Anne

Scene: Introduces the protagonist, sets the tone, setting and foreshadows the primary conflict. Susan after many years is preparing for her wedding day to her soul mate. She and the entire wedding party and closest family and friends are at a rented house in 4x4, North Carolina in the Outer Banks. Just as I have taken the first bite of a warm right out of the oven blueberry muffin and a sip of Charleston Tea, there is a knock. I open the door to none other than the hair wizard Desmond. He enters along with his necessary tools and says, “Morning love. Are you ready?” As I close the door and turn to give Desmond a hug I say, “I’m ready as long as I can munch while you make magic”. “That will work, bring your muffin and tea, let’s sit up here in front of these fabulous windows where we can have great natural light and manage the food and the hair.” I sit and watch as Desmond whirls and twirls me into a chic wedding fantasy. No matter that my beautiful do, will never again attain such perfection, Desmond’s genius is not to be outdone, it is perfect for this special day. I gush and thank Desmond for his brilliance and shoo him out to get ready for the day. Originally from England, Desmond has been with me for so long he is like part of my family and he is very much a part of this special day. Desmond departs and I walk to the lighted mirrored vanity to work on my special day's makeup. I have always been a natural girl. Mascara, lipstick and a little translucent powder and I am out the door. Although a little more will be good for the pictures, I really want to look like me and not some Hollywood version of me. As I am trying to work some magic on my appearance, my daughter, Caroline sweeps in, her long sleek mane held up with mother of pearl clips that were passed down from my grandmother, Lilly Marie. Caroline is beautifully talented and she is a swath of pale blue that flows around her as she waltzes in. “Mama, are you not dressed yet?” she says in that tone that means I’m in big trouble. “I’m getting there, I just wanted to savor every moment about today and not let it pass so quickly by” I say in my defense. She puts her hands on her hips and stomps her foot like she did when she was 3 and says, “Well, it’s past time. Let’s get you dressed and down those stairs. There are lots of people who are waiting to watch and celebrate with you and Jackson”. I take a deep breath, “OK, I’m ready” I say as I stand and turn to let her help me. She walks into the bath for my gown that has been hanging there steaming for some time. She carefully brings in the gown, prepares it for launch and settles it over my head without messing up my hair. I have taught her well. She zips me up, and the gown is perfect and as I turn to her, tears swim in both of our eyes. We cling to each other, holding in the tears that threaten to roll down both our faces. We are bound as only Mother and Daughter can be, forever in each other’s corner, forever against the world. I look at my one and only daughter as we both try to hold it together. She may look like me but she is my Mother made over. “I Love you Caroline, to the moon and back and forever. Thank you for everything”. She reaches out, entwines her pinky with mine, a gesture from her childhood, meaning “through thick and thin” and I squeeze back. Nothing else needs to be said. With one last thumbs up, Caroline is out the door and off down the wide beautifully decorated stairs to wait at the bottom for me. Here we will begin the procession into the large gathering room with floor to ceiling windows facing the wide stretch of sand, and the bluest water that reaches far beyond to the horizon. I carefully make my way down the stairs and reach the bottom gratefully in one piece. Caroline walks over and hands me the small bouquet of flowers, she kisses me on the cheek, tells me “Mama you look beautiful! She gives me a cute little smile and then she chirps, “Let’s do this”. It is time, and goodness knows it feels like Jackson and I have been waiting for this moment since we first met. Hard to believe but it’s true. Caroline and I will process down the right side hallway into the beautifully decorated gathering room set up for a wedding with chairs on either side of a center aisle. From there we will walk down the aisle towards the front up 2 steps to stand with the wall of windows behind us. It is here with the dunes, the beach and the water in the background and in front of our family and closest friends Jackson and I will begin our lives together at long last. I look up and at the end of the aisle and already standing in front of the beautiful picturesque windows, I see Jackson Colby, tall, debonair and handsome in his tux. Even after all these years he still has his athletic body and the twinkle in his eye is ever one to make me smile. He’s looking at me with love in his eyes and a smile on his face. He is standing with his best friend, Bryan and they both look so handsome. Bryan leans into Jackson and whispers, “She looks beautiful, I am so happy for you man.” As I stand there taking it all in, I remember everything in a flash. The meet cute, the sports, the immediate connectedness, the hurt, the moving on, the exes, my daughter, reconnecting, and the ties. These threads and so many more have bound us together from the beginning some 30 years ago. And yet, can we really survive all that lies ahead? Can we truly be happy? Can love bind us together and make us strong against all odds? All this and more is running through my head and I pause, maybe a little too long. The music has started, Caroline is walking, it’s time to move. I look around, all eyes are on me waiting for my first step, the first step into my future. I can’t breathe, I cannot move. I am frozen in time. Why? What is holding me back? What is going on with me ? Can I do it? Will I do it? Why won’t my foot move?

Algonkian Workshop Pre Events Assignment 1 Story Statement: Susan Thatcher is standing on the precipice of a new life with her soul mate. At their long awaited wedding, he waits for her at the end of the aisle but she finds her foot will not move. After all they have been through to get here, she is frozen. Stymied by the past and petrified of the future will she be able to move forward and take that first step into the future? Antagonist Plots the Point: As all old loves who resurface in one’s life, Lizzie shows up supposedly out of the blue. She shows up socially for a weekend social event causing friction for Susan and her budding relationship. Lizzie then comes for a job interview which she extends to a week-long “see what you are missing” visit. She shows up for forever with a new job, an immediate relocation back to town and back into Jackson’s life. Displacing Susan and her new relationship with Jackson. While she disguises her motives by being friendly, she sets her sights on Jackson and his world. A world where she is the central figure now and forever. Breakout Title: Outer Banks Summers - This was the working title and it has merit in that it names the location where the majority of the story happens. Where it all Begins - This alludes to being where this relationship started and from where their future begins. Footsteps in the Outer Banks - This names the location of the majority of the story and refers to the struggle to step forward into a new life. Genre and Comparables: Women’s fiction Doretha Benton Frank - Same Beach Next Year Dottie Frank made me want to follow my dreams and write. Mary Alice Monroe - Swimming Lessons, Beach House for Rent Mary Kay Andrews - Summer Rental, Ladies Night I love stories where the female characters are faced with adversity of some kind and have to start over in some way. They possess grit and rise above their circumstances to be confident, accomplished, and real. Hookline: After an emotionally abusive marriage Susan must wrestle with her sense of feeling unworthy and unlovable as she meets her soulmate and tries to move forward in life. Conflict: Primary Conflict Susan has spent a lifetime of feeling unworthy and unlovable. From childhood, and into her disastrous marriage she is bombarded with unworthy and unlovable messages. After meeting her soul mate, the roller coaster game of flirting, dating, dealing with an ex-girlfriend unfolds. AS She stands at the edge of a new life with Jackson, she is too paralyzed with insecurity to move forward into a new life of love and happiness. Secondary Conflict Susan must come to terms with the reappearance of the old girlfriend, Lizzie. When the girlfriend shows up, when she comes for a visit and when she ultimately comes to stay. After Lizzie snags an engagement, Susan must fight for her man or walk away. Other Matters of Conflict Primary-Susan’s childhood set a stage for feeling unworthy in that she always felt like nothing she did was right. These feelings became the springboard for life with her narcissistic ex husband and his controlling issues. Susan has spent her entire life being a “fixer” trying to make the dominant people in her life “happy”. This causes her to be very anxious although she hides it well with a Type A personality, where she controls all the things she can. Post divorce she meets her soulmate and as she approaches her marriage to Jackson she feels out of control and paralyzed with fear. She is stuck and cannot move forward into her future. Scenario-Susan catches her ex husband having an affair and she gathers evidence to support that he is cheating but does not confront him directly. Even when she has the courage to leave him she still does not confront him directly but leaves a folder of evidence as to why she is gone. Secondary-Susan’s willingness to please people makes it easy for Jackson not to commit or even have a discussion about their relationship or how he feels. When his old girlfriend shows up and he easily diverts his attention back to her, Susan is once again feeling unworthy, and unlovable. While she knows in her soul that the feelings she has for Jackson are real. Susan must struggle with her fears and decide to either “fix it” by letting him go or by rising above her insecurities and fighting for love. Scenario-Jackson is having a getaway weekend with Lizzie and Susan is also there with her girlfriend. When he texts that he wants to meet she is filled with apprehension, while she wants to see Jackson as much as possible, he is with someone else and it feels wrong. Filled with angst about what to do, she buys time by not deciding until the last moment. This is monumental and her choosing to go may be the only chance she gets to fight for her man. She takes a deep breath to squash her fears, she gathers her things and she goes. Setting: We begin as Susan is preparing for her years in the making wedding to her soul mate, Jackson. The happy couple have rented a large house in 4x4, North Carolina which is where the blacktop ends on route 12 and sand begins. Only accessible by a four wheel drive it is large enough to house their family and closest friends. It is as picturesque as it is beautiful and the large windows overlooking the Outer Banks shoreline is the perfect setting for a new beginning. As she stands at the end of the aisle, Susan cannot make that first step and move towards Jackson and her new life. As she wavers, her life passes through her mind like a movie with all the major events bringing her to this point. She remembers her parents and growing up in a small town, going off to college and coming back without a clue of how to make her way in the world. She sees her life in Richmond, Virginia in the “big house”, the rise and fall of her marriage over a 10 year period, living life as a single parent, dating and meeting Jackson. The Outer Banks of NC, where she first went as a child. She loves the barren wildness of the outer stretches of land and has spent time there through the many facets of life. Having a child, married, and divorced, the beach has always been a panacea for all the good and bad life sent her way. It is where she and Jackson began, ended and then began again. It is only fitting that their new life together start here back where it all began. If only Susan can take that first step.