"Scooch over!" says Aunt Nancy. She's standing above me with a big smile and two very large glasses of what looks like Rum and Coke.
Yummy!
I swivel my legs around so she can take a seat next to me on the lounger. She's getting good at knowing when she can come by for a chat; the laptop resting on the ground as I sleep in the sun was probably a good clue.
"Cheers," I say as we clink glasses and I take a very large gulp.
"So," she says as she lights a cigarette, "how's the movie coming along?"
"Meh," I tell her. I'm lost in the plot a little, nothing I can't dig my way out of -- but it's starting to irritate me. I hate it when you lose the flow.
"Well, I figured you could use a break. It's such a nice day. This will be the last time we have the lake to ourselves before the opening tomorrow -- wanna go for a boat ride?" she says as she ashes her cigarette between the slots in the deck. I watch the ashes that don't fall through the crack get swept into the water by the wind.
"Helloooo?" she says with a laugh.
"OH! Sorry, I was just daydreaming." I tell her, and take another sip from my drink.
"Well, I know I don't know nothing about movie writing, but if you want someone to hash it out with, I can try!"
I like that she is always so accommodating.
"Well, it's weird because I know where I want to go, but to get there from where I'm at seems a little forced," I tell her.
She nods, "Like not natural?"
"Exactly, and well -- it's kind of hard to explain in words, but there's kind of this organic process when you tell a story. And, at least this is what I think, the story that is suppose to be told flows and things sprout out of it. And, if your not telling that story, then the flow of what happens to the character gets deflated. I don't really know if I'm making any sense, but right about now in the movie, I've kind of deflated her." I watch Aunt Nancy take in everything I say as she lights another cigarette.
"Huh, so your character is like, not doing anything interesting?" she asks.
"Well, not anything that could move her forward in the movie. I almost feel like it's on life support and I'm about two seconds away from tripping over the cord..." I tell her.
I don't know if I'm explaining myself properly or not.
"No, I get it. You're stuck." she says and summarizes my diatribe in two words.
"Yep," I say. It really is that simple. I'm stuck. I don't know what to do next that would have any significance to the story. I'm standing at the edge of a canyon; but the rest of my story is on the other side. How the hell does one jump over a canyon?
"Well, put it out of your mind. That's what I do. The answer always comes," she says with a big smile and shakes her empty glass to indicate that we should go back up to the cottage and top off our drinks.
I stand up and grab my laptop. I think I will take a break from it for now.
"Oh, by the way..." I start, "How did you and Uncle Hank hire Benny? He's not from around here, right?" I start to pry as we walk back towards the cottage.
"Uh...," she thinks for a second before answering, "I think he moved here with his wife for this job, but I don't really know where he's from. Why?"
Aunt Nancy has a sixth sense about these things. My transparency is, I'm sure, also helping.
"Nothing, I just assumed he was from this area," I tell her.
"What difference would it make?" she asks and offers to take my glass so I can balance myself better as we go up the stairs.
"I guess none, really. Just being nosey." I tell her and shrug it off. Before I start writing a million subplots for Benny, I really should focus on trying to get across the canyon that I've written myself into.
Who does that? Writes into a fucking wall.
I'm such an idiot sometimes.
"Anyhow, you can ask him all the questions you want when he gets back." Says Aunt Nancy as she opens the sliding glass door into the living room.
"Where'd he go? Into town?" I ask, thinking he is running an errand.
"No no, he flew into the city to go meet your Uncle Hank and consult with him about opening up some more resorts," says Aunt Nancy as she fills my glass up with more ice and opens the fridge to pull out the Cola.
"Did he leave this morning?" I ask.
"No no, he left a couple of days ago. He should be coming back today. I told Hank not to take him before the opening, but you know your Uncle -- once he's hellbent on something it's just better to let him have his way than watch him sulk."
I nod as she splashes Rum into my glass. "Wait a second," I say when it dawns on me. "A couple of days ago?" I ask.
"Yeah, about two days ago. They had to go out East as well. So actually, let me think...it would have been three days ago. Today is the fourth day he's been gone." She looks confused but then has a conversation in her head to confirm that she has it right and gives me a smile.
"But that's impossible." I tell her and shake my head.
She waits to see where I'm going with this. So I continue,
"I just saw him the day before yesterday. He was on the top deck while I was down by the water." I tell her as I take a sip of my drink.
Aunt Nancy firmly shakes her head 'no' and corrects me, "You must have seen him three days ago, because he wasn't here."
"I'm telling you, I saw him. It was in the morning. Not yesterday, but the day before that. I'm positive!" I tell her.
She laughs, shrugs and says, "Whatever, he's coming back today. He's been gone for a bit. Maybe I have it wrong...I dunno."
"You have it wrong, he was still here the day before yesterday." I insist.
She raises her hands and says, "Fair enough."
We decide to have some lunch before we rope one of the staff into taking us for a boat ride. I stop focusing on whether or not Benny left two days ago or not because I really need to keep my mind clear for the rest of my movie to grow.
It really pisses me off that I'm at an impasse, but for now I'm going to take advantage of the fact that I am totally sucking today; and enjoy a boat ride with Aunt Nancy. Maybe the fresh air will sweep out the cobwebs that seem to be blocking my synapses from downloading the rest of the movie.
Who really knows what the hell is happening with my brain. If all else fails I can always pull a Thelma & Louise and just make a run for it; but we all know how that ended -- and I don't really feel like being some flickering Polaroid photo (of what could've been a good movie) floating in the wind, while the rest of it tumbles to it's death. No, I need to get back on track so I can finish this sucker.
Maybe some good will come out of standing on the edge of the canyon. That's what I keep hoping, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.
