NANOWRI PREP

Assignment 23; setting -- Kitchen, Where It All Begins

Thursday, Oct. 29
Required: Setting Description ▼

Describe a setting in words. Use all five senses and make your reader experience the setting as if he or she were there. Add the setting to your setting database (if applicable.)

Bonus: Setting Drawing OR Same Scene/Different Viewpoints ▼

Drawing: Get out your pencil (or Excel or Visio or Autocad if you're the nerdy type) and draw a physical sketch of your setting. This can be a map of a town, woods or valley, a layout of a room with furniture and walls, a floor plan of the castle, or any other physical setting. It doesn't matter if your art skills are lacking. Just get a feel for where obstacles and objects are in relation to one another.
Same Scene/Different Viewpoints: Write a brief description of your setting from the viewpoints of two or more different characters.




The renovations were complete. Warren tried to like the work his interior designer Bonnie did. Most people would be incredibly impressed with what she did. And he only had to date her for six months while the work was going on. He knew she was creating this room for herself, but he liked most of it. The best part of the project was now, when everything was clean, where everything worked and the place smelled like paint, varnish and new appliances. He was thrilled to see that the one feature that he designed himself made it to the final product. He stood in front of his pentagon shaped kitchen island, pulling out drawers and letting them whisper shut. He would need to put knobs on these doors. Maybe it looked clean and sleek with the flat surface, but he grew up in a home where the corners of knobless doors all had discoloration from a thousand fingers and hands opening and closing them every day. He took care of his things and he wanted this kitchen to remain nice for a long time. That meant knobs.
He dragged his hands across the cool granite surface, admiring the light gray striated surface. Then slowly turned to face the one thing he did not like -- the fake oak veneer that was attached to the fridge. He would have preferred a metallic stainless model. This appliance was a testament to what he disliked most about Bonnie. She would not listen. He could hear her condescending tonations ringing in his ears, “Darling, I know my job, let me do it. You have your job, you do what you are best at.” Then she would drag her talons across his arm and expect him to perform on command.
Just out of curiosity, he opened the fridge to see if there was anything good in it. And to his chagrin, Bonnie had stocked it with her favorite foods and beverages. Warren tried a beer in high school and could not stand it. He felt no need to waste his money on this gross combination of food choices. When did she ever see him eat asparagus? Yet, there it was. And beer. He could not stand the taste of the grain based concoction, especially when it retained the metallic taste from the aluminum can. He would have to have a party or find a food shelf to donate this crap to. Dang, the hideous smell of asparagus was wafting through the air. He quickly shut the door, but the damage was done.
He shook his head and thanked God that she was now sniffing around his friend Craig Mason. Introducing those two to each other was a stroke of genius. Warren said a quick prayer, “You are both irritating, and you will be perfect irritating each other. Please God, let them stay together.
Warren slid down the line to the gas range, making sure that all the gas burners worked. He opened the oven door to listen for the telltale whoosh of the gas lighter connecting and starting the heat to generate in the oven. For some strange reason he liked the scent the gas burners left behind between the time the flints clicked and the flame ignited.
Warren found the wall switches and checked to see if the ceiling fan and the lights worked. He did not like that squared off shape of the light fixture over the kitchen island. And he for sure did not like the steel blades on the ceiling fan when everything else was granite and wood. He would have to get that light reconfigured to match the pentagon shape of the island, and he would have to change this refrigerator out for one that matched the ceiling fan.
Warren slid around the corner to stand in front of the sink and look through the cut out to see the living room and out the bay window on the other side of the room at the flowering tree in his yard. He checked to see that the faucets worked. Warren allowed a small smile to tug at the corner of his mouth as he played with the faucets to see how fast the water went from cold to hot and back to cold again.
Warren absently reached up with his left hand to open the microwave. They were not kidding when they called this a mini unit. It was incredibly small. Maybe it would be adequate to warm up a plate of day old food, but not much else. Bonnie really needed to practice listening if she wanted to get work from other ranchers in the area. She had good tastes, but she did not listen to his needs and wants – maybe that was because she wanted something more, or maybe she considered him a dumb jock who did not know what he liked.
Warren pulled out his phone and called Duke’s Contracting. “Yeah, Warren T. Miller. You just finished up out at my place. How much to fix a few mistakes?”
Warren listened to the contractor defend his work for a few minutes. “I know it’s not your fault and you just did what you were told. But I want a stainless fridge, I want the lighting fixture to be custom made to be a pentagon shape like I asked for and either trade out this dollhouse version of a microwave for a decent sized one, or shoot this one out of a cannon and leave the space open. Can you do all that? And how long will it take?”
Warren let out a heavy sigh when he heard the quotes for parts and time estimates. “Sounds good. I’ll be around for the fridge and microwave delivery and installation tomorrow. If you see anything in the fridge you like, you can take it. Get to work on the light. I can live with this one for a bit longer.”






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