The agenda
Dorothy sat at her kitchen table staring blankly at her open agenda.
It was 5 a.m., Saturday morning. She started every day at 5 a.m.; no sleeping in on weekends. She always had far too much to do to waste any daylight hours.
Only this morning, despite the fact that she was on her second cup of black coffee, she just wasn’t able to think. Each hour on the calendar was scheduled. The entire task list page was full. But Dorothy wasn’t seeing any of it.
She pulled her fingers through her hair. It was disheveled from a restless night of tossing and turning. But it would be washed, blow dried, and every hair in place before the rest of the household woke up.
Everything in Dorothy’s life was managed and controlled within an inch of its life; even her hair.
Only lately, her tightly woven world was unraveling. And Dorothy was starting to panic. She would tuck an errant thread back into place, only to have another escape and threaten to pull her life right apart.
Her dad, George, was found at the train station the other day by a police officer. A neighbour had seen him hop on the bus at 8 a.m., and had kept an eye out for his return. By noon, knowing that George was having episodes of memory loss, the neighbour phoned Dorothy.
Dorothy couldn’t watch her dad every single second. And she couldn’t be relying on the good will of the neighbours. A more permanent solution would have to be put in place.
Of course, it would be left to Dorothy to investigate all the options. Michael was next to useless at that type of thing. He wouldn’t ask the right questions. Emma lived all the way across the country, so she couldn’t be expected to help.
No, it would all fall to her.
Then there was Jordan, her eldest son. His marks were slipping.
“But Mom, I got 75%. Geez!”
Those type of marks were not going to get him into a good university program!
“I’m in grade 10, Mother! I have two more years to worry about applying for university.”
She tried to explain about maintaining good study habits, but Jordan just rolled his eyes at her and went off to play that damn XBox.
To top it off, there was that presentation to senior management due on Tuesday. Dorothy wasn’t in charge of preparing it, her assistant was. But it would have to be scrutinized on Monday for the one or two typos and grammatical errors that were bound to be there.
It would be nice if she could get some help from her husband, to ease some of her burden. Really nice. But he was coming home later and later each night. And when he did get home, he went straight to his study.
Dorothy would stand in the doorway with a list of household chores that needed doing.
“I’m tired, Dorothy. Just let some of it go, will ya?”, he’d sigh without even looking away from his computer screen.
Let it go?
If she let one thing slide for a bit, she’d have to work doubly hard to catch up. Why didn’t anyone understand that?
But here she sat on a Saturday morning, not able to start her day. And for the first time in her life, she simply wanted to curl back up in bed. Just let the day come and go without a single task being checked off her damn agenda.
With great effort, Dorothy pushed back from the table, and stood up.
She turned off the coffee pot.
She rinsed her mug out, and placed it in the dishwasher.
Then pulling her robe tightly closed around her, she headed upstairs to shower, and start her day.
sounds like a control freak.
Urban Panther,
thank you for the story! Unlike Sanjay I don’t think Dorothy is a control freak. She thinks that she is the one responsible for everything (typical for many women). Why doesn’t she speak with Michael? Maybe Michael would do something, but thinks that Dorothy is better in doing those things anyway.
It’s a story about real life - I like it!
My, my! Do you read my mind? You are writing stories that correlate with my life! I have kids and yes kids one of them is study challenged…not the Xbox but text messaging is the obstacle…..time to think.
You capture moments and people so well! Such as:
“Only lately, her tightly woven world was unraveling. And Dorothy was starting to panic. She would tuck an errant thread back into place, only to have another escape and threaten to pull her life right apart.”
Have I told you lately how much I love fiction Fridays?
(I was really hoping she’d go back to bed!)
P.S. So glad to read that your mom is on the mend! Wonderful news.
Dear Urban Panther,
I like your story. You paint a portrait of Dorothy that is easy to believe and follow.
I think the end was a bit terse for my taste. I would have preferred something more like a sigh or a glance at the clock, an ‘OH well time to get going’ - something to tell me what brings her back to reality and lets her routines kick back in.
But that is just me.
Very good story - I like how it ties in with the old man at the train station story.
Thank you for the good read. Real life sometimes is total responsibility and that fear of letting go of control…
That have to do it all feeling.
I think though if someone doesn’t hold on to the responsibilities of life, families get into even bigger problems. How to communicate when others refuse for one reason or another
Thank you - so nice to be back up and smoothly on line…I can come here for a good read!
I really love coming here to see what you have written. It is refreshing to find some lovely stories instead of quick postings. You are a great writer and you inspire me to write more on my blog too.
Hey there. I have tried to subscribe to your blog a couple of times by email and keep getting a message saying they can’t subscribe me and to contact technical support. Not sure if it’s a glitch with Feedburner/blitz/whatever-it-is or me being a techno-twit. Harrumph.
Hi Panther. Thanks, I enjoyed this. When she stood up to head back upstairs I was hoping that she was going back to bed after all.
sanjay - appears that way. And safe to say that Dorothy’s son, husband, and employees think she is. I’ll add more on this below in my comment to Ulla.
Ulla - Ah, now you are scratching beneath the surface. What is Dorothy’s motivation? I am sure in Dorothy’s mind, she wants what is best for her father, and son, for example. And she is afraid that other’s might miss something important. I will be exploring this in more Dorothy stories.
Mark - I write what I know. Not necessarily what I have directly experienced, but also what I have observed in others. I guess I have been experiencing and observing elements of your life *smile*
Lori - oh! Thank you for picking that particular piece. I had the most fun writing that part!
Rebecca - silly silly woman. I am a story teller. Dorothy can’t go back to bed in her very first story! Her life has to unfold in front of your eyes first. That’s how I keep you coming back *grin*
Rebecca again - thank you. She is home from the hospital now, and on the mend.
Frank - thank you for your feedback. I find endings the trickiest to write, and they are the part I end up spending the most time on. I think the ending still needed to be controlled, just like Dorothy, but a trigger to make her decide on her course of action is a brilliant idea. Thanks! BTW, all my stories are interlinked. I think I will post a family tree soon, to tie all the characters together.
Patricia - you make a good point. There always needs to be someone in any group situation — family, work, church, whatever — who takes the lead. The project manager so to speak. The key to good project management, however, is delegation. I know! I really am a project manager, and I know I can’t do it all! *grin*
Lin - thank you. I love Fiction Fridays too. Don’t get me wrong, I love writing my quirky posts, but I get to really dig deep for Fridays.
Davina - well you were certainly supposed to think, or at least really hope, that Dorothy was going back to bed. But, as I said to Rebecca above, way to early in the Dorothy saga for that. Look at poor Charlotte! Heck, I’ve written several stories about her, and she still hasn’t left the jerk *smile*
Frisky - oh dear. I am going to try and subscribe to the email feed myself and see what happens. The RSS feed isn’t an option for you? I’ll see what I can do!
I feel where Dorothy is coming from, only I don’t have an agenda.
Captain Dumbass - feeling a bit overwhelmed?