Pesky People

“The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Gen 2:7

When my husband and I finally had an empty nest our house eerily reverberated with…SILENCE.  After so many years, it was -- er, cough, cough --  exhilarating, exciting. Because I have such a mommy-heart, I never thought I would actually enjoy this silence, this absence of children.

Then I retired from work and through the encouragement of my friend, Jan Christiansen, decided to pursue my life-long dream to write. I had hardly begun my writing journey when people started moving into my home. Not just one person, but several. With time, it grew to be many people. 

photo courtesy COBRASoft, rgbstock.com

These are demanding, bothersome, often annoying and irritating people. They follow me everywhere and even have the nerve to interrupt my sleep. I find myself torn between hating them and loving them. If I had any backbone, I would have sent some of them packing. I took the cowardly way out.  I just killed off some of them, but then others took their places. 

Of course I’m not God, but in light of the scripture I used, I became god-like. You see, I created these people. I gave them life, breathed into their nostrils, so to speak, the breath of life, these characters in my novels. 

Now they go with me throughout the day. They will not be ignored. They urge me to create chapters, write continuing conflict, expand their lives and world. Pesky creatures! I am boss. Without me, they wouldn’t exist.  With one touch of my finger on the Delete key, they will be annihilated. I have the power.

Yet, I coddle them. I give into their whining demands. They want so much from me. They want a different hair color, different name, a more glamorous occupation, more romance, less romance – their demands never end. I even pray over them. Well, not them, but I pray over whatever I’m writing.

I absolutely love it. It’s more fun than playing house when I was a little girl, even better than imaginary friends.