serendipity

Adoration – Talk About Romance Series

Love at first sight. It’s a controversial subject among romance readers. Also known as “instalust,” it seems as many readers accept it, as who avoid it at all costs.

But perhaps there are ways for a romance writer to depict it that are more believable.

When I think of love-at-first-sight movies, my mind immediately goes to “Serendipity.” I loved that movie; the fact that fate was ultimately on their side likely had a lot to do with the opening of my own novel, The Magician’s Curse, but I digress. Fate is often the backdrop, I believe, of the most successful love-at-first-sight plots. It creates a basis on which the reader can suspend disbelief.

I’m sure there are many other scenarios that work, but the risk of such a meeting between two characters seeming overly plotted and convenient is present no matter what.

“I adore you,” the hero says to the heroine, hours after they meet.

“I adore you too. Let’s get married and have babies,” the heroine replies.

Does it happen in real life? Reports say it does, though maybe not quite that fast. This sort of lack of hesitation leaves a lot of room for improvement. But if there’s a paranormal element to it? The bonding of two souls that are meeting again in this current life? Therein lies the romance.

What do you think? What works for you in fiction? Have you ever, in real life, seen a stranger across a crowded room who might have been “The One”?

Thanks go to Bee for the inspiration for this post.

hope

what is it, hope
something we can touch
or taste
some say yes,
that it’s possible
to be that close to
the edge
the brink of getting just
what you want
for that space in time
one flippin’ second away
can almost…

but that’s where the hope comes in
innit?
just between you and me
there ain’t no difference
between this and that
that hope
this taste
because the destination
really does lie
in the journey
sometimes we walk around it
without even knowing
serendipity
laughed at us on the way past

The Chronicles of Mary, Part 8

Mary was on her third job in as many months, at yet another accounting firm. Unhappy, she would sit at her desk day in and day out, wondering if she’d one day expire doing this very job. Sometimes, she looked out her fifth-storey window and wondered how long it would take to hit the pavement if she jumped.

On one particular Wednesday afternoon, her boss called her into his office. She trudged in and leaned against the door frame, long past attempting to make a good impression.

“Mary,” her boss said, “I’m hungry. Would you mind going into the cafeteria and getting me a sandwich?”

“It’s two o’clock. The cafeteria’s closed,” Mary replied.

“That’s okay. Just go in and make one, then.”

Mary sighed and wandered down to the cafeteria on the first floor. The door was open, so she went into the deserted kitchen and made her boss a sandwich. She trudged back upstairs, dropped it on his desk, and returned to her own.

Five minutes later, her boss came out and stood before her, smiling. “Would you like a job at my country club, making sandwiches?” he offered.

“Yes,” replied Mary.

And so the next day, Mary started her fourth job in three months.

***
I totally missed yesterday’s prompt for A Story A Day. The reason: things are getting more complicated over there. Funny enough, the second-week post mentioned that by now we should know what the best time of day to write is for us – mine happens to be after 11pm. Given that I try to post a new story every day, and wish to be in bed by midnight, it’s a stretch for me to write more than 300 words.
The above is my pathetic attempt at an Ugly Duckling story. It kind of fits the formula… Kind of.

soulmate

as sure as the stars
glitter in the night
i know you’re out there
searching for me
as i search for you
on every street
in every crowd
the one i’ll know
just know
is meant for me
for in the dark
each night i lay
and hear your voice
whispering love
elusive as
an echo

This post is prompted by Tuesday Use It In A Sentence, where the word of the week is Echo, and The Daily Post word of the day,
Elusive.

JusJoJan the 28th – Serendipity, a poem

Ideas drip down
Like serendipity from the heavens
Of what you might look like
When I finally set eyes
On a scrap of your coat
Or the cut of your jeans
Should a glimpse of the back of your head
In a crowd
Light my nerves
Make me run to catch up
To find
The ring on your finger
third from the thumb
and so
I’ll keep waiting
For drips of serendipity
‘Til I die.