wips run freeeee
6/2/04 00:07![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schmericaComing out of the WIP Closet Day!
Although all of mine, of course, are the "abandoned with no hope of resurrection" variety, rather than the technical WIPs of other people.
(Completely random note here: I get the feeling my writing process is different from a lot of people, actually -- I never have more than one work-in-progress at a time; if I ever start a new story while I'm already working on one, all my attention goes to that one, and the first one dies. They also die fairly easily if I am distracted and stop writing for any other reason. Once the beginning forward momentum leaves, I don't think I've ever succeeded in rescuing a story. Plus, this leaves me with nothing on plate during the time between finishing one story and starting another, which is usually a cranky time where I feel jealous of all the people on my friends list whining about their half-dozen open stories. On the other hand, a relatively high amount of what I write ends up finished, either in posted stories or in self-contained lj snippets, so. I have no real point here. On with the main event!)
Looking through the hard drive for story snippets is always fun, though, because there's all this stuff that your mind has totally forgotten. Like the three different Everwood stories I started in my first flush of love in April 2003.
*****
All things considered, there were really few things Ephram could think of that sucked more than playing third wheel to Colin and Amy's cuddlefest.
Needles. Big, stabbing needles in his eyes, Ephram thought. Delia last year, waking up crying in the middle of the night. His dad's meatloaf.
He glanced over at the two of them from the corner of his eye. Both of them were looking ahead at the tv where the movie was playing, Amy's head resting in the crook of Colin's neck, Colin's good arm around her shoulders.
It wouldn't be as bad if they weren't so close to him. They had the whole couch to sprawl out on, but Amy's thigh and Ephram's touched whenever he shifted. When he slouched further, trying to slink into the corner, his head brushed across Colin's fingers.
This was ridiculous.
He stood up, tucking his hands into his jean pockets. "You know, it's getting kind of late. I told my dad I'd be home--"
Colin and Amy both spoke at the same time.
"No!" said Colin, sitting up to lean forward, arms on his knees, and Amy said, "Um, Ephram, wait."
Ephram didn't move. "Yeah?"
He waited.
She stood up, smoothing down her skirt, and taking the small step toward him. "It's just..." She trailed off, looking pained. "Um."
Ephram glanced over to Colin, who was smiling at him, almost expectantly, and then back to Amy. "What?"
"It's just that we've been talking, and..."
Notes on above: And then there was going to be three way making out and a little groping. That was it, basically. This one I actually really wished I had finished, man, but I discovered Everwood like the *week* before "Miracle of Everwood" aired, and all the pretense I had for justifying this characterization and situation completely died. Dammit.
*****
It was grilled cheese sandwiches this time. At least, that was what his dad insisted they were; Ephram hadn't been able to identify them by sight or smell. The crusts were burnt black, the cheese was cold and unmelted in the center, there were unidentified crunchy bits along all the edges, and he was pretty sure that the tomato that Dad had sliced up and added had been sitting on the counter for a good three weeks.
Ephram hadn't known you could do that to a sandwich.
"*She* said they were foolproof!" his dad said, pointing a finger towards Delia.
"They're supposed to be!" Delia said defensively.
Ephram was getting a frozen pizza out of the freezer when the phone rang.
"I got it!" He set the pizza box down and grabbed the phone, pushing the freezer door shut with his shoulder. "Hello?"
"Hi. Ephram? It's Colin." Colin's voice was different on the phone -- he sounded kind of uncertain and weird. Ephram hadn't known he had this number.
"Hey."
"Is it for me?" Delia called from the other room. "Bring it in here!"
"It's for me!" Ephram yelled loudly. He turned around, leaning against the counter. "Sorry about that," he said into the receiver.
"No problem."
There was a pause, and Ephram shifted his weight back and forth on his feet. "So, what did you call about?"
"Oh. Just ... you know. It's been a couple days since I saw you. I just thought I'd call and say hi. See what's up."
Ephram scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah. Amy said you were supposed to be back from Denver again on Friday."
And hadn't *that* conversation gone well. Amy wasn't outwardly hostile, but she didn't exactly seem happy about Ephram and Colin's friendship, either. It was like she thought Ephram was going to completely sabotage her relationship with Colin, damage her nice boyfriend.
"Yeah, that's what the doctors are saying. Unless they decide to do some extra tests at the last minute." There was a noise in the background, and then Colin said, "So, how are you doing? What's been happening the last week?"
"Well, you know, man, it's really not the same with you gone. The whole place falls apart without you."
"Yeah, I bet," Colin said, snorting, and Ephram felt his own smile form.
"Ephram, is that pizza done yet?" his dad said, walking into the room. At the sight of Ephram, he stopped, eyes widening. He gestured to the phone. "Amy?" he whispered, mouthing the syllables with elaborate care.
Ephram glared at Dad and shooed him away as he spoke into the phone. "No, dude, I'm serious. Well, a little, at least." His dad frowned as he backed out of the room.
Colin did his snorting laugh again. "This your way of telling me you miss me?"
"I guess so," Ephram said. It sort of surprised him, too. "But, hey. You're the one who called *me*."
"Yeah, I guess that makes us equally lame. Just a sec." There was the sound of muffled voices speaking, but Ephram couldn't make out the words. Colin returned to the line a few seconds later. "Listen, my mom's here, so I have to go, but if I'm home, you want to do something this weekend? Read comics or watch movies or something?"
"Sounds good."
"Cool. Bye, Ephram."
"Bye."
After he hung up, he put the pizza in the other oven; when he turned around, Delia was sitting on a stool, resting her chin in her palms and gazing at him with a look of carefully considered curiosity.
"Was that Amy? Do you have a date with her? Are you in love with her?"
"She has a boyfriend, dork," Ephram said. Delia's nose crinkled in response. "And it wasn't her, anyway."
"Who was it, then?" Delia said accusingly.
"Colin. Not that it's any of your business."
"Hmm," Delia said, pursing her lips and Ephram rolled his eyes and went into the other room to watch TV till the timer went off.
Notes on above: Another one killed by "Miracle of Everwood" -- in this case, when that episode killed all my happy Colin/Ephram shippy buttons. Dammit. I had all these plans for this one, too! There was going to Ephram making Colin a mix cd, and Delia and Ephram being alone for the weekend and Ephram making cookies with her and talking to her really unsuccessfully about friends, and Ephram dealing with weird "amyandcolin" supercouple stuff and getting annoyed, and, yeah. Stuff. But it was not to be, alas.
*****
Eight months ago, Ephram hadn't known Colin from Adam, didn't know him as anything but the body in the bed who had ruined all Ephram's hopes with Amy before he even got a chance.
You couldn't *hate* somebody in a coma, but he hadn't expected to like Colin, either. It had to some kind of sign of how much God had it in for him that Colin turned out to be his best friend, practically, in the whole town. Because Laynie had left, and Wendell was the sort of friend you didn't really hang with because you liked them so much as because being geeks together was being a geek alone, and Amy... There wasn't really much to say about Amy.
But Ephram had felt sorry for Colin, and he'd felt guilty. And then he'd felt -- connected. Careful. Like friends.
All of which was why he was sitting here *now*, feeling worried and helpless and sick to his stomach.
His wrist still fucking hurt, too.
****
Three weeks ago, Colin kissed Ephram in the school library stacks. It was way back in the dusty and abandoned 900s, where Ephram was looking for books on the Great Depression for his history paper, and he had just finished explaining the Dewey Decimal Classification system, and how each of the hundreds stood for a different subject.
Colin's forehead had wrinkled. He said, "Should I know this?"
"Nah," Ephram said, shrugging. "Most people don't care. Only my mom used to take us to the library every weekend, and they had all these signs everywhere. I kind of memorized them."
Colin had nodded and said okay, and Ephram went back to skimming the spines. It didn't look like the library had gotten any new books since the 1970s. When he looked back, Colin was standing closer, almost into his personal space. Ephram was kinda used to that, though.
Notes on above: This one was after "Miracle of Everwood", obviously, but I have no clue what happened to it or where I was going. I think this is one of the cases of me getting distracted by shiny things.
I have a SV one somewhere, too, but I'll post that later.
Although all of mine, of course, are the "abandoned with no hope of resurrection" variety, rather than the technical WIPs of other people.
(Completely random note here: I get the feeling my writing process is different from a lot of people, actually -- I never have more than one work-in-progress at a time; if I ever start a new story while I'm already working on one, all my attention goes to that one, and the first one dies. They also die fairly easily if I am distracted and stop writing for any other reason. Once the beginning forward momentum leaves, I don't think I've ever succeeded in rescuing a story. Plus, this leaves me with nothing on plate during the time between finishing one story and starting another, which is usually a cranky time where I feel jealous of all the people on my friends list whining about their half-dozen open stories. On the other hand, a relatively high amount of what I write ends up finished, either in posted stories or in self-contained lj snippets, so. I have no real point here. On with the main event!)
Looking through the hard drive for story snippets is always fun, though, because there's all this stuff that your mind has totally forgotten. Like the three different Everwood stories I started in my first flush of love in April 2003.
*****
All things considered, there were really few things Ephram could think of that sucked more than playing third wheel to Colin and Amy's cuddlefest.
Needles. Big, stabbing needles in his eyes, Ephram thought. Delia last year, waking up crying in the middle of the night. His dad's meatloaf.
He glanced over at the two of them from the corner of his eye. Both of them were looking ahead at the tv where the movie was playing, Amy's head resting in the crook of Colin's neck, Colin's good arm around her shoulders.
It wouldn't be as bad if they weren't so close to him. They had the whole couch to sprawl out on, but Amy's thigh and Ephram's touched whenever he shifted. When he slouched further, trying to slink into the corner, his head brushed across Colin's fingers.
This was ridiculous.
He stood up, tucking his hands into his jean pockets. "You know, it's getting kind of late. I told my dad I'd be home--"
Colin and Amy both spoke at the same time.
"No!" said Colin, sitting up to lean forward, arms on his knees, and Amy said, "Um, Ephram, wait."
Ephram didn't move. "Yeah?"
He waited.
She stood up, smoothing down her skirt, and taking the small step toward him. "It's just..." She trailed off, looking pained. "Um."
Ephram glanced over to Colin, who was smiling at him, almost expectantly, and then back to Amy. "What?"
"It's just that we've been talking, and..."
Notes on above: And then there was going to be three way making out and a little groping. That was it, basically. This one I actually really wished I had finished, man, but I discovered Everwood like the *week* before "Miracle of Everwood" aired, and all the pretense I had for justifying this characterization and situation completely died. Dammit.
*****
It was grilled cheese sandwiches this time. At least, that was what his dad insisted they were; Ephram hadn't been able to identify them by sight or smell. The crusts were burnt black, the cheese was cold and unmelted in the center, there were unidentified crunchy bits along all the edges, and he was pretty sure that the tomato that Dad had sliced up and added had been sitting on the counter for a good three weeks.
Ephram hadn't known you could do that to a sandwich.
"*She* said they were foolproof!" his dad said, pointing a finger towards Delia.
"They're supposed to be!" Delia said defensively.
Ephram was getting a frozen pizza out of the freezer when the phone rang.
"I got it!" He set the pizza box down and grabbed the phone, pushing the freezer door shut with his shoulder. "Hello?"
"Hi. Ephram? It's Colin." Colin's voice was different on the phone -- he sounded kind of uncertain and weird. Ephram hadn't known he had this number.
"Hey."
"Is it for me?" Delia called from the other room. "Bring it in here!"
"It's for me!" Ephram yelled loudly. He turned around, leaning against the counter. "Sorry about that," he said into the receiver.
"No problem."
There was a pause, and Ephram shifted his weight back and forth on his feet. "So, what did you call about?"
"Oh. Just ... you know. It's been a couple days since I saw you. I just thought I'd call and say hi. See what's up."
Ephram scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah. Amy said you were supposed to be back from Denver again on Friday."
And hadn't *that* conversation gone well. Amy wasn't outwardly hostile, but she didn't exactly seem happy about Ephram and Colin's friendship, either. It was like she thought Ephram was going to completely sabotage her relationship with Colin, damage her nice boyfriend.
"Yeah, that's what the doctors are saying. Unless they decide to do some extra tests at the last minute." There was a noise in the background, and then Colin said, "So, how are you doing? What's been happening the last week?"
"Well, you know, man, it's really not the same with you gone. The whole place falls apart without you."
"Yeah, I bet," Colin said, snorting, and Ephram felt his own smile form.
"Ephram, is that pizza done yet?" his dad said, walking into the room. At the sight of Ephram, he stopped, eyes widening. He gestured to the phone. "Amy?" he whispered, mouthing the syllables with elaborate care.
Ephram glared at Dad and shooed him away as he spoke into the phone. "No, dude, I'm serious. Well, a little, at least." His dad frowned as he backed out of the room.
Colin did his snorting laugh again. "This your way of telling me you miss me?"
"I guess so," Ephram said. It sort of surprised him, too. "But, hey. You're the one who called *me*."
"Yeah, I guess that makes us equally lame. Just a sec." There was the sound of muffled voices speaking, but Ephram couldn't make out the words. Colin returned to the line a few seconds later. "Listen, my mom's here, so I have to go, but if I'm home, you want to do something this weekend? Read comics or watch movies or something?"
"Sounds good."
"Cool. Bye, Ephram."
"Bye."
After he hung up, he put the pizza in the other oven; when he turned around, Delia was sitting on a stool, resting her chin in her palms and gazing at him with a look of carefully considered curiosity.
"Was that Amy? Do you have a date with her? Are you in love with her?"
"She has a boyfriend, dork," Ephram said. Delia's nose crinkled in response. "And it wasn't her, anyway."
"Who was it, then?" Delia said accusingly.
"Colin. Not that it's any of your business."
"Hmm," Delia said, pursing her lips and Ephram rolled his eyes and went into the other room to watch TV till the timer went off.
Notes on above: Another one killed by "Miracle of Everwood" -- in this case, when that episode killed all my happy Colin/Ephram shippy buttons. Dammit. I had all these plans for this one, too! There was going to Ephram making Colin a mix cd, and Delia and Ephram being alone for the weekend and Ephram making cookies with her and talking to her really unsuccessfully about friends, and Ephram dealing with weird "amyandcolin" supercouple stuff and getting annoyed, and, yeah. Stuff. But it was not to be, alas.
*****
Eight months ago, Ephram hadn't known Colin from Adam, didn't know him as anything but the body in the bed who had ruined all Ephram's hopes with Amy before he even got a chance.
You couldn't *hate* somebody in a coma, but he hadn't expected to like Colin, either. It had to some kind of sign of how much God had it in for him that Colin turned out to be his best friend, practically, in the whole town. Because Laynie had left, and Wendell was the sort of friend you didn't really hang with because you liked them so much as because being geeks together was being a geek alone, and Amy... There wasn't really much to say about Amy.
But Ephram had felt sorry for Colin, and he'd felt guilty. And then he'd felt -- connected. Careful. Like friends.
All of which was why he was sitting here *now*, feeling worried and helpless and sick to his stomach.
His wrist still fucking hurt, too.
****
Three weeks ago, Colin kissed Ephram in the school library stacks. It was way back in the dusty and abandoned 900s, where Ephram was looking for books on the Great Depression for his history paper, and he had just finished explaining the Dewey Decimal Classification system, and how each of the hundreds stood for a different subject.
Colin's forehead had wrinkled. He said, "Should I know this?"
"Nah," Ephram said, shrugging. "Most people don't care. Only my mom used to take us to the library every weekend, and they had all these signs everywhere. I kind of memorized them."
Colin had nodded and said okay, and Ephram went back to skimming the spines. It didn't look like the library had gotten any new books since the 1970s. When he looked back, Colin was standing closer, almost into his personal space. Ephram was kinda used to that, though.
Notes on above: This one was after "Miracle of Everwood", obviously, but I have no clue what happened to it or where I was going. I think this is one of the cases of me getting distracted by shiny things.
I have a SV one somewhere, too, but I'll post that later.