Kerry's Struggle

Kerry sighed heavily. She had finally finished her first book, 'Struggles'. Robin came in, shuffling through some papers.

"Done?" He asked, not looking up.

Kerry grabbed her papers, and dragged Robin up 3 flights of stairs to the Administration Office. She knocked twice, then pushed her way in, still holding Robin's wrist.

"Name of book?" The receptionist asked, putting down her papers and staring at Kerry.

"Struggles, and Jam." Kerry said, reciting the title of her and Robin's book. They signed what seemed like one million papers and walked into the Publishing Room. A man was sitting at a printer, and he looked up scared when Kerry and Robin entered.

"Want to publish your books?" He asked rushing to Kerry and Robin and taking their papers. He examined them, then sighed.

"Sorry." He said, handing the papers back.

"What's wrong with them?" Kerry inquired angrily.

But the young man just walked away. Kerry looked at Robin, and walked sadly out, past the receptionist, down the flights of stairs, and left the publishing building.

Kerry sat slumped at her desk, her papers scattered in front of her.

"Robin, what did we do wrong?" Kerry asked.

Robin didn't answer.

"Did we miss a word?" Kerry vented.

No answer.

"Did we miss a chapter?" Kerry almost whispered.

Still nothing.

"Wait!" Robin exploded.

Robin jumped, jerking his chair into the back of Kerry's.

"What?" Kerry asked, highly annoyed.

"We had our other stories! The ones we wrote as kids in Writing Club!" Robin shouted, grabbing the correct story and whipping his coat and shoes on. Kerry did the same.

"How...could we be...so...stupid...?" Kerry panted as she ran out of their apartment, Robin on her tail. Inside the publishing building, Kerry and Robin signed the papers, and rushed through their story.

"Wait!" Kerry shouted, making Robin jump, "I'm missing a page!" She groaned angrily. This was their last chance before they were given an eviction notice.

"Please leave the building, then come back with a wig on." The receptionist whispered.

Kerry and Robin rushed out, Kerry found her page, and they both came back with wigs, Kerry with a blonde one, as her hair was red, and Robin with a black one, as his hair was brown.

"'ello." Robin said in a cockney accent, and Kerry had to turn a stifled giggle into a long cough.

They signed all the papers yet again, then ran into the Publishing Room.

"Hand me your books, please." Robin and Kerry handed their stories to the man without a word. He quickly skimmed them through, and put the paper into the copier. While it scanned, the man asked several questions, which Kerry answered in a high, squeaky voice, and Robin answered him in a low, cockney voice. The copier made a high BEEEEEEEP!, and the printer started up.

"So, where do you come from?" The man asked,putting his arms on his lap.

Kerry looked at Robin, and pulled her wig off. The man gasped, and made to pull out the stories from the printer, but he didn't.

"I come from Finland." Kerry admitted and Robin admitted he was from England. Then it was the young man's turn.

"Well, you see, wow this is hard, I'm...from..." BANG! The printer exploded. All three of them rushed over. Luckily, Robin's book had made it out alive, but Kerry's was not so lucky. As the flaming pieces fluttered down, Kerry broke down too. She fell to the ground, the shreds of the title in her hands, tears in her eyes, both from the dust and smoke, and tears of shame and disappointment. Robin pulled her up.

"Kerry, I'll help you rewrite it. What was the first chapter?" Robin reassured her, but more tears just streamed down her face.

"I reread it and reread it loads, but I never actually took it in." Kerry cried, "I don't know."

Robin and the man looked at each other, then deserted the room as a big fire was brewing. The receptionist looked, then activated the fire alarm. Controlling shouts echoed the halls and soon the building was deserted, the fire brigade squirting water, and Kerry crying her heart out.

"It's...all...my...fault..." Kerry sobbed.

"Let's go home, Kerry." Robin insisted gently, putting his arm around Kerry's shoulder.

ABOUT 3 MONTHS LATER

"Done?" Robin asked happily, poking his head into the office.

Kerry looked at Robin very seriously, and Robin feared something was going to go up in flames, and it wasn't the book. But then Kerry's face broke into a smile that stretched from ear to ear.

"Yep! And I somehow remembered it all!" Kerry grinned, picking up her pages, "C'mon, let's go publish our books!"

"Thank you," said Kerry, walking out of the Publishing Room.

"That went a bit better than last time, don't you think?" Robin joked.

Kerry laughed, and walked happily back into the house.

“Roww.” A small kitten mewed at the foot of the door. It had pale stripes of white on it’s back, but it’s overall body colour was ginger. Kerry bent down to pick it up.

“Look how cute!” Kerry crooned. Robin looked disgruntled.

“Yeah, I guess, just put it next door, they have cats.” He said, and walked inside. But that was the last thing Kerry was going to do. She put the kitten in her pocket, where it soon snuggled down and slept peacefully. “I’ll put it with the hamsters, then wash it in the tub.” Kerry thought happily. While Robin was making lunch, Kerry rushed upstairs, put the kitten in the hamster cage, where it mewed angrily, but went back to sleep, and then hurriedly threw a blanket over the cage.

“KERRY! LUNCH IS READY!” Robin shouted up the stairs to which Kerry replied, “COMING!” She ran downstairs, and collided with Maise, the cleaner of their apartment.

“Hello, Maisie, how are you?” Kerry asked, then went on her way. Soon after lunch, Kerry heard paper ripping, so she went upstairs to investigate. It was the kitten. It was bounding around the walls, a piece of yellow pepper in its mouth. All the work on the desk, the bed, all of it was ripped to shreds. Kerry grabbed the kitten and threw it out of the window, where it landed safely on the car.

“Always me.” Kerry chuckled, walking down the stairs happily.

"What happened?" Robin asked, a look of genuine concern on his face.

Kerry laughed, and sat down on her sofa, facing the TV.

"Let's just read our books." Kerry sighed, open 'Struggles, By Kerry Meyer.'