Stories
Do stories differ depending on where they’re set? Staying in the Netherlands has been wonderful as well as busy. We have walked, gone swimming, visited friends and family, as well as just relax. I loved being around people, and it made me think about interactions. I love Dutch humour, I must admit… the way they operate is so different, and it came out in the running group I went with. The banter and chatter was really refreshing, something I have missed, I realised. The run refreshed me, even though I was the one at the back, gasping for breath, with a very red face… it was the way people chat to each other, thoroughly disagree with each other, complain about stuff they don’t like, but still laugh together and have a great time. I loved how they don’t do the male/female divide, the never-the-twain-shall-meet sort of thing. The idea of running with a mixed group would make me think twice in England, whereas in the Netherlands it’s great fun, and adds a dimension to the whole thing. I liked the winding up that goes on, and how people make you feel welcome and include you in their jokes. I missed the male humour, the way guys joke when there’s women around, and how just doing things together works well in the Netherlands, without it feeling weird. I really, really missed that, and I’m grateful for the few chances I had to go running. Everything seemed so relaxed and calm, and their lives are busy and filled, but still organised.
Running around the forest, walking around the highest waterfall and seeing places has given me some great story ideas as well…a Body near the waterfall, after all, it’s not that busy, and anything can happen. It’s the reason I don’t really like walking through a quiet wood, wondering if there’ll be a hand poking out from the leaves… Another story could be a stalker in the woods…Jogging along at the back, I just thought about it. I run very quietly, and every now and again, it sounded like there was someone behind me, but there never was… What if I wasn’t running with a group, but alone, and the steps behind me weren’t imagined, but real? That set me off wondering if a slight, but fit and fast girl can outrun or defend herself against a large man intend on harming her… Looking at the woods, the dark trunks, many trees chopped down, the ground turned over rather effectively by wild boar, I could just imagine staying there. The woods are large, with plenty of shelter, so what if there was someone hiding in the woods… We were watching the skating rink, a long line of men zooming round on their speed skates. Speed skates make formidable weapons, their irons sharp and sticking out a good way at the front as well as the back…
Not even sure where to start, or which story to tell first. The best part with Living Vicariously is that you can include whatever you want, like your favourite food! Just two days and NaNoWriMo is over, and as soon as the first draft is done I will start on some stories set in the Netherlands… I can’t wait, and as we’re driving home with the rain pelting our windscreen I’m glad that at least my mind can stay behind a bit longer, wandering through the golden brown forests, listening to the splattering sound of the neatest waterfall ever…