Polish and extend a short narrative writing (2 - 3 pgs) Feel free to extrapolate.
"LUUUCYYYYY it's time for bed" I shouted to my furry black dog and faithful sleeping companion. Tomorrow is my very first day at the writing institute to say I was excited is an understatement my bag was ready, my outfit was laid out, my lunch was packed. I shook, twirled and turned in bed all night I felt like one of my students the night before Christmas. Finally my alarm clock buzzed and my day started out perfectly. I arrived on time, got all my materials and headed straight for Riverside Church to hear Lucy Calkins give her introductory speech.
During Ms. Calkins remarks one of her anecdotes touched my heart; she told a story about her mother who had asked her to dig a grave for her old poodle. How she realized she needed to prepare herself for what could be the death of her own mother. I immediately thought about my grandfather, Toto, who for the past few months has been on his deathbed. Emotions of guilt immediately came upon me, why was I not at home by his side, what was I even doing there. Soon some funny remarks came along and life continued.
As the day progressed I realized I hadn't gotten my usual "Toto update". Which usually comes in the form of a call of message detailing how he spent his night, if he ate and whom he had confused with who. As I was sitting down to have my lunch I made a quick call home, where the housekeeper gave me no information about my parents' whereabouts, and was speaking in what seemed like some sort of code. "Um yes your mother, yes, she's not here, not here. You better call her, I don't know". I didn't respond I immediately hit the "END" button on my phone and called her. I could hear her weeping over the line. I needed no further explanation; I knew exactly what was happening.
"He stopped breathing after his bath" my father interrupted in his calm, collected voice. "No one wanted to disturb you". My eyes got watery and I couldn't avoid what seemed like endless tears. STOP IT I thought to myself, you're in public. My immediate reaction was to grab my Ipad and try to find a flight home, which turned out not to be a possibility. The idea of not being there with my family was tearing me so I called my father again begged him to have them postpone the funeral to a later date, he told me it wasn't possible this is the way it was all planed out. Then I looked at my watch and realized my lunch break was over, I needed to get back to class.
Days like this remind me the one thing my grandfather always told me when I was upset "without sadness there wouldn't be any happiness".