Howdy,
#NaNoWriMo (550) — Day 30
(Unedited, or only slightly)
(Editor’s note: National Novel Writing Month ended last night at 11:59 P.M., officially. However, I’ve been on my own Hawes version all along; today I’ll finish with my 30 days of writing (since I skipped a day of #nanowrimo hustle celebrating our wedding anniversary.) Amazing how these 30 story-writing days have blazed by so fast. Sorry for typos or “draft-moments” especially accentuated by the daily pace. By word count, I’ve reached a legit novella — thrilling to me in this timespan. My hope now is to edit, revise, and help the story bloom. Tomorrow I’ll reflect more on the 30-day nanowrimo experience.)
Continued …
Jake’s sidekick of a smile slipped on and off on him. He’d called out the extra two older athletes against himself, after likely already having more than he could handle with the first eighth grader upset with him and eager for a basketball battle.
Jake had fallen back into their idea: 21.
Instead of one-on-one, which Jake boldly stood his ground for initially as his only shot of a hope, Jones’ competitive fire — okay, immature boy temper — blocked his brain but not his mouth and he waved a strong challenge to all Three who’d clicked instantly into enemies on first encounter on the schoolyard, saying, “Step on the court. Then see if you’re laughing.”
They laughed and joined, making one-on-one become 21, really to be a twisted game of three-on-one — and that Jake understood fully. He knew, in the equation, he’d be the one: and not talking Neo and pulling off metaphysical miracles, unfortunately for Jake.
Why had he said it? Jake wondered as he geared up as best he could. No, his smile deserted him. What Jake had left was sweat, nervous sweat to start, and then it’d be real sweat, effort sweat, breaking out with Jake’s certain hustling determination to hold his own, to convince himself he’d accomplished something against the basketball bullies. Not sure what could actually be achieve, though. Either way, the awkward and intensified clash was too bad, because the big guys were three athletes Jake would’ve wanted to make friends with just as soon as with anybody on campus, but from the very beginning those Three were being butts.
About to get his kicked, and knowing it, Jake bounced his basketball with him as backed out to the painted line halving court and announced, “My ball.”
“Let’s shoot for it.”
“You have a ball?” Jake said, all in on his mess. “No? Then let’s use mine. I’m bringing it in.”
“Enjoy it. Not sure you’ll touch it again.”
Another added, “Not ’til were done destroying you, Shorty—”
“—When you’re walking away whimpering, Six,” finished the last of the Three against Jake.
“Then,” Jake said, “I better keep my winner’s outs.”
Jake Jones bounced the ball to the middle of the Three smirking self-appointed athletic guardians of the school basketball court and sidelined his talking with a warning in the single word, “Check.”
To be continued … Not this time! Instead, it’s THE END!
Not the story, but the end of a month-long journey, with this Jake Jones serial chronicle to be adapted with hopes of being re-seen: revised, restructured, and released. If you’ve been reading along, thanks for being among the first to meet and witness our Jake Jones character and his narrative. Stay tuned for a fleshed out version (have any title ideas?) — Please do sign up below for my mailing list; plan is, you’ll receive notice of a polished and published Jake Jones.
So I say, it’s 2016 #nanowrimo THE END!
—Billy
Reading. Writing. Living.
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