Stepping into another life

Confession: I'm posting this at nearly 1am, so technically speaking, I didn't post at all on August 16th. But I'm going to allow myself the leeway, because the alternative is not posting at all, and that hardly feels constructive.

Reading:

• "My Brother Eli" by Joseph Epstein
  
• The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton
  

Writing:

• "Ferian Fetlock Catches a Cold"

Revising:

• "The Revenant"

Future Projects:

• Dairhenien's Library - Development
  
• Floorcraft - First rewrite of 1-5, first draft of 6-8
• Ferian Fetlock - "Ferian Fetlock Takes a Wife."
  
• "Motley" - Expansion
• "Fireworks and Earthworks" - 5% into first draft
  
• Untitled School Mistress Story

Unpublished Stories/Status (in chronological order of completion of first draft)

• "Pictures of the Old Port" - 5th Draft, Unsubmitted
• "What Price Stamps" - 3rd Draft, Submitted to The American Drivel Review, July 30th, 2008
  
• "The Frost Fugling" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
• "Black Pudding" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
• "Cora and the Sea" - 3rd Draft, Unsubmitted
• "Motley" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
• "Leaves and Sunsets" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
• "A Happy Ending" - 1st Draft, Unsubmitted
• "The Revenant" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
  
• "Illuminated" - 3rd Draft, Unsubmitted
  
• "A Cup of Coffee" / "Morning Tea" - 2nd Draft, Submitted to Tea: A Magazine, July 29th, 2008
• "Ferian Fetlock Cures a Horse" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
• "Hattie Donnelly's Favorite Doll" - 2nd Draft, Submitted to 24 Hour Short Story Contest, July 27th, 2008

Picture the scene: Coming out of the airport at 11:30pm, weighed down by three bags, none of which roll. I had just called the car service, which has told me that car 696 will be picking me up, a black Lincoln Continental with Silver Star Limo service.

I hear a shout from across the way and see just such a car, with a person in front of it waving me down. Gratefully, I dart across the street and stand behind the trunk, waiting for him to pop it open. To my surprise he doesn't, scrutinizing me closely instead.

"Are you MacKenzie?" he asks. I advise him that I am not, and discover that my own ride is two cars down.

You might not think much of this scene, but in my travel-addled brain, it started me thinking. What if you stepped into that other car, and somehow stepped into MacKenzie's life as well? Did he have a nice house, a lovely wife, kids? What does he do? Is he happy? Who is MacKenzie, and why was he coming back from the airport tonight?

There are no original ideas, and shows like Quantum Leap have done the other life what if scenario quite effectively. But something about the name, MacKenzie, and the idea of a mixup at the airport as the setting, made the idea jump out vividly to me. This is an idea, not a story, so don't be expecting to read it any time soon. But if you do eventually read about MacKenzie, you'll know that our lives touched, briefly, during the waning hours of August 15th, 2008.

Publication Status:

• Submitted: 5
  
• Accepted: 1
• Rejected: 1
• Pending: 3