Joanne Morris Gores

My opening scene is the first daughter reading the letter she receives from her dead father. The dialogue is mostly internal, so I opted to share a section that has a better sampling of dialogue. I can submit the other if preferred.

This is the start of the train ride for the third daughter, twenty-year-old Aster. She's been commanded by the nunnery to visit her estranged, dying father. The nuns who raised her disclosed that her mother died when she was a baby and nothing more. Aster has no recollection of her. Despite being forced to go, she is curious to know why she was abandoned. Troy is the messenger whom she meets when he delivers her telegram. There is immediate electricity between them and he gives her a ride to the station the next morning--on his bike.

“Well, this is it”, Troy helps her off the bike and delivers an assuring smile. “It should be arriving in ten minutes or so,” he glances at his watch and looks over the station. “You going to be okay?”

“Whew. Yes, I think so. I mean, no use in protesting.” She releases a short sigh and watches him evaluate the area.  “I thank you for the ride and. . .  the friendship.” A long silence sits against the rails and depot house.  Aster continues,  “I would really like to see you again some day. You are my first,  real friend.  I mean, one that is my age and not a woman.” 

“I will be here. And I wrote down my information if you need anything.”  He pulls a small yellow booklet from his pocket and hands it to her. 

“Look inside the first page.  It has my contact information on it.” He directs her to open the first page. 

“Oh, my goodness. Thank you. Thank you so much. Such a beautiful cover. The color reminds me of daffodils. I will take good care of this. And it does help.  Knowing I have someone on the outside–so to speak.” She looks down at her clumsy attire and stalls. 

“I think you have deep pockets in those roomy pants of yours. Maybe it will fit perfectly in the front one. Deep and at your hip, so nothing can fall out,” he chuckles. 

“They are a bit large aren’t they.” She shares in his laughter and opens the pocket. The small book drops in with ease. 

“You know the best thing about pockets?” Troy poises.

“What would that be?” Aster smiles and struggles with thoughts of not ever seeing Troy again.

“You can feel what’s inside.  What is there and what might be missing. I’m going to keep you right here in my shirt pocket–near my heart. Til we meet again, my sweet friend.” He repeats the infectious grin, and turns to ride off. She watches as he weaves the traffic and takes note of his cautious nature. 

“Are you ready to board, Mam?” The porter’s voice breaks her watching.

“Yes. I think so.” She hands him her ticket. 

“Looks like you are headed to Montana?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Beautiful place.”

“That’s what I have heard.” 

“May I help you with your bag?”

“I. . . .I  . . . am not sure. I mean, sure.” She follows him with an awkward gait, up the steps and onto the railcar.

“How about right here, Mam? Will this seat work for you? No one behind you. It's got a nice window and room for your bag.”  Aster looks at him for the first time.  His eyes are bold and round. He stands twice her height, yet keeps his distance. He’s a dark African man. He places her bag in the aligning empty seat.  “You can keep this right here. We don’t plan on having a full train this trip.  There’s food and drinks in the next car over–a little snack place.”

“Where do you live?” Aster braves curiosity.

“Me?! I’m from Chicago.  Now that’s a big city. I wouldn’t want to see you letting off there. I’m much obliged to see you get to those small places where things aren’t so. . . dangerous.  Lots of people can mean trouble for a young woman traveling alone.”

“Well, it's nice to meet you, sir. And you may call me. . .  Aster. You don’t need to call me Mam.”

“Okay, Aster.  It is nice to meet you.  You should arrive at your destination by 18:30. You let me know if you need anything.”

“I will do that.  Thank you. Thank you very much.”

 Aster’s belongings appear modest as she notices others loading with large suitcases. She looks for something familiar in each passenger’s belongings as they move past her.  A tall slender woman carries a bright colored bag loaded with tassels and silver buttons. The woman shifts her weight back and forth as she walks past and settles a few seats down.  A small woman enters carrying  a white square purse with the large gold initials E. S. on the metal clasp. Her steps are small as she shuffles and stops to examine each berth. She continues to the next car.  Decisions don’t come easy for some, she observes. 

Aster’s mind settles in as passengers find their seats. Everything sinks in when one sits still. The fly in the window; the crumpling of paper wrappings; the voice of a new friend. And the death of an unknown mother. What my father will be able to tell me is her constant wonder. The lurch of the train sets her thoughts to tasks. She unpacks her life in small increments of bottoms and tops.  With a tender push of her palm, she presses the fine lines of her civilian disguise as wrinkled cloth never pleases her. Winding up the few loose socks, she matches their stripes and rolls them tight. An inventory of protections; familiar objects that will carry her to this unusual place of discovery.  She settles in and opens her heart once again to the stashed notes and a little yellow book.

 

1/31/2023 edit

Seven Assignments

1. Story Statement

 

A lifetime neglect of paternal responsibilities compels an ego-driven Glenn to make peace with his three daughters, who are unaware of their "half sisters" existence until they meet after his death.  Marta, his platonic partner of 20 years, agrees to carry-out the plan at his eastern Montana ranch. In exchange, she will inherit his place. In letters to each daughter, he assures that his death will provide them a life of financial freedom. In addition to the money, the middle daughter sees an opportunity to break away from her mother and their commune life; the youngest obliges in obedience to the convent that raised her and as a possible path to independence; the oldest wants the payback and seeks a final vengeance. Upon arrival, they learn that their inheritance must be earned by reading the individual journals he has created for each daughter. He structures his language to hit the deepest wounds and then soothes with the allurance of the endless skies and vast prairies. A few characters also help him execute the final closure. Coupled with these are small events that produce questions of what they really know about themselves, their relationships and him. Marta plays along with Glenn’s game, but the experiences the women share affects the execution of Glenn’s plan and alters their dreams and desires.

 2. Antagonist Character Sketch

Glenn is a drifter who was obsessed with possessing women by tapping into their sexual desire. It is how his daughters were conceived. (Clarification: He is not a rapist.) As he ages, he settles down on his isolated prairie ranch where he meets Marta, and their platonic relationship guarantees his chores will be done, animals cared for, and his food prepared. For years she assists him in his quest to continue to seduce women, but now they pay him for the privilege.  He finds entertainment in operating as a tantric expert and a mystic. For Marta, the truth is known, but it benefits her to support him. His use of language and landscape to retrofit any hindering negative perceptions is consistently successful. He is a clever mechanic in that way.  When he realizes that he has developed an incurable illness, he uses his pending death to beckon his three illegitimate daughters to his ranch where he will retrofit their histories to fit a narrative that makes him almighty again. Their presence and cooperation include a cash value and he will pay a significant bonus to “honor” their accomplishments. Glenn thrives in pushing his daughters to anger, wonder and heartache; his death protects him from consequence. He pits them against each other: One is his nemesis, another his triumph, and the last, his humility. He wants to die the cleverest man. But he has underestimated the universe, the prairie--and Marta.

 

3. Three Titles

1.     The Dance of the Quill

2.     Marta's Quill

3.     Where Coulees Collide

 

4.     Two Comparable Works in Literary Genre

            Jack By Marilynne Robinson

           The Things We Do to Our Friends Heather Darwent

            Both works focus on the dynamic of human relationships. My focus is on the roles mothers, daughters and sisters willfully accept and deny. And the men who use it.

 

5. Hookline

A dying grassland rancher turned tantric retreat entrepreneur bribes his conjugal partner to bring his three estranged daughters to his isolated spread for their part of an inheritance, but before the payout, he requires completed tasks that reshape their perceptions of him and themselves as daughters, sisters and lovers.

6. Inner Conflict

Marta, a young Metis woman, meets the antagonist, Glenn, when he finds her severely beaten in an abandoned schoolhouse near his ranch. He leaves her at a hospital but she returns and trades her freedom for his safety and security. She uses her agrarian skills and traditional cooking talents to assure her long term survival and a chance to inherit the ranch; they both agree to the platonic relationship. For years, she supports his sexual ventures with female scientists who come to his “Mystic Ranch”  to be enlightened. He loves discussing these experiences with Marta, who because of years of abuse by local women, feels no compassion for them and relishes in his conquest. He admits to her that the “Mystic Ranch” is purely a longitudinal study of women scientists and sexual vulnerability. This gives her a sense of security: he will never marry, and she will never be a victim in his games. When in his dying bed, he decides to bring his three unrelated daughters to the ranch–two of whom she didn't know existed–to see their father and collect their inheritance, she rethinks her safety and security. She is terrified of their arrival, but needs to maintain a civility to please Glenn: she needs the women to sign off on the will in order for her to keep the ranch.

Other Conflict:

Marta employs the neighbor Joe, a popular cowhand who rents a small house on the  neighboring ranch, to help her retrieve the daughters from the train station when her Wagoneer refuses to start. ( She also wants his emotional support but can’t express it to him.) On the sixty minute drive, they have an intimate conversation about her relationship with Glenn, the loss she feels from his death and her future. She fantasizes about having a future with Joe, but this is a guarded conversation. Marta is in love with Joe, but won’t express it and never wants Glenn to know. She also dismisses the practicality of them ever getting together because he “drinks too much”. She wants to be his special girl, but he is the town flirt. He immediately captures the attention of Glenn’s youngest two daughters who entertain his whimsical nature like younger sisters. Glenn’s oldest is more feisty and hard: She smokes, drinks, swears. She is angry and demanding. She wants an immediate ride out of the bleakness of her father’s stead once she gets her money. Joe sees her as a woman different from all the rest; full of flaws and secrets. He comments to Marta later about her being an intriguing read. Marta is consumed with jealousy. Marta, too, was a fighter, but she is now kind and gentle. She, too, was once complicated and adventurous, but now needs the security of the ranch.  She wants Joe to love her, and she hopes that as long as she is in her safe abode and on her soon-to-be 60 acres, he will value who she really is and will love her. Is she isn't enough, maybe the land will be. She is distracted by the fear of what these three women could take from her. 

7. It is in summer of 1974. The three unrelated sisters are on a journey to gain financial security on the surface, but they experience urgings, based on his postal letters, to resolve the history and mystery of their father, Glenn. His directive requires a train ride. Being on a train, they may escape the situation, but can’t flee. Is this all part of Glenn’s plan? It leaves the reader to question these encounters, and begs the mystery of Glenn, their father. Because of his initial letters that arrive at their separate settings, the reader has insight into the history of each of their pasts. Once they arrive at the isolated train stop, they find themselves stranded and waiting for Marta, his conjugal partner. The high plains prairie with its broad spans of nothingness fools the visitor. The restlessness of one daughter is complicated by the sense of discovery and adventure in the other two. The prairie has nowhere to hide which sets the tone for the ranch scenario.  Their ride arrives, but it's as awkward as the small train and empty station. Marta has brought Joe with her to pick them up and it is near dark when they finally arrive. The road to the ranch is long and difficult with few landmarks and no directive signs. The prairie seems dull and endless, yet the vast blue of afternoon sky provides a cover that drops to the horizon. The clouds, the brush and grass, a single tree, and vanishing coulees fluctuate and trick the mind. Each daughter reacts differently. The hours of the day pass and cast reflections that mirror the changes they will experience. On the prairie, one must sit still to absorb its significance. Glenn’s house is a shared structure separated by a kitchen and living area where all congregation occurs.  Marta has her separate quarters attached and its contents tells her story. The isolation of the long gravels roads that rut and become impassable after a rain leaves no escape. The setting is two-fold: an unending landscape with sparse barbed wire fences allures a sense of freedom, yet human desire breeds a need for control. Perceptions are tricky. The isolation incites a longing for love. The stories of sexual desire created by Glenn’s Mystic Ranch further advances Marta’s needs and the oldest daughter’s self-doubt.  The two younger daughters find a sisterhood in the landscape of a domestic ranch but a secret unfolds regarding the middle daughter. Where does she really belong? The symbolic nature of native species of birds, plants and animals set forward a motion that teaches the women about themselves. The setting is, in part, the trickster. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assignment 1.

A lifetime neglect of paternal responsibilities compels an ego-driven Glenn to make peace with his three daughters, who are unaware of their "half sisters" existence until they meet after his death.  Marta, his platonic partner of 20 years, agrees to carry-out the plan at his eastern Montana ranch. In exchange, she will inherit his place. In letters to each daughter, he assures that his death will provide them a life of financial freedom. In addition to the money, the middle daughter sees an opportunity to break away from her mother and their commune life; the youngest obliges in obedience to the convent that raised her and as a possible path to independence; the oldest wants the payback and seeks a final vengeance. Upon arrival, they learn that their inheritance must be earned by reading the individual journals he has created for each daughter. He structures his language to hit the deepest wounds and then soothes with the allurance of the endless skies and vast prairies. A few characters also help him execute the final closure. Coupled with these are small events that produce questions of what they really know about themselves, their relationships and him. Marta plays along with Glenn’s game, but the experiences the women share affects the execution of Glenn’s plan and alters their dreams and desires.