Story Review: Expectations and Other Moving Pieces by chrometurtle
Summary: Everything I had done in my life seemed to lead up to this moment. The moment when I found myself bound inextricably to a man I didn't love, trapped in a life I didn't want. And if I left him, I would be entirely alone.
"What the hell is going on, Edward?"
There was a slight pause and a shuddered intake of breath. "I don't know."
He was crying.
Alice's voice was slightly harder when she replied, "Not good enough."
There was a long silence that followed. I could feel the tension in the air as Alice demanded the same
answers out of Edward that she wouldn't force out of me.
At last, I heard Edward's voice again. "We're not who you think we are."
Alice laughed sarcastically, quietly. "So I gathered."
Edward's whisper continued as if he hadn't heard her. "We're just…" He paused, sounding as though
he was at a loss.
"Broken?" Alice supplied, using my words.
"Yes," Edward breathed.
"That's what Bella kept saying when she got here," Alice told him. "Shivering cold, wet, feet
bleeding, a few minutes away from hypothermia and she was defending you."
Edward didn't respond.
I wanted to look at his face, but I knew it was too dark. And I was afraid to move, afraid to let them
know I was awake.
I wasn't positive that I was.
"Edward," Alice whispered firmly when she realized he wasn't going to answer her. "What happened
between you two?"
I could see him smiling above me, one of his hands reaching up to run his fingers through my hair. I
shuddered in pleasure.
"I'm disgusting."
...
Chrometurtle wastes no time jumping right into the angst with this story. In the first chapter we get a glimpse at the relationship - or lack of - between Edward and Bella, a married couple residing in New York City. Edward is controlling and demanding, and though Bella tries her best to be defiant, she just can't find it in herself to do so, at least not when the story starts off.
After hauling them both across the country to Colorado for his father's funeral, Edward takes a job at the local hospital and makes the executive decision to relocate he and Bella to the barren town he grew up in.On the outside, this couple has worked hard to erect the facade of a happy marriage. Behind closed doors things are different: Bella is left to sleep in a cold room with no heat, Edward fails to communicate with anyone outside of his family, and as the days go by, each of them seem to fall further and further into his and her own form of depression.
Enter Alice and Jasper, the couple's neighbors. Alice has a love for horses and Jasper owns his own construction company. Bella winds up on their doorstep one night after an unpleasant verbal altercation with Edward, and a friendship starts to blossom. As Alice and Bella grow closer, Bella's relationship with her husband starts to morph as well, and at times one can almost see small glints of sunshine poking between the relentless clouds of angst that overshadow this piece.
In addition to watching the present-day story unfold, Chrometurtle weaves Bella and Edward's back story into the story as well. Without giving away any more spoilers than I have already, Bella wasn't always with Edward, and the way she came to be with him isn't anything like the fairy tale we've all become accustomed to.
Angst happens to be my favorite genre of fic to read, so you can imagine how eager I was to take this piece on after seeing others comment on how it was too painful for them to continue. This story is painful, I'm not going to lie, but not in a gut wrenching, heart squeezing kind of way. It's more of a dull, pressing ache, a sadness and a pity for these people who are clearly hurting, clearly lacking love, and who just can't seem to find the pieces to put together to get things right. I'm not saying this is an easy read by any means, because it isn't. There were many times when I wanted to punch my laptop and walk away because I was so frustrated with the way things were going (especially with Edward). Chrometurtle has a way of keeping her readers hooked, however. Perhaps it's with her beautiful words or descriptive writing style. Either way, I couldn't not forge ahead, and now I find myself eagerly awaiting the next update (which I hope will come soon).
Chrometurtle does an incredible job of painting a picture with her words. This story is a work in progress, and throughout the posted chapters I felt like I was watching a movie while reading. Her characters develop at the perfect pace, and each one of them is humanistic and relatable in their own way. The struggles they face, in their individual lives as well as in the various relationships, are struggles that you or I or anyone could easily face, and this helps to build a piece of fiction that is amazingly creative yet grounded firmly in reality.
Check out Expectations and Other Moving Pieces here.
Fandom Event: Fandom Fights Hurricane Sandy Compilation
As many of you recall, a large portion of the East Coast of the USA was rocked when Hurricane Sandy roared through merely a month ago. Over 100 lives were lost, and thousands more people lost their homes and were without power after the devastating storm rolled through.
In typical fandom fashion, a fan fiction compilation was organized within days of the storm's wrath. The Fandom Fights Hurricane Sandy compilation will feature pieces of writing from over 50 authors (tentatively) writing for various fandoms. To get the compilation, you have to make a minimum donation of $10 to the Red Cross. Once this is done, email your receipt to fandomfightssandy@gmail.com and you will receive a copy of the compilation. You have until January 15, 2013 to donate and get your receipt in. Stories will be posted publicly on January 16, 2013.
Visit the site for the compilation to get more information!
