Dear Students of Creative Writing and Critical Analysis,

Yes. Here we are, again. Partners in the trek toward sinless perfection.

I’ll be trying, much harder, this season to: punctuate precisely; organize effectively; modify sentence structure to accommodate my penchant for natural rhythm; generally bow to your professor’s need to subjugate me.

Why?

Because I know who she is. She used to be my friend. I thought she was my friend, that is. But, we all know that friendship, true friendship, is actually a rare thing; most relationships, and other symbiotic convergences, are just a mild mockery thereof.

Yes; friends, when they really are, avoid competing with or against one another. Their needs are not transcended by “one-upmanship” (see what I did there, with the quotation marks?), their association never marred by gossip or slander; rather, true friends always have each other’s backs, and try to find ways in which each of them can truly support the other’s strengths as well as buoy their weaknesses.

But, this woman was a piece of work. Anything I did, she had to do better. Anything I created, she had to produce, as well. I was a performing musician; she married one. I played on a Steinway grand; she bought one. Any dinner out was reason to crow about her latest accomplishment. Anything I said ended up in her novel. Any venture I took was reason for her to get another degree.

So, have a good year picking apart my blog posts and using them for critical fodder. The rest of the readers, I’m hoping, will see beyond the flaws and connect with my heart and soul. I’m not sure if you have either of those, else you wouldn’t be in here with your red pencils poised – now, would you?

All the best, starlings. The world is a vast and unexplored adventure, wherein ready room lies, inviting us all.

Sincerely,

This Writer.

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© Ruth Ann Scanzillo

9/2/15

littlebarefeetblog.com