Excerpts of Published Fiction
The following are excerpts of my creative fiction, which I have written as part of my major and have been published in the 47th edition of Windhover, NCSU's literary magazine. The excerpt below is the beginning of a realistic short story that I wrote for my Advanced Fiction Writing class.
“Pirate Talk”
by Courtney Nicholson
“To be,” Uncle Leonard begins, his voice booming over our heads and through the rest of our yard. He’s standing on the family picnic table, his bare feet planted apart, one by the potato salad, the other beside the quiche Mom bought the day before the Reunion. Uncle Leonard sucks in a deep breath and places a hand over his heart. He’s staring off behind me, at my house. For a moment, I want to turn around and see what he sees, but I know that if I look, I’ll only see the baby clothes stashed under my mattress. Uncle Leonard’s eyes grow large and sad, like he’s lost behind them. “Or…not to be,” he exhales.
Dad once told me that Uncle Leonard used to act. I don’t remember very well, but I think Uncle Leonard used to act in some theatre down in Charlotte when he wasn’t teaching Shakespeare courses at the university there. All that was years ago, before my uncle “cracked.” Now Uncle Leonard does as he pleases, which today, includes dressing like a shipwrecked captain for International Talk Like a Pirate Day and spontaneously reciting Shakespeare on the dinner table....
by Courtney Nicholson
“To be,” Uncle Leonard begins, his voice booming over our heads and through the rest of our yard. He’s standing on the family picnic table, his bare feet planted apart, one by the potato salad, the other beside the quiche Mom bought the day before the Reunion. Uncle Leonard sucks in a deep breath and places a hand over his heart. He’s staring off behind me, at my house. For a moment, I want to turn around and see what he sees, but I know that if I look, I’ll only see the baby clothes stashed under my mattress. Uncle Leonard’s eyes grow large and sad, like he’s lost behind them. “Or…not to be,” he exhales.
Dad once told me that Uncle Leonard used to act. I don’t remember very well, but I think Uncle Leonard used to act in some theatre down in Charlotte when he wasn’t teaching Shakespeare courses at the university there. All that was years ago, before my uncle “cracked.” Now Uncle Leonard does as he pleases, which today, includes dressing like a shipwrecked captain for International Talk Like a Pirate Day and spontaneously reciting Shakespeare on the dinner table....
This is an excerpt from a short story that I wrote for my Intermediate Fiction Writing class.
“The Heart Repair Shop”
by Courtney Nicholson
In between this universe and the next, there’s a repair shop—my repair shop—that fixes broken hearts. It’s not easy to find—a hole-in-the-wall type of place with an oak door for an entrance. The In Between’s full of places like ours. Whole streets lined with endless shops for endless needs. There aren’t any windows, just doors with decorative signs advertising the products and services inside. Ours simply reads “Heart Repair Shop—We Take All Kinds” in raspberry-red paint. Somehow, this is enough to stop people. Whether they barge right in or linger outside, I can hear them before they come in....
by Courtney Nicholson
In between this universe and the next, there’s a repair shop—my repair shop—that fixes broken hearts. It’s not easy to find—a hole-in-the-wall type of place with an oak door for an entrance. The In Between’s full of places like ours. Whole streets lined with endless shops for endless needs. There aren’t any windows, just doors with decorative signs advertising the products and services inside. Ours simply reads “Heart Repair Shop—We Take All Kinds” in raspberry-red paint. Somehow, this is enough to stop people. Whether they barge right in or linger outside, I can hear them before they come in....