Regret

*- I do not own any of these characters. Please review

 Regret

 She was not hard to locate. She was smiling and laughing, her fiancé never far from her.

 John Willoughby was not a man to believe in regrets, the past was what it was, what is done cannot be undone.

 But he did have one regret, Marianne Dashwood. He did love her and if he could have gone back, he would be honest with her. Perhaps he might be the one standing next to her; it would be his engagement ring on her hand. But she was to marry Christopher Brandon within a month.

 Handing the glass to the waiter, Marianne kissed her fiancé on the cheek.

 “Do you want some company?” Chris asked.

 “No, I just need a moment by myself, it’s just a little warm in here, I will be back in a few minutes”.

 She was surprised to find outside the one person she thought she would never see again.

 “What are you doing here?”.

 “I uh… you look beautiful” was the only words that John could utter.

 “Where is your wife?” Marianne asked, John could feel the sting of her words. John had married Jessie because she was everything he was told he should have in a wife. And yet, she was everything he didn’t want in a wife.  She was cold, only wanting him for his name and money. Now he was stuck, his aunt threatening to cut him off if he left Jessie.

 “She went away with her girlfriends for the weekend”.

 “I don’t think you should be here, John…” she was stopped by her fiancé leaving the party to join her, who upon seeing John possessively placed his hand on Marianne’s shoulder.

 “Is he bothering you?” Chris asked.

 “No darling, he wasn’t bothering me, he was just leaving, weren’t you, John?” Marianne asked.

 “I do have to go. Congratulations to you both”.

 As he drove away, Chris asked “Do you still love him? If you do, I will let you go, free and clear”.

 “I thought I loved him once, but I don’t anymore. Please don’t think of him, I don’t. I only want to marry you”.

 She kissed him gently, as his arms wrapped around her, but they were interrupted by Elinor.

 “Is something going on out here? We were beginning to think you two had run off to Vegas”.

 “We’re fine” Chris replied as he followed his future wife and sister in law inside, not knowing that John was still close by watching them.

 John Willoughby was not a man who believed in regrets, but he was not a man who believed in love until he watched the one he loved, marry another. He was the cause of that.

 It was his one regret.

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Her Kiss

*-I don’t own these characters, please review.

 Her Kiss

He couldn’t take her eyes off her. She was deep in conversation with his sister and Charles, but she kept looking at him. The last time he saw her was months ago, he could still hear her biting words, refusing his marriage proposal and calling him arrogant.

 Looking back, he knew she was right. But there was no turning back now, she was here and he didn’t know when he would get another chance.

 “Excuse me, I think I will get air” Elizabeth stood up.

 “Are you feeling well, Lizzy?” her aunt asked.

 “I am perfectly fine, Aunt Madeline, I need some fresh air”.

 He followed her, she stood in the shadows.

 Upon hearing his footsteps, she turned to face him, never removing her eyes from his.

 Before he could say anything, she kissed him, nearly knocking the wind out of him.

 He had dreams of her kiss for months; she had been in his dreams every night.

 He returned her kiss as her arms snaked around his waist; he pushed her against the wall, supporting them both.

 “Lizzy, your uncle is ready to leave” her aunt called out from inside the doorway, not seeing her niece in the shadows.

 “Be there in one minute” Elizabeth called out, breaking the kiss.

 “When can I see you again?” he asked.

 “Tomorrow at the hotel”.

 As Elizabeth, with her aunt and uncle, said their goodbyes, Will followed them with a spring in his step.

 Tomorrow was the day he would propose, make up for lost time. Tomorrow, their life together, as it should have been six months ago, would begin.

Brave Movie Review

23 years ago, Disney presented their first ginger heroine. Ariel, the title character in The Little Mermaid (a retelling of the Hans Christian Anderson fable) went through the trial and tribulations of growing up and like many of her fairy tale sisters, ended her story with a happily ever after and prince charming.

Last weekend, Disney & Pixar presented another ginger princess to the world of fairy tales. Merida, like Ariel is a princess repressed by both duty and an overbearing parent. She dreams of having another life. That is where the similarities end.

Merida (voiced by Kelly MacDonald) is a medieval princess in the Scottish Highlands. She longs for freedom, but her mother, Queen Elinor (voiced by Emma Thompson) keeps reminding her daughter of her responsobility as princess. The clash between mother and daughter reaches its peak when Merida is forced to witness an athletic contest between the eldest sons of three local clans. The winner will become Merida’s husband, an idea that Merida vocally disaproves of. 

I wont give the rest of the movie away, but I walked out of the movie a very happy moviegoer. This one of the best movies that both Disney and Pixar have put out in years.

Women have been fighting for their rights in this country for many decades. The best part of the movie was seeing the payoff of that fight, that we as women can stand on our own two feet, without relying on a man.

Apologize

*-These characters are not mine. The writers have yet to give Dr. Whale a first name, so for this story, I name him Tom.

 The Right Decision

 The decision was haunting him for days. David told himself that it was the right thing to do, to stay with Kathryn and work out whatever problems they had before the accident.

 But there was something about Mary Margaret that he couldn’t ignore. He didn’t know what it was, but it was as if they had known each other.

 The least he could do was apologize to her. She deserved that much.

 David found Mary Margaret in the coffee shop grading papers.

 “Can I join you?” he asked.

 The cup next to her was nearly empty as Ruby came over with the coffee pot in her hand.

 “No more coffee, thank you, Ruby”.

 Before David could get a response, Dr. Whale came up beside Mary Margaret.

 “Are you ready?”.

 “I am now” Gathering the papers in front of her, they were placed in her bag.

 “Here you go” Ruby placed the bill in front of them.

 “I got it” Dr. Whale reached for his wallet.

 “Thank you, Tom”.

 “Mary Margaret?” David started to ask.

 “You made your decision, David and I have made mine”.

 They walked out with Dr. Whale’s arm slung around her shoulder and David had the feeling that the right decision was not made after all.

 

Growing Up: A Modern Pride and Prejudice Fanfiction

The only characters that are mine are Bennet Darcy and Travis Connelly. The rest are not mine.

 Growing Up

There was a rush to close the door behind them, a hushing between kisses and the falling of clothes.

“You’ve done this before”.

“College is a marvelous thing”.

Then the lights flew on as the mood quickly evaporated.

“GEORGIANA CATHERINE DARCY”

Two Hours Earlier 

A reunion with Georgiana’s best friends from high school at the local dance club led to another fortuitous meeting.

“No way”.

Standing two feet from them, with his back turned to them was Travis Connelly.  Travis Connelly was Mr. Popular in high school; almost every girl in their class had a crush on him, Georgiana included.

But she was shy at the time and being little sister to a very overprotective Fitzwilliam Darcy was not the way to get Travis Connelly to notice her.

But that was high school and she was no longer a shy sixteen year old.

“Go” Georgiana’s friends egged her. Fueled by her friends encouraged and her last martini she sauntered over to him.

That led to a nearly 90 minute conversation and drive back to her house, where she was sure everyone was asleep.

“This way” she led up the back staircase, where Mrs. Reynolds, the housekeeper would not hear them.

“Where is your brother?” Travis whispered.

“He and Lizzie went out; they won’t be back for hours”.

“Good” they started to go at it when Georgiana stopped him suddenly.

“You have plastic?” she asked.

“Always” he replied.

Then the lights flew on as the mood quickly evaporated.

“GEORGIANA CATHERINE DARCY”

Five minutes before

“Fitzwilliam Darcy, what on earth do you mean?”.

“Your cousin has his moments”.

They had been out to dinner with William and Charlotte Collins, celebrating Charlotte’s birthday.  Both Will and Lizzie considered her cousin rather odious, but Charlotte was Lizzie’s best friend, so William Collins was tolerated, if only to a point.

“When every other word out of his mouth isn’t Mrs. DeBourgh…”.

“Oddly, he didn’t mention her once”.

“That is his present to Charlotte this year, one day without your aunt being mentioned”.

“That is what I call a birthday present”.

“How was your dinner, Mr. Darcy?”  They were greeted by the housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds.

“Excellent, where is everybody?”.

“The children are asleep”.

“Georgie” Lizzie asked.

“I don’t believe Miss Georgiana has returned home”.

“That’s strange, she usually calls when she is on the way home” Fitzwilliam flipped open his phone.

“Well perhaps she has already come home, if you excuse me, I will retiring, good night”.

As Mrs. Reynolds walked toward her room, the house was oddly quiet, almost too quiet.

Then the sounds started.

Grabbing the nearest weapon they could, which was their son’s plastic baseball bat, they creeped toward the noise and opened the door where the noise was coming from.

He flipped on the light, not expecting to see the source of the noise.

“GEORGIANA CATHERINE DARCY”

“Mr. Darcy, sir, it was pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Darcy” Travis dropped the condom, pulled his pants up and ran out as fast as his legs could carry him.

“What is this meaning of this?” he demanded as his sister attempted to return her clothes to their previous state.

“A little fun, can’t I have little fun once in a while?”.

“Not that kind of fun, young lady”.

“Excuse me, I am after the little sister of Fitzwilliam Darcy who has to be in locked in at night…”.

“Do not put words in my mouth, after all I have done for you..”.

“Will, that is enough; Georgie, I don’t know where you were tonight, but you’ve drunken enough to loosen your tongue.  You’re going to sleep it off and we will talk about it in the morning, like calm, rational, sober adults” Lizzie stepped in.

Brother and sister meekly complied.

The next morning, Georgiana dragged herself to the breakfast table where Lizzie placed a rather fowl looking and smelling drink in front of her.

“Smells like cat pee”.

“It’s not, it’s my father’s hangover cure, now drink up”.

“Mommy, Aunt Georgie looks sick” Will and Lizzie’s five year old son, Bennet commented.

“Never you mind your aunt, just finish your breakfast” Lizzie replied.

“Georgiana, we need to talk”.

“Let her shower, Will”.

“Georgie, I gave your clothes from last night to Mrs. Reynolds to take to cleaners. I also laid out your clothes for today”.

“Lizzie, I am not the sixteen year old I was, you don’t have to treat me like a child anymore” Georgiana stepped out of the shower.

“Your behavior last night was childish. What were you thinking drinking that much and taking a stranger home?”.

“I am so tired of being treated like a child, Lizzie. I am 22; I would like experience some things for myself”.

“You will, Georgie, I promise you, but you can’t scare us like that”.

“Are you dressed?” Will knocked on from outside.

“Two minutes, Will”.

“I’ll let you get dressed, whatever he says, he only loves you”.

“I know, Lizzie, thanks”.

“What you did last night was irresponsible and foolish” Will began “I am not trying to lock you up, I just don’t want to experience some things that you are not ready for”.

“I am not so innocent, Will, you and Lizzie did it all the time, even before you were married”.

“That’s not the point. I want to be an uncle, but not right now. You’re my only sister; I’m only looking out for you”.

“I know, Will, just let me try, that’s all I ask”.

“It may be a little hard for me, but I will try. So, that boy…”.

“Travis”.

“Do you like him?” Will asked, trying not to sound uncomfortable.

“He’s from high school; he never gave me the time of day then. He was there, I was there…”.

“I get it. There was a girl who was in my sociology glass sophomore year of college.  Wouldn’t give me the time of the day, I later found out she thought I was rude and self centered”.

“What happened to her?”.

“Will, Georgie, I hate to interrupt, but we promised the kids we would take them to the zoo today” Lizzie knocked on the other side of the door.

“Tell them five minutes” Will replied.

“I will get them ready” Lizzie replied before walking away.

“This conversation is not over. Rest up and we will talk about this Travis boy when I come back” Will started to get up.

“Will, whatever happened to that girl from college that you liked?”.

“I married her” Will said with a smile, walking out.

Understanding

*- The only characters that are mine are the Darcy children and Sir Edward and John Maxwell. The rest with respect and affection belong to Miss Austen.

 Understanding

“Mr. Darcy to see you, Mr. Bennet” Hill knocked on the study door.

“Darcy, my boy, this is a pleasure. Where is Lizzy?” Mr. Bennet asked as his son in law sat down, looking for his daughter as Hill closed the door behind her.

“Lizzy is home, I have come to speak on a personal matter. I am in need of counsel”.

“Then tell me what I may do for you?” Mr. Bennett asked.

“It is about Fanny…” Darcy started.

“Fanny has captured the attention of a young man and you are unsure on how to proceed”.

Mr. Bennet smiled thinking of his oldest granddaughter, Frances Jane Darcy, known to her family as Fanny. She was the second of the Darcy’s three children and the only daughter, in between her brothers, William and Charles. Fanny favored her mother in both temperament and looks, making her a favorite of her father and grandfather.

Before Darcy could proceed, Mr. Bennet continued “You forget, sir, that I have five daughters, four of my son in laws, yourself included, asked for permission to marry them”.

“Then tell me what to do. I had hoped this might have been easier after Georgiana married, but I did not think this day would come so quickly” Mr. Bennett could see the storm of confusion in Darcy’s eyes.

“Tell me, Darcy, what is this young man like? Is he worthy of Fanny?”.

“Lizzy believes so; she has done her best to convince me that John would be a good husband for Fanny. His father is Sir Edward Maxwell, their property adjoins Pemberley, and John will inherit from his father one day.  John and Fanny have known each other since they were children. It seems almost inevitable that they should marry”.

“Then I shall tell you what my father told me” Mr. Bennet clapped his left hand onto Darcy’s shoulder “What matters is that John and Fanny are happy. They will disagree every now and then, as I am sure you and Lizzy have over the years. But if they are willing to compromise and their love is strong enough, I see no reason to disapprove of the marriage”.

Darcy remained silent, the tension still brewing in his eyes.

“If she is happy with him, Darcy, do not deny her.  Having a daughter who is happily married is far better than having a daughter who is resentful and angry”.

Two months later, the church bells rang, announcing the newly married Mr. and Mrs. John Maxwell.

An hour before the coach was to arrive to take John and Fanny to their honeymoon, Fanny approached her grandfather.

“Are you happy, child?” he asked.

“I am, grandfather”.

“When you come back from Brighton, you must come to Longbourne and visit your old grandfather”.

“I will, grandfather” he kissed her forehead as Fanny heard her new husband calling to her.

Across the room, Mr. Bennet raised his glass to his son in law, who raised it silently in kind.

Desire Still Runs Hot

A Streetcar Named Desire has always been one of my favorite plays and Blanche Dubois is one of my all time favorite characters.

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of seeing the latest revival of the classic Tennessee Williams play staring Blair Underwood, Nicole Ari Parker, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Wood Harris.

Needless to say I was very happy when I walked out.

To the uninitiated, A Streetcar Named Desire is about a faded southern Belle, Blanche Dubois (Nicole Ari Parker) who comes to visit her sister, Stella (Daphne Rubin-Vega) in New Orleans. Blanche clashes with Stanley (Blair Underwood), Stella’s working class husband and is attracted to Mitch (Wood Harris), Stanley’s friend.

The play is hot and steamy and everything A Streetcar Named Desire should be. I had the pleasure of seeing the last revival several years ago with the late Natasha Richardson as Blanche and I look forward to the next revival.

The show is running on a limited engagement, I would highly reccomend seeing it.

http://streetcaronbroadway.com/

An Excellent Dream, Too Bad I Had To Wake Up

I happen to be fan of the Bard and I am especially happy when his works are recreated in a way that is both respectful of the original vision, but still fresh to an audience.

The Classic Stage Company in New York City is currently showing a production of A Midsummer Nights until May 20th.

Leading the cast is Bebe Neuwirth in the dual roles of Hyppolita/Titania and Christina Ricci as Hermia.

The magical mixup of lovers, in both the real and fairie world was thoroughly enjoyable.

See it if you can.

How Do I Love Newsies? Let Me Count The Ways

A week from this past sunday, I had the pleasure of seeing the stage musical of one of my all favorite childhood movies, the 1992 Disney movie Newises.

Newsies recounts the true story of the 1899 Newsboys strike against newspaper owners who raised the prices of the newspapers the Newsies had to sell to the public.

I memorized the movie soundtrack years ago. When I heard that it was being remade for the stage, I was a bit skeptical. Most recent Broadway productions where the original source material is a film have not lasted very long.

However, I witheld my skepticism because I do love Newsies. I was not able to make it to NJ for the off Broadway production, but when I heard it was coming to Broadway, it made me want to go see shows again.

Now to the reason for this post. The reason I love Newsies the Musical and everyone if they can see it, should.

1. Cute boys singing and dancing incredibly well.  

2. The story is completely relatable. If the Newsboys of the 1899 strike were around during the 99% movement back in the fall, they would have fit right in.

3. The new girl. The characters of Sarah and Denton from the movie were combined into Katherine Plumber, a Nelly Blye type character played by Kara Lindsay.  Kudos to the writing team and Ms. Lindsay for making an interesting, lively and believable romantic foil to Jack.

4. Any fan of the film can easily follow the story. Much of the dialogue and lyrics from the movie are intact.

5. I just loved it and I have not been a Broadway fan for quite a few years. And if the clip doesnt convince you, then you should just go see if for yourself.

6. On a personal note, Newsies reminds us all that we all have the power to change the world if we are only brave enough to step forward. I come from immigrants who worked in the sweatshops and factories for slave wages in the early part of the 20th century. On my mother’s side, I have great grandparents who were heavily invovled with the WTUL and the ILGWU, knowing that I am a descendant of them makes me a prouder fansie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5wvimJFi9s

She- An Anna Smith and John Bates Fanfiction

*-These characters are not mine, they belong to Julian Fellows.

 *-The main POV is from Mr. Molesley.

 *-Thank you to Sarah for beta reading.

 She

She is amiable, strong, loving, never without a kind word, even to those whom she dislikes.

 Anna Smith is the woman I want to marry.

 But she is with another.

 Her beautiful blue eyes sparkle at the mention of his name; their eyes never leave each other when they are in the same room.

 He walks with a cane; she deserves a man who is not beset by physical deficiencies.

 John Bates, valet to his lordship, sits down on the other side of Anna. He takes her hand in his under the table, they don’t speak to each other, but their eyes speak volumes.

 He is far too old for her, Anna deserves a younger man. He has a criminal record; Anna deserves a man who has not been to jail.  He has been married before; rumors are that his former wife is not a pleasant woman. I have no history to hold me back.

 They are to be married; I wonder if Anna’s parents know of the man they will soon refer to as their son in law.

 I was sent to the village by Mrs. Crawley, when I see Anna and Mr. Bates leaving the post office.

 Her arm is wrapped around his, they are both smiling.

 John Bates is a lucky man, I hope he appreciates her. If not, then I will be there and Anna Smith will love me as much as I love her.