Lonely in the Big City

Submitted into Contest #59 in response to: Write a story that feels lonely, despite being set in a packed city.... view prompt

16 comments

Drama

Atlanta, Georgia has been called the ‘capital city’ of the south, and rightfully so. With a mosaic of buildings – skyscrapers, high rises, and others – lining the downtown streets, Atlanta is a busy city. It is the location of several city, county, state, and federal government facilities, sporting arenas, corporate headquarters, conference centers, and an array of tourist attractions.


The downtown area – called the historic center – offers an urban atmosphere, well-known attractions and restaurants, and of course, the tourism department says, it offers, ‘undiscovered gems.’


There is always something going on in Atlanta, or the ATL as it is nicknamed. According to the last official count, there are about 499, 000 plus people who call the ATL home.


So, you’d think that in such a busy city you couldn’t be lonely, right?


Let me introduce you to Jennie Pennington, age 50. She is single, white, a little overweight, and a creative writing professor at Georgia State University in downtown Atlanta. Active in her church, a semi-professional photographer, and the youngest of her parents’ four children, Jennie has a busy life, and friends – most of whom are married or lead different lifestyles than she does. She was engaged once, but it didn’t work out, and now has a boyfriend – a man who is 10 years older. They both are incredibly busy and have their own ‘things’ so it is not like they are together 24-7, but they are together.


She is the one who plans get-togethers, calls people on the phone to check on them, sends encouraging texts, uses her social media as a platform for sharing positive stuff, visits the elderly from the neighborhood, goes to lunch daily with a colleague or a student or meets one of her cousins in town. Jennie is not wanting for company.


Yet, in the middle of the busiest city in Georgia, Jennie got hit with a bout of loneliness that started to carry her into a deep, dark pit.


Do you see her there at Starbucks’ kiosk? She is the one with the blue jeans, the baggy sweatshirt, and turtle neck – her hair is pulled back by a headband, and she has on dark-rimmed glasses and a navy backpack. Yeah, I know, she doesn’t look 50, but she is. Don’t let that smile and that Southern drawl “Hey, How are you?” fool you.


You might find her story relatable once you figure out what it is. Once, Jennie figures out what it is.


This is her world, and we are just guests in it … who am I? I guess you could say, I am her guardian angel …


So, sit back. Let’s pop in on her class. Imagine a typical college classroom with 50 seats, designed like an ‘atrium,’ with a teacher’s desk and podium at the front. There is Jennie, sitting on a stool behind the podium.


“OK, Ms. Pennington, how many words did you say?” A male voice called from the back of the classroom.


Jennie sighed, “Billy … Listen to me and not the baseball game.” She pointed to her ears. The student took out his headphones. “I need 1,000 words minimum, and 3,000 words maximum. Turn it in on Friday. You guys are dismissed.”


A few students popped up in front of the classroom to ask Jennie some questions. She listened as patiently as she could, and gave answers.


Jennie looked at the clock. She was ready to go. Once the last student left the room, that is when she noticed him – the man with a slight goatee, thick dark hair, a pair of blue jeans, and slip-on shoes with a black shirt under a brown leather jacket. He was sitting in the back of the room, watching her every move.


“William, how long have you been there?” She asked as she gathered up her belongings, zipped up her backpack, and slung it over her shoulder. Jennie walked up the steps toward where he was sitting.


He being Dr. Will Davis, her older brother’s best friend, and dean of Jennie’s department. Will and Jennie had started dating a couple of years ago, and despite the decade between their ages, it seemed to be a perfect match. Both of them enjoyed the same hobbies, except for cooking- that was all Will.


“Long enough to watch you take Billy to town for not paying attention … he does that in my class too. How has your day been so far?” He reached out and touched her hand as she stood right beside the chair.


She shrugged, “It was OK … ready to go home and get some comfy clothes on and curl up on the couch with some Chai and some Chinese though.”


Will eyed her, trying to figure out what to do about Jennie. She had not been herself in a while. Yeah, she put on a good poker face in public, but privately, it was like there was something off. But Jennie wouldn’t talk about it.


He cleared his throat, and asked, “Would you mind if I came and hung out tonight? I will bring the Chinese and even go get the Tom and Meg set to watch.” He stood up, towering over her by a few inches.


Jennie sighed, “You know, I don’t know how much fun I would be, or talkative either.” Will rolled his eyes. Jennie had been good at making excuses lately.


“Tom and Meg – you are going to pass up your favorite movies with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan?” Will feigned shock. He continued, “And to spend some quality time with me?”


Jennie smiled slightly. “Well, I guess you could come ...”


Will took her hand, and guided her to the door, “Girl, we have got to do something to get you out of your funk.”


“I am not in a funk … what are you talking about?” She stopped and looked at him. He had his hand on the door.


Will dropped her hand for a minute and took his hand away from the door. Putting his hands in his pockets, he faced her. “For a while now, there is like something going on with you. We’ve talked about this several times, but you say there is nothing wrong, what is it?”


Jennie bit her lip. That’s Jennie’s way of hiding her emotions … to keep from crying. I told you I am her guardian angel. “Nothing is wrong. Come on.” She walked through the door.


Will followed her. As they stood in silence, greeting students and other faculty who pass by with a nod or a Hello, Will watched his girlfriend. Her posture, her facial expressions, and her lack of energy all gave way to the signs of depression or sadness or loneliness.


Loneliness … He couldn’t believe that would be it. Living in the ATL, with all the stuff to do, all the people, doing everything Jennie does, and they were together a lot. She couldn’t be lonely.


Or could she be?


The elevator dinged, and the doors flew open. Once they stepped on and were headed to the lobby, Will leaned over, and said, “I love you.”


Jennie peered up at him and smiled. “I love you too.” She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.


They parted in the parking garage and went their separate ways with plans to meet in two hours.


Will stood and watched her as she got in her SUV. He knew her well enough to know her brain was full of thoughts, and he was pretty sure those thoughts were not good.


He walked to his car, dangling his keys in his hand, wondering how to help her.


Will is a pretty smart cookie, but I think I might have to detour him a little here so he can find his answer. Watch!


Will turned on the car and flipped over to his streaming podcasts. Jennie Allen, a Christian writer, was talking about her book, ‘Get Out of Your Head.’ The book is about getting control of your thoughts and getting rid of toxic thinking.


As he drove and listened, Will thought of his own Jennie. And that is when an idea struck him.


**** Two hours later, Jennie’s house in Buckhead. ****


When Will arrived, he let himself in the backdoor. Jennie’s Shih Tzu, Ramon, met him with barks and wags. “Hey, Ramon! What is shaking, little man?” He reached down and gave the dog a pet, which sent Ramon into a dance of excitement.


The television was on in the den, and Will could see Jennie, sitting there. She was quiet. “Jen.”


He heard a sniff. “Hey!” She turned around and waved.


“You want the food in there?” He asked as he moved to her bar.


Jennie got up, and he noticed she was in her flannel pajamas and house shoes. Her face was a little red – probably from crying.


“We can eat in here.” She said, scooting across the floor.


Will put the food out and set out the bottles of water. “Yours is right there.” He pointed.


“Thank you, baby. Ramon, are you hungry too?” Jennie smiled at her dog and walked to the pantry, where she found some dog food.


Will sighed. He turned around, “Jennie, we need to talk.”


“OK, shoot.” Jennie was pouring food in Ramon’s bowl. Will walked over and took the bag from her, put it up, and guided her to the bar stool. “Sit.”


Jennie sat down, and said, “This doesn’t sound good.”


Will looked at her and cleared his throat. “Jennie, tell me what’s going on? You have been mopey and out of sorts for a while.”


She said, “You will think I am crazy.”


“Talk to me.” Will wasn’t going to let her not tell him.


“I realized something the other day … no one, but you and my mom and dad, calls me regularly. I get no texts unless someone is responding to me. I never get encouraging texts or messages from people – I am not counting you, mom, and dad. My Facebook posts rarely get likes.” Jennie was serious. She had tears in her eyes. “I just figured I have messed something up … I don’t know. Maybe it is my insecurity or I don’t know.”


Will waited.


“We do what we do, you and I. We hang out. And I love it, and I love you,” Jennie put her hands on his arms. “I have tried to figure it out, but I just don’t know.”


Will asked “Are you depressed? I see it sometimes in your eyes … I hear it in your voice … there is like this tone … it is not a normal Jennie tone … almost like you are lost in space or something.”


Jennie shrugged.


He continued, “I can see the wheels turning in your brain. You have never been vain or liked credit for stuff, but you have always had confidence in yourself. Lately, though, it is like that spark that makes you you is gone, and you question your worthiness.”


“Do I do it where others can see?” Jennie asked, opening the lid on her bottled water.


Will shook his head. “No … But you forget, I mean, we are here, we are a couple.”


She sighed. “I am lonely.”


Will stepped back, he was not ready for that admission. “You are lonely in the city of Atlanta, Georgia? You are lonely and you teach more than 100 to 150 kids a semester. You are on a ton of committees here and at church. You are one of the youth and college leaders. You have got your parents, me, and your photography side gigs.”


She nodded. “It sounds crazy, right? But it is how I feel right now. I know it is wrong. I have all these crazy thinkings that run through my mind, especially when someone doesn’t call me or text me … I get paranoid. Then I get lonely.”


“You are not alone. There are a lot of folks, myself included, who’ve been where you are or are where you are. You know what it is?” Will asked.


Jennie sighed, “I miss Liv.” Tears started streaming down her face.


That sentence stopped Will cold. He hadn’t thought about that before. Jennie was grieving the loss of her older sister, Olivia, or Liv.


I told you there was more to the story.


“I didn’t realize how much I missed her until I moved back here … She has been gone for three years. I love you, Will, I do. But she was my best friend.” Jennie wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve.


Will stood up, and walked over to Jennie, and wrapped her In his arms. “Girl, I love you. Olivia loved you. She wouldn’t want you feeling all mopey, and what would she tell you if she knew you had all that stinking’ thinking going on? That toxic stuff in your brain?” Will broke away from the hug and touched her head with his finger.


Jennie looked up, and sniffed, “She would tell me that it is all in my head and that I need to get that junk out of my head.”


“Exactly, and the best way to do that?” Will asked.


“Pray about it,” Jennie said. “I have been praying about it. I am reading that book. I am doing Bible studies.”


Will walked over to the window, and then turned around, “Ah, but are you listening to God? Are you waiting on God to do His thing? Or are you trying to control your situation? Trying to fix it without Him telling you?”


I told you Will was pretty smart.


Jennie put her head down, “I am trying to fix it.” She whispered.


Will walked over the bag on the counter. He slid it over to her. “I heard a podcast about this when I was in my car today. It is not really about grief and all, but ...”


Jennie opened the bag and slid out a hardback of Jennie Allen’s ‘Get Out of Your Head’ book. She looked at the cover and turned it over.


Will sat next to her and started eating. “Apparently, there is a Bible study that goes with the book too.”


Jennie sighed, put the book down, and Will said, “I think I am going to contact the preacher and see if he can recommend a grief counselor too.”


She hadn't realized it, but the feelings she was having, and the funk she was in, was a product of grief she had over her sister's death that she hadn't really processed through. Until she was ready to admit out loud, she was not going to move forward ... Will figured that much out.


Jennie looked at him a little surprised, “You think I need one?”


“Yeah … I don’t like you feeling this way … lonely … down … When Liv died you had so many things we were dealing with, I think you just shut it all down and didn’t deal with it. I was not sure exactly what it was until today … But you are lonely because you miss your sister.” Will took his fork and took a bite of rice.


“I guess you are right,” she said, diving into her own food. Jennie wiped a tear away. Will leaned over and gave her a kiss on her cheek.


He said. "You won't be lonely in the Big ATL anymore now."


I like Will. He is a decent guy, and you can count on my word as a guardian angel, and as Jennie's sister. Yeah, didn't I tell you? I am Liv or Olivia.





September 16, 2020 02:53

You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.

16 comments

Greg Gillis
14:23 Sep 17, 2020

Wonderful story! Very relatable as well. I like the fact that the narrator, (guardian angel), was Olivia. I spotted a couple of minor typos... In the line, "She is the one who plans get-together", I believe you intended to add an "s" at the end. Also, in the line, "Turn it on Friday", I assume you meant turn it in on Friday?

Reply

Rebecca Lee
18:08 Sep 17, 2020

Phew. thank you so much. I really really like it when people can find errors and tell me about them. Most people just say nice story. Thank you for taking the time.

Reply

Greg Gillis
19:18 Sep 17, 2020

You are welcome. 😁

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Rebecca Lee
20:33 Sep 16, 2020

Hey friends. Some of you made some interesting points, and I did some editing and changing. Would appreciate your thoughts.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Sam Kirk
20:36 Sep 18, 2020

I see from the comments that the big reveal wasn't at the end from the start. I think the suggestions and changes were a good idea. I wasn't the biggest fan of the exposition. It made me feel as if I was reading a Wikipedia page instead of a story. The theme - loneliness was a great pick. I think that it's very easy to be lonely nowadays (some interactions are too superficial to make a difference), and it's easy to overlook the loneliness of others. The guardian angel interjections throughout the story were pretty cool.

Reply

Rebecca Lee
03:19 Sep 19, 2020

Hey, thanks for reading and for your great feedback. Yeah ... I didn't do well with the exposition, but it was going to take forever to really rewrite it. Thank you though for seeing it the way you saw it and being honest.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
KYRA ROBIN
16:59 Sep 16, 2020

Okay, I'm an atheist, so I can't really relate to the spiritual aspect of the story. But I can definitely relate to the loneliness, and a lot of people can as well. I love how the beginning started with the back story and the overview, it's a really nice way to introduce your characters. I also liked that her guardian angel was her sister. I do think it would have been interesting to hide the identity of the guardian angle a little longer and stress that Jennie is grieving, I think it would've added more suspense. There were a couple g...

Reply

Rebecca Lee
18:15 Sep 16, 2020

Thank you. I had not thought about aspect of the grieving. I am going to go back and play with it. Will look at the other corrections. Thank you for taking the time. Going to look back into it.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Rebecca Lee
20:33 Sep 16, 2020

Hey. I went back over it and made some changes. Hopefully didn't make it worse. But maybe you could glance back over it?

Reply

KYRA ROBIN
20:49 Sep 16, 2020

It's really good! I liked the relationship changes with Will. Only thing is maybe don't have parentheses around Olivia's parts, the italics make it clear enough. And maybe don't say Olivia's name until Jeanie mentions her. It leaves a physic distance between the reader and Olivia, then it'll really schock them when they find out that Olivia is the guardian angle. I'm happy to help and your story is amazing!

Reply

Rebecca Lee
23:46 Sep 16, 2020

Thank you. Another great idea!!! You are awesome.

Reply

KYRA ROBIN
23:51 Sep 16, 2020

Hey, I'm here to give feedback, lol. I mean, don't think I'm just criticizing it, it's an amazing story and a fantabulous plot. But I know people like it better when feedback is specific, and they can grow off of it. Not just "Wow this was really good, there's a couple mistakes but good job!" because that's super vague. At least, I don't like it when people do that.

Reply

Rebecca Lee
00:03 Sep 17, 2020

Yeah, I am with you. I want the details.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Show 2 replies
Maggie Deese
22:17 Sep 23, 2020

This was fantastic, Becky! I enjoyed seeing Jennie overcome her loneliness and talking through it with Will. The narration was done very well and gave me Hallmark movie feels for some reason. One suggestion I would make is to always show rather than tell. There are times when you tell the reader exactly how Jennie is feeling rather than showing the reader what body language she uses to convey that feeling. This will give your stories a much more intriguing feel and keep the reader more interested. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this! ...

Reply

Rebecca Lee
23:33 Sep 23, 2020

Thank you, Maggie. I really appreciate your time and creative suggestion - will put that into play in future stories.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Keri Dyck
01:48 Sep 30, 2020

Good job with this one! I really liked it.

Reply

Show 0 replies
RBE | We made a writing app for you (photo) | 2023-02

We made a writing app for you

Yes, you! Write. Format. Export for ebook and print. 100% free, always.