Rendering (A Companion to Interminable)

 

Rendering

A companion to Interminable.  Jessica Stanton is nothing but a marionette, her domineering mother the puppeteer.  When a dangerous encounter is swept under the rug, the strings controlling her begin to fray.  Will she have the courage to stand on her own?

Excerpt:

     The next few days were spent in a frenzy of creation, channeling all her anger and trepidation into new art.  Each stroke of a paintbrush or swipe of a pastel reinforced her decision to make her own path. 

     When she finally came up for air, she ran into Mr. Archer on her way back from some much needed time in the sun. 

     “Ah, Miss Stanton!  I haven’t seen you in a while!” 

     “Yeah, I’ve been working on some new pieces.” 

     “You’ll have to show me before you go.  You’ll be leaving us soon, yes?” 

     “Actually,” Jessica walked over to join him at the counter.  “I’d like to extend my stay if that’s possible.” 

     “Of course!  I’ll help you with that right now.”  His fingers traveled over the keyboard, stopping when he looked at her with a furrowed brow.  “I’m sorry, my dear.  It appears your credit card is no longer valid.” 

     She immediately knew it was her mother’s doing, a calculated reminder of who held the purse strings.  Well, she wouldn’t win that easily.  “No worries.  I’ll just pull some cash if that works.” 

     “Of course!” 

     Going back out, she headed to the ATM down the street.  She had made money over the summer.  It wasn’t much, but it was enough to buy her some time until she figured out what to do.  When she put in the card, however, the screen flashed with the message that the account had been closed.

Author’s Note:

While evicting the characters from the story I wrote prior to this one out of my head, one refused to leave.  She apparently had a tale to tell, but one of own - not a sequel.  Who was I to argue?