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Thursday, September 22, 2011

3WW- Taking Liberty Part 22

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Thanks for all of you who've come back and stuck it through. For any new readers, I'd recommend you check out my Taking Liberty page to read all the episodes, or to read a quick summary.

Every week, I take the words supplied by ThomG at 3WW and write a mostly unplanned segment of the larger story of Elizabeth and Liberty.

When we last left, Elizabeth had gained some control over Liberty and was getting ready to let James in on her interesting situation.


"What type of things?" James furrowed his brows.  The wonder in his voice had left.  "What does this have to do with. . . her?"

The door in my head rattled a little louder.  It couldn't be more obvious that I was racing against time to get the story told than if there was a countdown clock hanging over my head.  I couldn't ease into this, it was all or nothing.

"Why did you jump into the lake to save Liberty?"

James took a step away from me.  From the way he stumbled a bit, I wondered if his legs were as weak as mine were.  They must have been, because he sat down on the stairs before answering me.

"I--" He swallowed, "I used to be friends with her, when we were little."  He crossed his arms and leaned back on the stairs, his eyes focused somewhere behind me.  "We went to daycare together, before her dad left.  She was different then."

I walked over and sat next to him, putting my arm around his shoulder. He leaned his head against me and continued, his voice dulled by trying to hold back tears.

"She wasn't as . . . sad, angry.  She was just a kid." He picked up his head and looked at me, a small smile on his face. "And she was really funny, too.  When I saw her in the water--" His voice faltered again.

"I know." I said, hugging him closer to me.

We sat in silence for a while, and I stifled a yawn.  I felt James pull away and look at me.

"You never answered my question.  What does all this have to do with Liberty?"

"That day, by the lake.  After you tried to save her, she got inside my head."

In the distance, I heard the door rattle again and a guttural scream echoed faintly.

 "Really deep inside my head."


So not quite the fireworks I had expected, but now I think we can see why Liberty attached herself to James.  It makes Liberty seem a little bit sadder to me, instead of the angry force of nature she was becoming.

But I don't think she's happy that Elizabeth has spilled the secret.

8 comments:

Berowne said...

Very good writing...

Anonymous said...

I always admire you fiction writers...capturing character, plot and sustaining that over so many episodes! Great stuff.

Alice Audrey said...

I'm definitely going to have to back up a bit to know what's going on here.

Since you're new to The Serialists, you're welcome to link to your index page.

Witless Exposition said...

@creativeintrospection: Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it and hope you come back again.

@Alice: I didn't think about linking my index page, that's a great idea. Thanks again for inviting me!

Kwee Cats and Art said...

Intriguing story. Like Alice, I'm going to have to back up some to understand what is happening now. But I enjoy characters already, and yup, it is a very intriguing tale you've got going here.

Old Egg said...

This certainly is an inventive and intriguing series. This reader find it difficult to see any happy resolution to come out of it with the situations that Liberty has Elizabeth into. However I feel that there is more to James than meets the eye too. Utterly enthralling.

Sheilagh Lee said...

Very intriguing detailed story I've enjoyed this.

Witless Exposition said...

@oldegg--I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'm struggling myself on seeing it end well. Someone's definitely going to get the short end of the stick. I think James has become a lot more than I ever planned him to be. Thanks for the great comment!

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