Hello hello, and welcome to this week’s six-sentence story, based on the word of the week SCREEN. I revisited a character from the week WRAP, who was making their debut film. Follow our narrator 32 years later as she looks back on her life of fame, and asks the hard questions.
It had been 33 years since she looked up at the silver screen, and cringed as she watched herself in the movie that had launched her career.
Things were much different now, she had the money, the fame, the career, and it was both everything she ever wanted, and nothing at all.
She had heard the line “if you aren’t enough before the gold medal, you won’t be enough with it,” but she hadn’t heeded the warning, and now she sat starting down 60 with a list of accolades as long as she arm, feeling empty.
It wasn’t, as some of the traditionalists would say, a lack of family, because even alone as she was, there was no part of her that regretted the choice not to marry, to have children, and if she had any regrets it was letting go of friends to pursue this dream.
It was only when she had the money to retire that she asked herself what she was doing, why she had done this, and it seemed that there wasn’t really an answer to that question, at least not for her.
She felt like she was 20 years late to her midlife crisis, too late to make changes, so she pressed send on the email to her agent, agreeing to the audition for the kooky grandma, not because she wanted it, but because she didn’t know what she wanted, and why not keep on going with what she had.
Anne McSommers' Writing Nook 
Nice description of her career: “it was both everything she ever wanted, and nothing at all”
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That’s a very difficult place to be “She felt like she was 20 years late to her midlife crisis, too late to make changes..”
Having the resources to live comfortably, still working at her profession – perhaps there’s hope for her yet and maybe, reconnect with old friends.
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It’s never too late to make changes. Maybe she’ll figure that out.
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“…not because she wanted it, but because she didn’t know what she wanted, and why not keep on going with what she had.” – That’s an inciteful line, and relatable for many.
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insightful observation in the Comments above… (always the product of a Six that provides the Reader with a fresh perspective on the human condition.)
I tend to come down on the seemingly* less optimistic view, maintained in nothing less an enduring source than the Old Testament, As it was in the beginning, so shall it be at the End
(not being a student of this perennial bestseller, I suspect this particular citation has applications other than the challenge of self-improving oneself.)
*That said, personally I’m with Mimi on how, despite feeling totally locked-in with our personal histories, there is always a way.
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