Hello friends! I am going to start sharing my creative writing every week in the form of short stories, or the beginnings of stories that most likely won’t have any conclusions. These will actually be assignments that I have submitted for class and received feedback on. The version I share might be the original, or it might be revised based on the suggestions from my class mates. This is one of the main reasons I wanted to start this blog, to share my writing. Unfortunately, over the summer I didn’t write much but from now until December I will have little pieces of fiction to display out here on the world wide web. Kind of scary. Kind of exciting. Do I need to write a disclaimer for this? If I use your name or write about a situation that feels to you like something I borrowed from your life – I didn’t mean to! I swear. I will do my best at not putting any of your life drama into my stories, but we are all just human beings living basically the same lives so there might be some overlap. That’s just how it goes. I won’t go into specifics about each assignment because that’s boring. I simply want to share what I create every week and hopefully what I write is entertaining on it’s own without much background information. I don’t think any story will connect week to week, they will be fresh scenarios each time – but that is subject to change. Please enjoy my creative writing.

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Unexpected Arrangement

	Celia was praying that the man who just arrived on horseback was not another man her father expected her to marry. She had been outside hanging the laundry when she heard the familiar hoofbeats of a horse. She peeked around the wrinkled linens on the line to watch the stranger dismount. Celia crept back to hide herself in the billowing sheets, where she listened to the snorting of the horse, the squeaking and clanking of saddle and bridle. 
	“Mijo! You have arrived!” Celia’s father shouted, startling her since she hadn’t noticed that he walked out of the house to greet the stranger. He approached the man with wide-open arms and the toothiest grin of which the last time she had ever witnessed was when her sister gave birth to the first grandson. “Mija, come here! Be polite and greet our guest!”
	Celia hesitated, then stepped out from behind her cotton fortress, eyes glaring more from indignation than from the harsh sun. The men finished their embrace, dust filling the air from aggressive hands smacking on shoulders. The mysterious man stepped away from her father to face her. Locking eyes, he removed his sweat stained hat slowly, holding it to his chest and bowed. 
	“It is a pleasure to meet you, Celia.” The rhythm of his speech was different than theirs and he looked different than the people she was used to seeing. It made her curious, but not curious enough to step into this trap that she knew her father was setting. She glanced back at the house to catch the front window curtain swinging closed as if someone had been standing there watching. The two men stood patiently waiting for Celia to say something. Instead she swung her body around and stomped toward the house. 
	“Celia Maria de Jesus Castillo that is not how a lady behaves!” Barked her father.
	She could hear his short steps bounding for her through the gravel so she moved quicker, with her skirts swelling behind her she barreled through the front door into their home, and her breathless shouts found her mother. “Mama! What is going on? Are you so desperate to get rid of me you are selling me to this gringo?” 
	Before Celia’s mother could respond, her wide eyes jumped to her husband crashing in behind their daughter. The three family members stood there, breathless, faces projecting bewilderment, outrage and frustration.
	“Juanito, please, can you just explain everything to her already?” pleaded mother.
	Father began, “Mi hija, this man traveled so far to meet you. His family owns un rancho muy grande in California. If you could-“
	Celia interrupted “If I could what, Papa? Marry him? The last man you brought around expected me to go to church everyday and have ten of his children. What does this one want? Probably that plus be his slave in the kitchen!”
	“I don’t know where she gets these ideas from Juan. Her sister was happy to get married and start a family.” 
	“It’s those books she reads, that’s where these improper attitudes about marriage come from!” Grumbled Juan.
	None of them realized that the travel weary visitor had been standing in the open doorway so he knocked on the frame and they all jumped. Still holding his hat to his chest, he asked if he could come inside.

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Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Okayest Jen