I created Hazel in Week 4 and am revisiting her for this exercise.
Hazel sat on the upper deck of the number 42 bus with a barely
controlled grin on her face. It was a beautiful spring morning and she'd
dressed herself and Beijing in jaunty red to compliment the day. Her
Pekinese always traveled better if kept restrained in her capacious
handbag. Hazel bent and rubbed noses with him.
A single phrase was whirling through her head. “The
first day of the rest of my life” it spun, weaving a cloth of infinite
possibilities.
Retirement had been so long in coming. Freedom at last
from that dusty old library which had stopped being fun the day the
world discovered Google.
The bus pulled into the terminus and there, already
waiting was Carol with Yangste on his lead. They too were wearing
matching outfits, only they were in yellow. The two brand new pensioners
greeted each other like schoolgirls with hugs and giggles, then they
linked arms and strolled off towards the Heath without a care in the
world.
Hazel is a 62 year old
spinster.
Born in 1953 in St Albans
Parents: Ronald Corrigan m. Edna nee Whittaker
Siblings: Stuart 1958 m. Judith
Robert 1961 m. Rosemary
Happy childhood, primary school, bright passed 11+ went to Grammar school
Became a librarian then moved to London
Aged 28 met a married man - had an illegitimate baby given up for adoption
had an abortion aged 31
Lives in a basement flat in Camden with access to the garden
Youthful looking but concealing her greying hair by going
lighter and is now blonde.
Petite, slim but some middle age spread.
Neat clothes, quality makes, no frills but likes colours
Not extravagant.
Independent
Determined
A little insecure
Enthusiastic
Prevaricates/Procrastinates
Young at heart
Loved her work especially research and archival work.
Likes interacting with people
Very correct at work "place for everything and everything in its place" but less tidy at home.
Pekinese called Beijing
Friend Carol with a Peke called Yangste
Disillusioned with men
she turne to women for companionship and got entangled with lesbian
relationships although she is not gay. Turned to canine world for
solace. Met Carol at the dog breeders and found a kindred spirit.
Sunday 14 December 2014
Post 20 - Using a different method of Characterisation
I am going to try and create a character without a back story, who is a composite of people I know.
Great Grandad Kenneth, Grandy to all the family since Adam renamed him, is a striking man.
He's over six feet tall and as upright as Nelson's column, which is surprising as he's over ninety.
He claims never to have had a days illness in his life, as long as you don't count the various hospital admissions he's had for injuries down the years. Of these the very first was the worst.
He had come unscathed through World War Two, it was nearly over by the time he was conscripted. He enjoyed the army life and decided to stay on when the war ended. He'd always been an enthusiastic sportsman and the army soon had him in one of their swimming teams. It was on the way back from a competition that the accident happened. He was in Germany. There was devastation everywhere, the roads were terrible. The jeep in which he and a fellow soldier were traveling back to barracks had to mount a bank to avoid a huge pothole and it simply toppled over on to its side. Kenneth fell out into the road and cracked his skull but worse was to follow as the petrol tank leaked and somehow caught fire. His mate struggled out of the jeep and managed to get to Kenneth pretty quickly but not before the right side of his head and his right arm had received severe burns. Months of plastic surgery followed in East Grinstead. But no, Kenneth was never ill.
The fiery red new skin eventually calmed down to a more or less normal colour but his right cheek looked a little like a patchwork quilt. Tired of hospitals he turned down the offer of a new ear so only had a lobe. In the early days he'd grown his hair in a comb-over to hide his scars but as the years went by it irritated him so he went back to a short back and sides, always joking with the barber that it should be cheaper as he only had one side in need of attention.
The scars are not the first thing you notice about him now. His military bearing and the still twinkling blue eyes above a broad smile mark him out from the crowd. Whether it was the accident or his natural inclination but Kenneth loves life and lived his to the full. He had married Isobel, ten years his junior, who had been his girlfriend at the time of the accident. She had stuck by him even though he told her she didn't have to. They had four children, two of each. One by one they had found partners and now there were six grandchildren and one great granddaughter. Kenneth felt blessed and gave thanks every Sunday at his local church.
Kenneth wouldn't say he is community minded but he does like to be involved and his friends and neighbours know he can be relied on to help where he can. These days, although still a great walker, his physical capabilities have diminished but he manages the funds for the Wednesday Club and uses his old electric typewriter to create notices and leaflets. He's probably the only person in Lancashire who still has a supply of carbon paper and uses it. Truth to tell Kenneth is a bit of a gossip and he needs to be part of the village scene.
Great Grandad Kenneth, Grandy to all the family since Adam renamed him, is a striking man.
He's over six feet tall and as upright as Nelson's column, which is surprising as he's over ninety.
He claims never to have had a days illness in his life, as long as you don't count the various hospital admissions he's had for injuries down the years. Of these the very first was the worst.
He had come unscathed through World War Two, it was nearly over by the time he was conscripted. He enjoyed the army life and decided to stay on when the war ended. He'd always been an enthusiastic sportsman and the army soon had him in one of their swimming teams. It was on the way back from a competition that the accident happened. He was in Germany. There was devastation everywhere, the roads were terrible. The jeep in which he and a fellow soldier were traveling back to barracks had to mount a bank to avoid a huge pothole and it simply toppled over on to its side. Kenneth fell out into the road and cracked his skull but worse was to follow as the petrol tank leaked and somehow caught fire. His mate struggled out of the jeep and managed to get to Kenneth pretty quickly but not before the right side of his head and his right arm had received severe burns. Months of plastic surgery followed in East Grinstead. But no, Kenneth was never ill.
The fiery red new skin eventually calmed down to a more or less normal colour but his right cheek looked a little like a patchwork quilt. Tired of hospitals he turned down the offer of a new ear so only had a lobe. In the early days he'd grown his hair in a comb-over to hide his scars but as the years went by it irritated him so he went back to a short back and sides, always joking with the barber that it should be cheaper as he only had one side in need of attention.
The scars are not the first thing you notice about him now. His military bearing and the still twinkling blue eyes above a broad smile mark him out from the crowd. Whether it was the accident or his natural inclination but Kenneth loves life and lived his to the full. He had married Isobel, ten years his junior, who had been his girlfriend at the time of the accident. She had stuck by him even though he told her she didn't have to. They had four children, two of each. One by one they had found partners and now there were six grandchildren and one great granddaughter. Kenneth felt blessed and gave thanks every Sunday at his local church.
Kenneth wouldn't say he is community minded but he does like to be involved and his friends and neighbours know he can be relied on to help where he can. These days, although still a great walker, his physical capabilities have diminished but he manages the funds for the Wednesday Club and uses his old electric typewriter to create notices and leaflets. He's probably the only person in Lancashire who still has a supply of carbon paper and uses it. Truth to tell Kenneth is a bit of a gossip and he needs to be part of the village scene.
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