Sunday Snippet: Vicarious Living

I have a new furnace! It's shiny and pretty and takes up a lot less space than our old one did. And it's amazing how nice and toasty the house is again. Here's hoping the much-improved energy efficiency pays off too.

My workload is still crazypants. Trying to get prepped for having the equipment going in and out of our house didn't leave me a lot of time the past week. I also have a goal of seriously getting rid of a bunch of stuff that's been collecting in odd, random places for the past two decades.

I did get some television watched, starting with another episode of Midsomer Murders. I think I might have found the show I'll be replacing Midsomer with, but I have made a final decision yet.

Caught a few more episodes of Sapphire and Steel and watched a full arc of Classic Who. Sapphire and Steel is actually pretty interesting with a different style.

Watched a Halloween episode of Murdoch Mysteries, which ended up being pretty fun. I love it when William has to deal with people and things he doesn't feel comfortable with. Pretty cool variation on the theme song also.

Also caught another episode of Frankie Drake Mysteries. I really do like this show and the friendship between Frankie, Trudy, Flo, and Mary. My favorite season is still the first one, but if this is going to be a long-haul show, I'm down with the changes to the style.

That's pretty much it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Vicarious Living, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Sometimes adversity can be overcome and living vicariously through fantasy proves to be a good thing. Lola Humes and Wright Wesslop discover a mutual way to cope when they meet at their group counseling sessions. They're not supposed to interact outside the anonymous therapy gatherings, but neither is very good at following the rules.

And a snippety peek…

What the hell am I doing?

Lola didn't share information about her past. Yet she'd blabbed a lot to a hot stranger. Wright Wesslop could prove to be disruptive to her life. She lived for change, but she also like to control when it occurred.

Three weeks of meetings and the man pretty much had her whole story. Then again, she had his too, but he'd only just finished the twelve-steps. She'd completed her right out of high school.

Wright nudged her shoulder. "What's going through that brain of yours?" He warmed up her coffee.

Lola chuckled. "Honestly, something trivial. I was thinking about how varied our reasons for drinking are." Losing a sibling, if she had one, would be a damned good reason to drown sorrows.

And Wright had done exactly that when his brother died.

His lips kicked up in a smile. "The reasons all lead to the same place for us." He glanced out at the remaining group of members. "Here. Trying to stay on this side of sober."

Lola nodded. "Fair point. And I'm glad no one really gets judgmental about how different our stories are." Her teenage angst didn't rate that high as a good reason—at least not in her newly written book—but at the time, she would've taken any excuse to blot out the hot and cold, back and forth, up and down parenting style her mother adhered to. Not that her mom didn't try, but she truly didn't get Lola, which meant they didn't see each other often.

Wright ducked his head. "I appreciate the lack of judging too but sometimes I don't understand why being sober means adhering to rigid rules for some people." He lowered his voice. "I need a little danger in my life… it just doesn't have to be in the form of alcohol."

Lola blinked. Holy shit. Finally… someone understood. The freedom she found in throwing caution to the wind—minus liquid courage—helped her try new things while maintaining control. Being sober didn't mean being boring.

Lola set her cup on the table. "Would you like to grab some decent coffee? There's a little shop across town on Fifth that serves a terrific no-frills dark roast with a choice of pastry." She paused a moment, then sweetened the invite. "The danishes melt in your mouth."

Wright cocked his head to one side. "I'm up on Fifteenth. What's the name of the shop?" He placed his half-filled cup beside hers.

Lola tucked the knowledge of where he lived away for a moment. "Danko's. It's pretty much dead center between Ivy and Chestnut." And she lived two blocks up from Chestnut on Maple.

Weird… they lived in pretty much the same neighborhood.

Wright gave a nod. "I know the place but I've never been. Sounds like tonight is a good time to go." He gave her a wide smile.

Lola flashed a grin. "Meet you there?" When he nodded, she gave a small wave and headed for the exit.

Danger looks damn good in the form of Wright Wesslop.

I'm taking this one slowly and trying to make sure I hit the right beats.

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin