A Girl Called Ezra

Hello.
This is a new little project I'm experimenting with. In my short stories class we've been learning about bringing our characters alive, and I want to work on that. My teacher said writing is similar to basketball (when it comes to writing, it's usually easier for me, unless it's an essay -_-) in the idea that to become a better writer you must practice and practice and practice and practice -

Catch my drift?

So, to shut me up, this is a new small writing series I will post periodically. It's about a girl. Named Ezra. Please, notice the title, because it is extremely creative. Probably THE most creative title I've ever come up with.

I'll stop trying to be funny and get to the point, okay? Okay.


A Girl Called Ezra - I

 Her legs stuck to the vinyl seat of the new van. It was impossible to get comfortable in the car - which probably was actually very comfortable in reality - but after nine and a half hours, she hated the car with a burning passion.
 "How's it going back there?" Her mother's voice could barely be distinguished over the sound of the car's engine. Ezra saw her mother's pure blue eyes watching her in the mirror and she smiled tightly. Satisfied, her mother went back to the road, her fingers tightening around the wheel.

Ezra shoved her thin hair behind her ear, fingering her small earring as she looked out the window. The drive from her old town was only supposed to take seven hours, but her very pregnant mother and 7 year old brother had to pee, like, every five seconds. She glanced behind her, looking at her brother, Elijah.

His face was buried in his comic book, the top of his tousled brown hair peeking out. His foot bounced rhythmically against her seat, but she didn't mind. As if he knew she was watching him, his dark blue eyes slid to hers, seeming to glow in the van's poor light. He looked just like her, she realized with a start. The dark blue eyes, brown hair, and the freckles that were sprinkled over his face. Except for the teeth - his lips parted to reveal a gap where his two front teeth should have been. He went back to his book, mouthing the words as he went.

She unstuck her legs and looked back out the window. It was raining - she loved the rain, but it seemed almost ominous as they neared the end of their drive. New school, new life. A chance to start over, her mother had said.

But, she thought, I don't want to start over. Not when I'm so close . . .

Ezra looked out over the city - it was a perfect picture of life. The buildings stood straight, seeming to disappear into the low, grey clouds. Some were new - their glass windows shining like new diamonds, while other were crumpling. The dark red bricks were slowly giving up. Beyond the city were the mountains, sticking up resolutely like one of her brother's drawing. The houses - where one would be hers - all looked alike. It would be easy to get lost in the city, in the crowds of people.

Ezra's finger went again to her earring as she closed her eyes. The familiar words of a song she had been taught flooded back to her . . .

Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same.

The voice was so familiar it seemed to make her heart break. Her dark blue eyes snapped open, and with a forceful shake of her head, she left the words behind her as her family approached their new life.

-FIN-

Eh? Hah? Hm.
I don't really like it.
I need to work on characters though, so Ezra will be back as Arnold S. would say.

This is what I had in mind for the city:

Song lyrics are from:

http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/MALVINA/mr094.htm

(Song written and performed by Malvina Reynolds)