Wattpad brings you a guest post from Briony Heneberry, author of the non-teen paranormal “Reluctant Death”:
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Dinner parties are something grown-ups do to prove to their friends that they’re sophisticated and successful.
After I write that sentence I realise that I’m over thirty and really don’t have much to offer on the fine dining, conservative conversation, share ‘isn’t my baby the cutest?’ photo front.
Funnily enough, I’m good with that.
If I’m going to invite people to my abode (and if they’ve willingly accepted), then they know they’re unlikely to receive any of the above. Chicken nuggets are a food group; politics, religion and the right to life debate are all on the menu; and anyone with a baby knows better than to think that I’m going to ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ over images of oversized craniums and snot encrusted nostrils.
Nobody asks questions they’re not prepared to receive honest answers for. It’s not that I’m looking for a fight, though we’re going to have to work off all that ice cream somehow, I’m just of the opinion that conflict makes life interesting.
Nobody wants to read a book where everything proceeds exactly to design, where crises never happen and where the best laid plans are accomplished without a hitch. Happily ever after, every second of the day, would be nothing short of monotonous.
It’s for this reason that I’ve invited Tom Cruise to dinner. This largely revolves around his portrayal of Anne Rice’s vampire Lestat in ‘Interview with the Vampire’; back then, I’d have let him bite me any day of the week. The other reason is frankly Scientology; I have questions and even if he’s not inclined to provide answers, it will be entertaining to watch him attempt to dodge my inquiries.
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While he’s trying to distract me with a glob of mashed potato that vaguely resembles Michael Jackson, two of my others guests have come to blows. I have invited them in order to solve the age-old question of ‘who would win in a fight between Batman and Superman?’
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There isn’t a whole lot remaining of the left side of my house, and in five minutes time I’m sure to be reassuring police, the fire department and ambulance crews that the skirmish is all in good fun, but sacrifices must be made in the pursuit of knowledge.
I don’t know how Batman procured kryptonite, but I’m quietly cheering. I hadn’t considered ‘wedgies’ as a part of Batman’s combative repertoire, but I’m pretty sure that Superman is now considering the merits of wearing his underwear on the inside.
The commotion, however, is not quite enough to drown out the sound of screaming from the kitchen. I can’t repeat the colourful string of expletives that emerge from Gordon Ramsay’s mouth, but I can say that not even Batman wants to take responsibility for the curdled crème anglaise; it’s ok though, because I’m happier with banana splits anyway.
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Clearly confused as to why he even accepted an invitation to such a dysfunctional dinner party, successful film director Christopher Nolan arrives to hear Ramsay yelling about Om Nom stealing his muffin; he isn’t to know that Om Nom is my miniature schnauzer.
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I’m quick to make friends with him however, and offer him a seat that hasn’t been obliterated by laser eye-beams or explosive bat-charges, because sometime in the not too distant future someone is going to have to direct the film version of Reluctant Death.
Idly I mention the fact that in the days of ‘Top Gun’, Tom Cruise might have been a good choice to play Asher, but he is too busy jumping on my couch to notice.
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- Briony Heneberry
Read “Reluctant Death” on Wattpad!
Micaela Godfrey’s life is thrown into disarray after the death of her unborn child; she loses faith in her God and her marriage falls to apathy and emptiness.
What she finds, however, is that her world is not limited to the personal tragedy she has suffered, and that whispers of the past draw her to a future of endless possibility.
What was once a clear line between right and wrong begins to blur, and reality, she begins to see, may be shaped by thought if a will is strong enough. For her, darkness now moves in the form of corrupted magic, that would seek in her a secret she does not remember, and her fated calling will test even the most stalwart resolve of which she imagined herself capable.
Good guys and bad guys, light and dark, the mundane and the magical: traditional roles get tested in a world like our own, but where truly opening your eyes may mean you see something that you wish you hadn’t.
Reluctant Death is not a fluffy bunny story; there are no sparkly vampires or shirtless werewolves strutting around, and the affections of the heroine cannot be won until she is truly a whole person in her own right. What she needs is to find something that was torn from her, and to find it in herself; what she needs is to remember the power that has always been hers, and the responsibilities that come with it; what she needs is to find the courage to accept who she is, and will always be, and walk that fine line of right and wrong in the name of something far bigger than herself.