Wordplay # 1: Fireworks
Back in 2009, I had this goal of writing a piece of fiction every day for a year. Just short things, to practice writing and all that. I called it Wordplay, and I ended up writing 78 pieces for 2009. I think I knew I wasn’t going to finish the challenge by March because you know, there’s work and I started going to the gym and then Ondoy happened and well, there. It eventually became my dumping ground for pieces that I got to write until 2013 and I never got back to it because in 2014 I took the writing thing seriously and published Fall Like Rain.
Anyway, so while I was thinking of what goes into this blog now that I’m trying to revive it, I thought, why not post the pieces here? Partly to delete that WordPress instance in my old domain and it might be fun. Plus my marketing brain is telling me that’s reusable content (or “evergreen”, as my manager liked to call it).
So here we go — a new, bi-monthly series on this blog called Wordplay, where I will repost all those things from 2009-2013, in all its unedited glory, and some thoughts on why I wrote it back then. There are cut scenes from the NaNoWriMo versions of Fall Like Rain, Keep the Faith, and Ruth and Ian’s untitled novel, so this should be fun–or nostalgic, at least. 😉
The first story is called FIREWORKS, posted on 1st January 2009. It’s romance, for sure, and reading through this, I remember that I wrote this after watching New Year’s fireworks from my brother’s place, thinking two friends watching it together. Of course they had feelings for each other and they weren’t there yet–will the new year change things?
I distinctly remember someone lighting a fountain across the building that night and that’s what made me include that.
Fun fact: there was supposed to be a scene in Fall Like Rain that was set in the same rooftop. 😉
Fireworks
They stood at the rooftop of the building, standing on the ledge, leaning over the railing watching as the skies filled with smoke from all the firecrackers and fireworks being lit at the ground. Earlier that night, they had dinner, and had been talking about their past year and their plans. When the first set of fireworks were lit up at the distance, all conversations were forgotten. Around them, there was a quiet murmur of other people standing all around the rooftop, sharing food, drinks and waiting for the final minutes of the year to tick by.
Different colored lights lit up the sky on the left, and the siblings beside her tried to guess where it was. He knew she was careful not to look down as she was afraid of heights; he was careful not to touch her as he was afraid of what would happen when he does.
After this year ends, what would happen to us? He thought, looking at her upturned face as she watched the fireworks display from another place.
