It’s Tuesday, time for Slice of Life with Two Writing Teachers. Please join us with a slice of your own. Find other slices here. Thank you Tara, Betsy, Dana, Stacey, Beth, and Anna for your wonderful blog.
As a kid, Sunday nights were The Wonderful World of Disney. It offered the last bit of the weekend: a Sunday night movie. I loved them. Now no one turns into a regularly scheduled broadcast. We go to Netflix.
Sunday night, we sat, just the two of us, flicking through the seemingly endless selection of Netfilx movies and TV shows.
Nope, nope, nope, mindless, violent, seen it.
Flick, flick, flick.
Rinse, repeat.
Seriously there should be something.
We don’t give up. We have faith. So many there has to be one. Just one good story.
Determined, we forge on.
I make dinner. While husband continues the search.
I’m in the kitchen and I hear music.
“Decided on one, have you,” I say.
“Yeah, we’ll see.”
I bring plates filled with pasta and salad. Drinks on coasters, plates on our laps. I keep my expectations low.
Characters: divorcee (played by Virginia Madsen) three cute daughters, a alcoholic writer (played by Morgan Freeman) next door. Setting: summer time at an idyllic lake outside of New York City.
It pulls me in slowly, quietly.
The middle child wants to learn how to tell stories. For “punishment,” mom tells her she must learn three new words. The girl eats this up. (You had me at she wanted to learn to tell stories.) And who does she go to for help, the cranky, but eloquent, slightly drunk neighbor. Freeman’s voice is mesmerizing. He is amused by her and agrees to teach her to tell stories.
His first lesson: Look for what isn’t there.
Her vocabulary words: bamboozle, mentor and imagination.
Completely hooked. We sit. I find myself smiling.
Toward the end, I started to get choked up. Next to me, I hear sniff, sniff. A hand raised, a tear wiped..
The end, a satisfied sigh and, “Your kids would love this,”
“I was thinking the same thing. What’s the name of this?”
If you haven’t seen it, do. Maybe next Sunday night.
To Read To Write To Be 