John Marsden Writing Topic #222
“It’s not over yet.”**
This story was written based on this picture and prompts provided by the Australian Writers’ Centre.
***
Dinner Party
Madeline put down the last piece of cutlery on her immaculately set table and admired her work. She chucked at the fact that this last piece was a knife, the people who would be coming to her dinner party had been throwing knives in her back for months, now it was her turn to return the favour.
The five people that would be sitting directly opposite where she was standing right now—her parents and her three sisters—they never believed in her business idea and had no qualms in letting everyone they know how they felt.
The four people that would be sitting by the window—her three soon-to-be ex best friends; Lexie, Kami and Helen, and ex-boyfriend, Derek—Madeline found out a week ago that Derek and Lexie were having an affair, and that Kami and Helen knew and never told her.
The four people that would be sitting opposite her soon-to-be ex best friends and ex-boyfriend—her four co-workers who constantly belittled her business ideas and never made her feel welcome in all her five years at her accounting job.
Madeline would be sitting in the chair she was standing in front of, which is exactly where she wanted to be—front and centre, with her biggest supporters literally by her side. Her soon-to-be new boyfriend, Raphael, would be sitting directly to her right. Her business partner, Lisa, would be sitting directly to her left, and her new friends through Raphael on either end.
She couldn’t wait to sit down at the table and let everyone know that her business idea took off and she would be making millions in a few short months. She couldn’t wait to tell them all, that she knew about every doubt they had, every negative and derogatory thing they said about her, and every betrayal.
They all thought they’d beaten her, but the battle isn’t over yet.
The doorbell rung, the first guest had arrived, she took a deep breath and started walking with excitement and purpose towards the door.
**Reference: Marsden J 1998, Everything I Know About Writing, Pan Macmillan, Australia.
