She Needed the Reminder

[chirpy]

No.

Concise. She needed the reminder. Maybe write something on herself - like a list for life, death, and groceries.

No.

No dogs.
No running.
No walking.
No swimming.
No noise.
No phones.
No nonsense.

She needed the reminder. The world owed her nothing - would give her nothing.
No raise.
No free lunch.
No job.

She could have a career though. Pick a company, any company. No jobs. Not in this economy. Yet more careers than you could shake a stick at. A career as an Airline Attendant. A career as a Cashier. A career as a Food Service Technician.

career |kəˈri(ə)r|
noun
an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life and with opportunities for progress.

job |jäb|
noun
a paid position of regular employment

She wanted to stay free of it. She read the words left scrawled on her arm. "The Devil is the one you sell your identity to."

identity |īˈdentitē|
noun ( pl. -ties)
the fact of being who or what a person or thing is

Who we are is defined by what we do. She didn't want to be her "career". She needed a job. Some nights she felt like she didn't deserve her identity. Why give her identity to anyone else?

She had her career. She had her passion.

Could she keep it?

No.

She needed the reminder.


----

definitions from the apple dictionary. thank you for your time :)

[cacian]

this is a different style of poetry almost a poetry play. it allows for more interjection and speech dialogues if you like.
it is clever in the sense that it lays out your life as a script rather then a course a cycle or a journey. very telling of modern time.
it is also interesting that you chose 'a female' voice to portray modern dilemma. a masculine voice would have been less effective do you think? I am not sure.

I am still pondering about ''She needed the reminder'' I am not sure I understand it fully :)
thank you for posting. great piece.

[Haunted]

I didn't see it coming — a nice, well-placed shocker at the end and I enjoyed it. With how stark the piece is, the subtlety is admirable. I'd hesitate to call this poetry, as it lacks the mechanics of a poem, but definitely an interesting piece of creative writing.

btw I use the apple dictionary too ;)

[chirpy]

Thank you both for your feedback! I really appreciate it! I'll treasure your compliments for a long time.


it is also interesting that you chose 'a female' voice to portray modern dilemma. a masculine voice would have been less effective do you think? I am not sure.

I think we accept emotion more readily from female characters. In this I wanted to show emotion without having to dwell on it. Although I admit my own values and desire to see greater and more diverse representations of women factored heavily into the gender.


I didn't see it coming — a nice, well-placed shocker at the end and I enjoyed it. With how stark the piece is, the subtlety is admirable. I'd hesitate to call this poetry, as it lacks the mechanics of a poem, but definitely an interesting piece of creative writing.

Thank you. I'm going to need a few days to fully digest the first part of your comment. Thank you!

Both of you mention the style and form of writing. I struggled over where to post this and settled on the poetry section because (a) it felt like poetry to me and (b) writing it I focused on expression over theme. I wanted it to read like the thoughts behind an oft repeated mantra?