man that you will ever meet is my brother, Art," he began. Art. I now have a name for my mystery man. "I told him to grab a pizza. He's really excited to meet you." My heart melted. I was going to meet Art. I was going to meet Art in forty-two minutes.
Author's Note:
This story is based off of How Britomart Looked into the Magic Mirror in the Faerie Queene: Britomart Unit. Britomart was a princess, but her personality could not have been farther from that of royalty. One day, she looked into a magic mirror that was given to her father by Merlin the Magician. There she saw the reflection of a man. He wore a suit of armor, and Britomart's heart was instantly his. She had to go find this man, so she disguised herself as a knight and ran away from her castle. She had some great adventures and then met a man who knew the man she saw in the mirror. She hid her feelings for him but asked her new friend to describe the man of her dreams.
I'm graduating in five weeks and am supposed to attend dental school this fall. It's the perfect plan, but there's something in me that is screaming for me to run away. I've got gypsy blood pulsing through my veins. This story doubled as a way for me to vent a little bit. I loved Britomart's sense of adventure and daring from the very beginning. She didn't care who or what she was leaving behind, only who she could meet and the stories she could make for herself. I want to live her passion.
Bibliography:
How Britomart Looked into the Magic Mirror. Stories from the Faerie Queene. Mary Macleod. 1916.
I DIG this story. I read the Britomart unit too, and loved how you retold the story in your own way. You made it much more relatable to the modern-day college graduate. I can relate to the character when it comes to just dropping everything and taking a chance. I feel like i've done that a few times in my life, and even though people usually don't agree, most of those times have really been positive. The others taught me great life lessons. I would love to go to Australia and though I probably wouldn't do it from a palm reading, I would love to just pick up and go visit. That's essentially what i'm doing with my trip to Africa this summer. Anyway, great job with your storytelling this week!
ReplyDeleteI love your storytelling post! I think your approach was really unique and I love how you made it personal. I totally understand what you mean when you say you have an itch to just run away. I’m supposed to go to law school next year but I really want to just take some time off and play rugby all over the place while I’m still young and have the body and endurance.
ReplyDeleteWow. Your storytelling was amazing! I love how detailed your stories are. And I absolutely love the way you write. You had a really great use of quotes as well.
ReplyDeleteMan, I can definitely relate to wanting to run away. Sometimes I feel trapped by school, but then I remember that I'm working towards my dream job, and it makes me feel a little better.
Nice story! I like how you changed your own storytelling to vent your own frustrations. It made for a really great story. I like that on impulse, the lady just left for Australia because of a palm reader just simply saying "Australia." I also think you did a good job with details in this story. It was very easy for me to keep up and know what was going on in the story. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you used your story this week to kind of reflect some of your own personal life. Your author’s note really helped the reader understand your intentions for the story and why you put some aspects of your life and graduating soon into it! I thought your story was set up really well and it was a great story!
ReplyDeleteHi Skye,
ReplyDeleteI liked reading this story. It was certainly an interesting one. I have never been someone who wanted to travel the world, but I love hearing stories about people who do, or stories of people who just give up all of their worldly possessions at the drop of a hat and go travel the world. I also think that the story had some great descriptions, so the reader would be able to picture themselves in the story.
Hey Skye. I really enjoyed reading your story and I think you did a really good job writing it. I didn’t expect it to be about a girl trying to track down a mystery man, but it made for a really interesting story. I like how you mixed the girls thoughts with the dialogue between her and Liam. The flashbacks that she has about having her palm read and first meeting Liam really put the story together and it makes the plot make much more sense. I also like how you threw the whole graduation aspect into the storyline, as it adds a kind of personal feel since you are actually about to graduate. I have not read the original story that yours is based off of, but I can see how it inspired you to write the story that you did. The image that you chose shows the beauty of Australia and is great too.
ReplyDeleteSkye,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your story and I like all the thought/effort you put into it. I thought that the story was very well written and flowed nicely. I never found myself pausing or having to re-read something so great job with that! I also like the amount of details you put within it. You were so vivid in describing settings, such as calling it the "Jackaroo Hostel" which I thought was a great touch. I also thought the dialogue was very well written and presented itself nicely in the overall story.
My only suggestions would be to maybe separate that large character somewhere in the middle. It is significantly larger than the other paragraphs and kind of intimidating when you see it. However, this isn't that big of a deal because the content is the most important part, which is great! My final suggestion would be to maybe move the picture above the Author's Note so the photo kind of separates the two.
Overall, excellent job with your story and I enjoyed it!