This is my first fiction post. I'm taking a few writing classes through Gotham Writers Workshop (www.writingclasses.com) (GREAT classes and instructors, btw.) Anyway, the assignment was to pick a character, setting, and situation from a given list and write a 500 word max story. I chose to write about an opera singer at a mountain resort, the situation is stolen chickens. Let me know what you think. :)

 

Elaine Dunn looked out at the crowd from behind the curtain. It was amateur night at the club, most of the acts were comedy but she had been practicing her opera. Her husband had discouraged her, he just doesn’t understand, she thought. Ever since she had her fall at the library, opera was the only passion that made her heart sing. He always complained that she never even listened to opera before the accident. She didn’t care, she felt in her gut it was a gift from God. Who would have thought that a spilled soda, on a marble floor, in the middle of the afternoon, would be a divine intervention? Certainly not her.

She had grown up on a farm in the middle of Iowa, surrounded by rows of corn. Now, look at me, she thought. I knew I was meant for greatness. She was one of the acts at the Pokolodi Lodge. Her husband noted that the lodge only had two and a half stars. Big deal, she thought, I am in Aspen, Colorado, the travel destination of the rich and famous. She was on her way.

She was act number three in the lineup. She knew it was just a matter of time before she had her own show, she had to do her due diligence. To calm her nerves, she started to massage her cheeks, then her throat, she moved her jaw from side to side just like she saw in a YouTube video. A young man holding a clipboard noticed her and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Oh. Yes. I’m warming up for my act. I’m next.”

“Phew. Things have been a little weird today. Our emotional support chickens, Kim and Kanye, have gone missing. We all suspect fowl play.” He said with a smirk.

She gave him a tight smile then resumed her focus. She let her tongue hang to her chin and shook her head aggressively. She moved on to lip trills.

When he got the signal, the man turned to her and said, “Hey, lady. You’re up!”

Elaine stepped to the center of the stage and said, “Good evening. I will be singing Non Più Mesta from La Cenerentola.”

The lights dimmed. She took a deep breath in and nodded to the MC signaling him to start her music. As she began, a table crashed in the audience. She continued to sing. The audience started to murmur. A man appeared to be chasing something in the darkened room. The audience shifted from left, then to the right. The man bumped over more tables in his chase. Elaine continued to sing nearing her crescendo. The man dove to the floor as the audience collectively gasped. As he stood, he held two chickens, one in each hand. Wide-eyed, the audience cheered in applause just as Elaine was finishing her song. She beamed and gave a dramatic bow then a curtsy for her audience and walked off the stage blowing kisses. I made it, she thought.