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Douggie
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« on: August 26, 2009, 10:02:35 PM » |
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For the 45th we've come up with a rather novel idea, if you'll pardon the pun, of writing our own Novel. Mike has found a company that will print it for us one an order basis - so will only print the number of copies that are ordered.
So we've decided to let you all contrivute towards the novel! It's an experiment to see if we can pull it off really! If not Mike and I will do our best to complete it ourselves.
Crossroads Novel Idea: Fond Memories
The present day, or enough another, and friends and family of Meg Mortimer gather at the Crossroads Hotel, King’s Oak, to pay their last respects to the famous matriarch of the Motel – Meg Mortimer. Meg passed away recently with her family surrounding her.
At the funeral are Jill Maddingham and her husband, John, his children along with both of Jill’s, Sarah-Jane and Matthew. Shughie, Barbara, Adam, Doris Luke, Benny, Nicola Freeman, Jane and Glenda are also present as is Diane’s son, Nicky.
After the funeral they return to the Hotel for the wake where they remember the fond times they spent with Meg and other departed friends such as Tish, Kath et al. Their memories are told via flashbacks.
Other storylines:
Adam’s presence at the funeral causes friction for Jill and John as Jill hasn’t seen Adam since that fatal day in 1988. John worries that seeing Adam again will ignite Jill’s feelings for the rogue will Jill can’t help but flirt with her former husband.
A surprise visitor at the wake is Rosemary Hunter who comes to pay her respects, despite her differences with Meg, and also to track down Barbara. Rosemary is hurt that Barbara didn’t inform her of David’s death and confronts her other it. Although Rosemary is no longer as unstable as she once was Barbara is still unnerved by her presence.
Continuity Issues:
Jill and John did indeed set up a Hotel in the West Country while The Stag Inn was run by John’s children. In the 1990’s the King’s Oak Country Hotel was put up for sale by its new owners and Jill decided to buy her old home. Although Jill and John kept their other Hotel they spent more time at Crossroads, they renamed it, because of Jill’s family history.
After leaving Crossroads Meg lived in Venice for some years before moving to America and spending time with Anthony Mortimer and her grandson, Matthew. After hearing of Diane’s death in the late 80’s Meg visited Diane’s son, Nicky, to tell him about his mother’s death. Meg stayed with Nicky for some time in America but a bus accident put them both in hospital. In the confusion after the crash Meg was mixed up with someone else and Jill was misinformed that Meg had passed away – she was in fact in a coma. When Nicky was recovered he informed Jill of Meg’s survival and Jill flew out to America to help her mother recover. Jill and Meg offered Nicky a new life in Britain and he returned to the country.
David Hunter died a few years previously; Jill and John along with Carol Sands, Valerie Pollard and Miranda Pollard attended the funeral in Bermuda. Meg would have attended David’s funeral but was too ill. Also in attendance was Chris Hunter who had spent the last months of David’s life in Bermuda helping Barbara run their Hotel there. Chris is running the Bermuda Hotel while Barbara is at Meg’s funeral – he didn’t feel it was right to attend Meg’s funeral given the history between the two.
Rules:
As Meg is dead she can only appear in the flashback segments. The flashbacks themselves must not be merely novelised television scenes – they must be completely new material so we do not have to deal with copyright issues. So in effect the flashbacks are to unseen effects involving Meg’s and others.
In the flashbacks please respect established continuity – if you wish to feature post-Meg characters please feel free to do so but bar Nicola Freeman none of the others would have known her, so any flashback should feature them discussing her with another character really.
Chapter One, A Country Motel
Stood behind the reception desk of the Crossroads Motel was Meg Mortimer, it’s owner. Meg has built up the Motel from humble beginnings as a Guest House to the thriving Motel it was now. There might be snobbery about Motels from some but with Crossroads there was nothing to turn ones nose at. The Motel offered much more than the average Hotel did with Service Station, Garage, Café and Restaurant not to mention a Salon, Bar and Swimming Pool. What other Hotel could offer that? Not even the Motel’s old rival, Fairlawns, which was in the village of King’s Oak itself. Fairlawns might consider itself more upmarket than Crossroads but in reality it was just a run down Hotel harking back to its former glory days before Crossroads opened. The Motel’s success was down to Meg, well and others too, but it was Meg’s business sense and hard work which proved vital in those early years. If it hadn’t been for her determined, hard-working nature the Motel probably would have flopped within months. Meg was standing behind the reception desk while Helen Booth answered the phone, flicking various switches on the switchboard, and her daughter Jill stood on the otherside of the Motel bar drinking a gin and tonic.
“Are you sure we can’t tempt you?” Jill asked in between sipping her drink.
“No darling, there’s no one to cover the bar tonight and I couldn’t put upon Diane anymore”
“Oh well we’ll have to do it next week sometime”
“Yes” Meg smiled. “And for a change you and Stan can come here. Even Wilf if he feels he can bear to be in the same room as me for a few hours” Meg joked and Jill laughed. Jill finished her drink and put the glass down.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then” Jill said.
“Good night darling”
Jill said her goodbyes and walked out of the Motel bar. One of the Motel guests walked up to the reception desk and Meg turned from watching Jill leave to dealing with the guest.
Thirty years later Jill Maddingham, Meg’s daughter, stood in her bedroom looking into the mirror. Jill was dressed in black and preparing for a funeral; gathering strength for Meg’s funeral. As she stood staring into the mirror memories of her mother, from across the years, came flooding back to her and Jill couldn’t help but burst into tears again. It was the third time in the hour that Jill had burst into tears and her husband John was on hand once more to comfort her.
“Oh John” Jill sobbed. “I can’t believe she’s gone….I just can’t do it. I can’t do it today. It’ll mean admitting I’ll never see her again”
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