Walk the Plank- September- Notebook Boy





Walk The Plank is all about writing Flash Fiction - in other words, short snippets that make the biggest impact. And the goal: Write a flash fiction story in 250 words or fewer, excluding the title, around the monthly theme. Check out the rules by visiting the YABuccaneers page!

My Walk the Plank entry has the unique distinction this month of being an actual true story. That's not one of the requirements, of course, but when I was thinking about memorable first days, I just kept coming back to this one. One that led to A LOT more firsts. *wink* I'm still a little crazy about Notebook Boy...and yes, he still has ink on his fingers.

NOTEBOOK BOY


It was the first day of Calculus. I didn’t expect it to yield anything fruitful. I certainly didn’t expect a boy to walk through the door with eyes like animal things. Dark. Bright. Laughing. His quick, appraising gaze hit me like a searchlight. This is going to be interesting.

He was still talking to someone else, laughing at their joke, when he plunked down on the back bench next to me. That was on purpose. Please tell me that was on purpose.

His long limbs took up more space than a normal person, but he was infinitely relaxed about it. His hair was pulled back in a knot like a samurai with a fountain pen sticking out of it. He had ink on all his fingers. When he opened his notebook, I could see why. It was covered in inky hieroglyphics, every square inch.  Symbols. Drawings. Monkeys. Random words in perfect script. Chemical formulas. Someday he’s going to explain what all of that means. I thought.

I peeked at the person that went with the notebook. High cheekbones. Serious eyebrows. Unruly samurai hair. He turned towards me and grinned like he’d known me forever. All my dendrites seemed to get tangled in the empty space between our heads, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

When he leaned his leg casually against mine halfway through the class, I still didn’t know if it was on purpose. But I didn’t move my leg an inch for the next 46 minutes. And neither did he. 






9 comments:

  1. LOVE this! The first time I met my husband, he was wearing his hair in a bun so I have a soft spot for guys with messy hair :)

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    1. I think they would probably get along quite well together. And I'm with you, long hair/messy hair...hard to beat. :) (Translation: Weak at the Knees)

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  2. This is awesome! Notebook Boy is a very cool character, and it's even cooler that he's real. You should flesh this out into a whole book someday, whether or not the rest of it is based on true events. :)

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    1. I actually thought about doing that. Because he's honestly one of the most interesting characters I've ever met. (In or out of fiction) :) I suppose those excerpts from his Notebook above could give you an inkling of what his brain is like.

      Unfortunately, most of the book would have to be censored because that boy has got a Mouth on him.

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  3. Awww!!! This is a really nice story, Kris! And awesome that it's actually YOUR story, in more ways than one! Well done. :)

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  4. I love this and knowing that it's a true story makes it all the sweeter. It's nice to hear a loving memory about a man, seems these days there are far to many woman complaining about past men, instead of praising the man they have. I agree with Erin, this would be great fleshed out into a whole book. :)

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  5. This was really, really cool, Kris. I could totally feel all the tension and excitement in the air with just these few paragraphs.

    And uh.....dendrites. Yeah, had to look that up. LOL :-) Fabulous.....plus, I LOVE the drawings....that's how it feels in my head some days....

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  6. LOVE this! You're so good at flash fiction!

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  7. Ooh, this is so great, Kris. It's totally steamy! And the writing is very sharp - succinct, but with rich descriptions that made me remember the tingles you can get from something as simple as a touch. :) Well done!

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