Stories – Page 5 – Vanya Wryter Consulting Services

Do You Stand Out in a Crowd?

What part of my routine would I always skip if I can? I would say it’s my face. Yeah, I can tell by your reaction that you weren’t expecting an answer like that when you asked for this interview. But, like I said over the phone, I’m not like other people that you know.

So while you’re checking your interview notes to see what detail you missed about me, let me explain.

Every day, I go to work, I take the transit like hundreds of other people in this city. I check my phone for the latest news during my ride and then I grab my coffee on the way to the office. I enter data and write reports all day. I say hello to my coworkers on the way to my desk, and goodbye on my way home. Yeah, it sounds boring, but I’m as pleasant and polite as can be.

So what’s this got to do with my face?

Well, everything. No one really knows anyone. No one really knows me.

My coworkers and my boss call me reliable and hardworking. But they couldn’t tell you a darn thing about my favorite hobby or favorite food. They think it’s pizza and beer, but that’s because they all have pizza and beer after work when we gather at the pub.

My parents say I’m a good son. I visit them on the weekends. I play with their dog and their cat so they think I like animals. They like going to Europe in the summer and I’m always intrigued by their adventures so they think my dream is to visit Europe.

The reality is, I don’t know what I want. I try so hard to be a people pleaser, that over time, I’ve lost myself. Every day, I put on my face before I walk out that door. That face is the face of the person everyone thinks is me, you know?

But who am I? If I didn’t put on my face, who would they see?

For once, I wish I had the courage to be late for work because I slept in, so yeah, fire me. Wouldn’t that feel good! I wish I could board the train and start belting out a song and hope everyone joins my impromptu concert. For once, I wish I could say to my parents, I want to go hiking in the mountains, even though I could get lost, and it’s a little dangerous. But I’m not brave enough.

I guess I’m too scared to see the faces of the people around me go from acceptance to shock. So I guess the answer to your question, “What part of your routine do you always try to skip if you can?” would be, “not putting on my face.” I always try to go out as the real me, to skip that step of putting on my fake face, but I always run back. No one will ever see who I really am. I’d rather just be another face in the crowd.

Thanks for reading this post!

Daily writing prompt

What part of your routine do you always try to skip if you can?

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November 12, 2024

Halloween Tales: A Life to Remember

The year of my life that I would re-live is the year that I got married. My husband was handsome, thoughtful, and kind. He never got sick because he said he wanted to protect me forever. Love me forever. I never met his family. They had all passed away or lived far away. I grew up with my family, but when we were married, he bought a house in another country, and that’s where we would live. That scared me, to be away from my family, but I loved him, so I trusted him.

One night, while we sat across from each other during one of our candlelight dinners, he said nonchalantly, “I’m a vampire.”

I laughed. He liked to tell jokes. He said he didn’t have enough opportunities to tell jokes because he worked the night shift. He didn’t have any friends. The words played over in my head. He had no friends, no family.

“I’m a vampire,” he repeated, “and I want to make you one too because I love you.”

“That’s not love!” I said, confused. Yet I could not run from him. I trusted him. Right? We were married. I started to feel the doubt and fear crawl across my skin. Could I love someone who had hidden such a big secret from me all this time?

“You’re sick, my love,” he said. “You saw the doctor yesterday. They confirmed it was cancer! I can’t lose you.”

“There’s a chance we can still beat it. What you’re suggesting is ridiculous.”

“No, not at all.” He rushed over to me and held me in his arms. I sank into his familiar embrace and told myself this was a dream or a prank. There was no such thing as vampires. Soon, everything would be okay again.

“You wouldn’t hurt me.” I felt his lips on my neck, then a numbness took over me.

He pulled back and said, “I can’t live in a world without you. If you were to die from cancer, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. This is what’s best for us both. This is what I must do. Thank you for the love that you gave me.”

“The love that I gave you?”

I felt myself being lowered to the floor. My head and back rested on the carpeted floor. Next to me, my husband’s skin started to peel. He started to disintegrate like ash. All the pieces of him fell in a heap to the ground.

***

I haven’t been sick for decades. I feel fine. I can’t remember when I finally swept his ashes off the floor and put them in a beautiful container, locked away. I found a journal on the chair where he had been sitting at dinner.

I’m a vampire now. But I don’t drink blood. My husband said, our kind drinks away poisons and illnesses. And of course, the price is our life. I keep replaying that night over in my mind, reliving it for years. This was not the decision I wanted him to make. We were supposed to make decisions together. I wanted to go back to that night, to change the past. He’s left me here alone.

The question I think about a lot now is this: does it really matter how we live if we find our true love? I will always wonder what the best answer is.

Image credit: CrimsonMystique

Daily writing prompt

Is there an age or year of your life you would re-live?

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October 31, 2024

Are You a Kid at Heart?

I think each one of us is a kid at heart. No matter how old we are, a little child inside us just aches to revisit our childhood ways. To have some fun and forget about adult responsibilities. To eat food with our hands and forget about the rules for eating properly with knives and forks. And enjoy life at its simplest level – just do something to be carefree and happy and forget about deadlines and what housework you’re SUPPOSED to be doing at the moment.

While shopping, I came upon this Halloween planter. Very cute, and it spoke to the kid in me. The adult in me shouted, what about the price? Do you need another plant? Are you going to remember to water it? The child in me said, it’s so cute. We gotta have this. And OH MY GOODNESS! It comes with a name! How appropriate! It’s called Boo!

How about you? What makes you feel like a kid at heart?

Daily writing prompt

What does it mean to be a kid at heart?

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October 25, 2024

Three Wishes, A Different Fate

Getting three wishes from a genie seems like the perfect solution to all life’s challenges. Any difficult problem could be solved. Not enough money to pay for a mortgage? Job searching for over a year because of a bad economy? Solution found! Just ask a genie for millions of dollars. Can’t fix a leak in the ceiling? Constantly cooking bland meals? No problem. Ask the genie to fix the roof, and to gift you with an appliance that will make delicious meals.

If I had three magic genie wishes, I would ask for things that would get me set for life. For example, a literal money tree that grows hundred dollar bills. I wouldn’t need to work unless I wanted to, and all my bills would be paid off if I wait for a good money harvest. I could also help friends and family with their money problems.

My second wish would be for the power to heal. This would prevent people I care about from dying from fatal injuries or long-term illnesses.

My third wish would be for time. There were so many times when I didn’t have enough time to get something done. For example, if I wanted to go to two events happening simultaenously. I have to prioritize and go to one. Or I waste time working on something that takes longer than anticipated, like putting together a piece of furniture. When I’m done that project, hours have passed and I barely get anything done that day. If I could slow down time, or rewind the day, imagine how productive I could be.

Would I get happiness from these wishes? In the long term, I’m not sure. Friends and family might pressure or guilt me into helping them. (You’re infinitely rich – help me buy a car.) The government might want to tax me on all my income if they find out about my money tree. I might get into arguments with people – such as whether or not to prolong the life of a loved one. Just because I can keep fixing each health issue they encounter doesn’t mean that they want to be continuously made healthy to live forever.

As for having infinite time, perhaps I would not appreciate time as much as before. Instead of learning to prioritize, I would be able to rewind the day and take as long as I need to get something done, or go to both events that are the same time. At some point, the novelty would perhaps wear off and I would get bored. People would also think about me differently if they knew I had such a gift. Such as having higher expectations: if I have all the time in the world, I should have time for all my friends and family. If I have all the time in the world, I should be able to work on any task until I get it done.

Overall, when things are scarce or finite, such as money, health, and time, we appreciate them more. Having more of these precious things would be great for solving some of the problems we face every day, but it may also create issues. Would I want these wishes regardless? I’d probably say yes.

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Daily writing prompt

You have three magic genie wishes, what are you asking for?

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October 21, 2024

I Was Part of a Famous, Historical Moment

Many people have heard of the tragedy of the Titanic. I was pretty much right there, experiencing the life and death of the passengers. Let me explain.

I found myself on the dock where the Titanic was waiting for passengers to board. It was part of a museum display, and it was like traveling back in time to 1912 because we were each handed an identity card. I wasn’t a museum visitor anymore. I was a Titanic passenger, and the card told me my name and who I was. I was a famous actress traveling in first class. And by the end of my journey, I would find out if I survived.

I could feel myself transported back in time when I walked into the famous room with the staircase and clock. I saw menus that described what I ate as a first-class passenger, and I walked through some of the rooms on the historical ship.

Then, near the end of my journey, I touched a piece of ice that was at the same temperature as on that fateful night when the ship sank.

In one display room, I read letters written by people who had traveled on the ship (and sent mail before that night). Some people weren’t even supposed to be on that ship but circumstances put them there. Sometimes, one small decision can have severe consequences.

Finally, at the end of our tour, we disembarked from the ship. Along one wall, we saw a list of the names of all the passengers. I eagerly scanned the names until I found mine. I was alive! Then I searched for my friend’s name. He was a rich businessman, also traveling in first class. He didn’t make it. It was chilling to think this was once a real person. I felt sad that we had both boarded the ship and only I had made it.

I reminded myself it was just a museum exhibit, but it truly had brought that moment in history alive.