I have decided that I am officially crazy. After my failed NaNoWriMo attempt last November, I was thinking about hanging up my NaNoHat forever. But now it’s Camp NaNoWriMo time and I’m itching to write. Anything. So I’m considering it, even though I know how poorly I did in November, and despite not working anymore, I’m no less busy. And I don’t really know the ending for the novel that took over in November. But at least it’s something to get me out of my not-writing-fiction rut. So I’m insane and planning to do it. Don’t ask me why. And to get everyone else on my insane bandwagon, here’s the first 500 words or so of what I wrote in November that I will be continuing to write in June.
Serafina kissed her infant girl on the forehead, wrapping her tighter in the blanket that surrounded her. The child’s sweet face would be forever locked in her memory, sleeping quietly in the warmth of the blanket Serafina had made.
“I love you, my sweet Moriah,” she whispered. “Don’t ever doubt that.”
As she entered the hospital, she blinked back tears. Approaching the front desk, she cleared her throat, hoping that she’d be able to speak when the nurse looked up at her.
“I have a child for you,” she said, simply, thrusting her daughter into the nurse’s arms. “Her name is Moriah.” She handed the woman a small slip of paper that included her daughter’s name and birth date, then turned away. A sob escaped from her as she fled the building. She’d already spent too long there. If she did not hurry, they might find her daughter and then all would be lost.
As her heart broke, Serafina ran down the street, away from the hospital where she’d left her last hope. All she could do now was hope that they did not realize she’d made a stop on her journey. The farther she got from the hospital, the safer her daughter would be.
“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Moriah! Happy birthday to you!”
Moriah rolled her eyes as her little brother launched into extra verses, depicting her as a monkey. He was such a caveman in the making. Once her parents had gotten him to close his mouth, Moriah closed her eyes to make a wish before blowing out the candles. It was the same wish she’d made every year for as long as she could remember.
I wish I knew who my real mother was.
She blew as hard as she could, opening her eyes to see wisps of smoke rising from all sixteen of the candles on her cake. With a grin, she stood up straight and grabbed a candle out to lick the frosting off the bottom.
“Looks like I get my wish this year,” she said happily.
“Looks like,” her mom said, kissing her on the forehead before removing the rest of the candles so her dad could cut the cake. “I hope you wished for something that your father and I will approve of.”
“Oh yeah,” she said, grinning. “I wished to be a porn star.” At her mom’s stern look, she laughed. “Kidding, mom. I have absolutely no interest in being any kind of star. Much less a porn star.” Her mom let out a sigh of relief.
“Well, thank goodness for that. What time are they picking you up for the party and Jenny’s?”
Moriah shrugged. She hadn’t worried much about it, since she did not care so much about the second party. She was happy just having cake and ice cream with her family.
“Whenever they get here. But if you want to do something, they can wait.” That made her mom smile and Moriah was glad to be able to cheer her up like that. Some days she was so incredibly thankful to have her entire family. It made her feel good to pay a little bit of that back to them, since they’d brought her into their home and their life voluntarily.
“Well, I do have a little extra gift for you this year,” her mother said, smiling. “And just maybe it’ll be what you wished for.” Moriah knew there was no way that was true, but she didn’t want to upset her mom, so she kept that though to herself.
