#katie odonnell | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

katieodo · 19 days

Text

Your Charming Alcoholic

When he died we weren't feeling the same thing. They were mourning the kindest friend, the most generous man they ever knew, their most charming alcoholic. I was mourning the monster, the harshest critic - the cruel father. No more painful visits. No more screaming. No more hot and cold.

"Hello, Gracie." …What? What's wrong with me? This sounds more real than in my memories. "You should've said goodbye… but you never were one to face difficulty. Always ignoring my messages." "You're not real. You're not here. This isn't actually happening, I'm just going cra--" "Of course you'd say that. Trust you to ignore the facts. Look at me." "I can't, I--" "LOOK AT ME." I look up swift and wide into those grey eyes and he stands there, a silhouette in the rickety arched window, framed by the rancid green of the evening sky. He's wearing that irritated face he always pulled when I said something stupid or spoke for too long. Are you trying to annoy me? He'd say through his perfect gritted teeth. I grab my hand to stop the shiver, close my eyes, and turn around. "Goodbye, Dad." I speak in a crumpled whisper. I stumble through the rotting wooden maze of corridors, and down the broken stairs to my bedroom. He never came in here when he was alive, hopefully that means he can't dead either.

I have a date over. We're in my rickety room on the bed, watching Everything, Everywhere on my dad's old laptop. It's been buffering every few minutes as the storm periodically dumps its weight on the roof. The video cuts again and I get up to go to the toilet. I stop to unplug my phone from the wall and my date creeps up behind me, grabs my hips. "Haha babe, I need to piss let me go." "Sorry, you're just so… naked right now…" He moves his hands further. "You like that?" "Mmm yes…" "Yes, what?" Silence, and then anger. He says it again. "Yes, what?" "Yes… d-daddy-" "Good girl." Ew. I don’t like this but it's what he wants. If Dad appeared now I don't think I could cope with the shame. Couldn’t look him in the eye. His face flashes before me. "Disgusting," it whispers as if at my ear. It's okay, just pretend you're not here, I tell myself. And I do. I focus on the tilted picket fence outside or the peeling corners of the wallpaper until he thanks me for a good time, and stomps down the stairs. I hear the door slam and I lie on my bed staring into the dark. I don't remember falling asleep. I'm eating some beautiful food my best friend has made for us all: gnocci with garlic and spinach. We're gathered around the kitchen table, a thick old oak rectangle with rusted metal legs, and Medusa's making jokes. I'm sitting opposite her. "How come you didn't make it to mine last night, Gracie? You okay?" "Oh I, um, I had a lecture." She smiles proudly, "Oh you finally went in??" "…well, no." Dad steps out from behind her, scares me. He speaks in his usual agitated tone. "She knows you're lying. They all do. They're finally starting to see how inconsiderate you are. You were never planning on showing up for your friends." I did want to go, I was going to go to the lecture but then I just couldn't get out of bed-- "You were laying on your own doing nothing, you lazy imbecile. You're just like you used to be, remember? You'd deliberately sleep through your alarms and blow off school just to force me to speak to those idiots on the phone. Punishing me for all I gave to you. They called me every day and every day you refused to change your behaviour." That wasn't in my control. You don't know anything about me, you're dead. I was burnt out, I couldn't help it. I couldn't help it. I couldn't help it. I couldn't help it. I COULDN'T HELP IT. I'm snapped out of my panic as I refocus my eyes on Medusa. She's staring at me. Dad is gone. "What? Gracie, are you okay? What couldn't you help? What's going on… Have you taken something?" I can feel the hot streams on my cheeks. I start shaking my head, "no, no, no, no, no, no, no…"

Medusa takes me up to bed with a cup of peppermint tea, puts on my favourite podcast and sits down next to me. Dad is standing in the corner across the room looking at me with a face I haven't seen before. Absolute contempt. I try not to look at him. "You know, as long as I'm around, there'll always be someone who's proud of you." The tears come back, but this time I'm not panicked, I'm happy. And as I look up, finally, my phantom disappears.

#short story #short fiction #fiction #writing #katie odonnell #katieodo

0 notes

mia-odonnell · 5 months

Text

Me and my cousin @x-krista-feet-x went away to Lanzarote back in September on our own for the very first time without my mam @annmarie-odonnell and Krista's big sister @katie-boo-mcmahon, we got cooked well under the sun like two little roast chickens, lol, the weather was so nice⛱️☀️

177 notes · View notes

brightlightsbcads · 5 years

Photo

“One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years.”

— Tom Wolfe

Founded in 1624, New York City has become a point of pride for America as the home to the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Broadway, and more. People come from all over the globe for its people and its attractions. But for most, it’s a place for dreams; for new beginnings; for endless possibilities; for the start of a new life. New York City holds a different and indistinct meaning for everybody. What will it mean to you?

Bright Lights Big City is an appless, OC roleplay set in the five boroughs of New York City. Our doors opened in July of 2016 and have become the home of dozens of members and nearly 100 characters. We’re looking for active, dedicated writers to join our group and find their home with us in the city the never sleeps.

Home / Apply / Rules / Residents / Wanted Connections / Full Navigation

#tyler posey #crystal reed #colton haynes #willa holland #holland roden #katie cassidy #colin odonnell

1 note · View note

chakytron · 3 years

Text

Rep. Katie Porter On Hiding With AOC During Capitol Riot | The Last Word | MSNBC

Rep. Katie Porter On Hiding With AOC During Capitol Riot | The Last Word | MSNBC Category Main Description: Rep. Katie Porter joins Lawrence O’Donnell to discuss what it was like to shelter Rep. Ocasio-Cortez in her office during the Capitol riot. She most remembers … TopTrengingTV Hunting the most trend video of the moment, every hour every day 24/7. Youtube Video Data Published At:…

View On WordPress

0 notes

gaylabaer · 7 years

Photo

SNL Writer Shows Liberal Tolerance by Attacking Barron Trump As Donald Trump was being sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, a Saturday Night Live “Weekend Update” writer, …

#Barron Trump #Donald Trump #Inauguration #Julie Bowen #Katie Rich #Melania Trump #Rosie ODonnell #Saturday Night Live #SNL #twitter

0 notes

katieodo · 19 days

Text

My Periodical Outburst

I’m at the pharmacy, buying tampons

I’m walking down the aisle

There are pregnancy tests right next to the pads I need to file

I smile at them.

“You’re the whole reason I’m in this mess.”

Literally. I’ve stained every dress I’ve ever owned

And every mattress in every home I’ve ever had

And it’s painful and I feel this pressure crushing vaguely at all of my organs,

You know, the ones I need to breath and move and work and go to school

God, I’ve missed so many weeks of my life for this

Weeks I should be preparing to look fondly back on

Once I’ve had the child this is all for, my peak years.

It’s like a test from God

What is it with him and tests? They’re everywhere…

Do I want a kid? Is this just a phase? In any case,

I’ll be well prepared for searing pain and lying sleepless in my bed

Shit. I’m making a strange face at the shelves

And the guy stood by the Durex has seen me stressed

And it’s something he just doesn’t get

He thinks I’m pregnant. Bet.

I’m right. He tuts as he turns the corner:

“Shoulda used one-a these,” he quips to himself

Not quiet enough to spare me with a whisper

“Dickhead.”

Not quiet enough to spare him either.

I look back at the price tag.

What- the fuck??

It’s gone up since I looked at that condom guy

£4.20

Maybe I should buy the tests now too,

As preparation for inflation.

Speaking of, the line is growing.

What’s the betting the price hits £5 before I get back to my bed?

It’s all money and preparation.

Money, preparation, and pain

As preparation for pain

As preparation for the next generation and theirs.

That’s why I’m hoping for a boy,

So my child can be spared.

#poetry #slam poetry #performance poetry #writing #katie odonnell #katieodo

0 notes

katieodo · 19 days

Text

The Parting Glass

Her puffed eyes peeled open as she decided she was incapable of getting up. She let them drift shut again as she stared at the yellowing stucco wall across from her bed. Seemingly at once, she was jolted awake again, met with the kind face of her older brother Seth attempting to be more gentle than usual. No one was taking any insults today. She sat up slowly and hugged his waist for a few minutes - silent.

Sitting at the kitchen table, Alison tried to relax the ache in her shoulders, to no avail and gulped the last of the stale cornflakes from her bowl. She sat still for a few seconds before she heard her mother rushing around above her, thumping down the stairs, and charging into the kitchen.

"Ali, come on, the car's here we have to hurry!"

"Okay, one sec."

This was the only appointment she hadn't missed since her last shift at the bar. The expensive beige interior of the shining Hearse reminded Ali of the last wedding she'd attended, and she tried to blink away the thought that that day was the last time she'd seen her grandmother healthy.

"When you get married, Sweet, we'll dance and sing through supper!" Gran had whispered with a smile of mischief in reaction to the "boring gobshites" of the English contingent. This drifted to the image of Gran laying in her new bed, at the funeral directors'. She was beautiful but she wasn't Gran. Gran would never wear lip gloss so shiny and light. And her face wasn't as full as the last time Ali had seen her. Gaunt now, hollow. Drained of the joy she’d exerted.

She was snapped back to the car seat by a sudden stop. A bird moving slowly across the road, twitching its head at the car. Everyone in the car watched as it struggled along. Too dumb to know it was ever in danger.

Everyone stood up to take communion from the priest after the service, in front of the faux mahogany coffin. The shuffling was loud, but the murmuring was warm. Alison headed for the front and passed her cousin in the other of the two lines, another sad smile. She stopped behind an elderly woman.

"Hello, my dear" She turned around. "Are you alright, there now? How did you know Dolly? Are you one of the nieces?"

Alison looked up.

"Hi, um, no I'm her granddaughter, it's nice to meet you."

"Wh- oh but you can't be dear, Alison was just a child- "

Ali tried not to stare at her bemused, but her thoughts were to quick to catch and too vague to dismiss.

"I suppose her memory wasn't brilliant towards the end, I'm sorry… But she spoke about you a lot. She loved you very much, Alison!"

Ali wanted to leave, by any means possible. She mumbled an apology and ran back down the aisle.

Seth sat next to her in the grass outside, between the gravestones. He put his arm around her shoulder, and she sobbed for the first time in daylight since she found out Gran was gone.

A sombre walk through a Celtic Forest with the ones you love is the most connected you'll ever need to feel. When you lose something and you celebrate together – sing songs generations older than you all are, with crackling voices and heavy souls, all wearing similar suits. She had deciphered all this from a feeling. When her brother smiled at her with pressed lips, and she knew exactly what he was thinking. She smiled back and her shoulders finally fell.

The middle button of her trailing black coat hung looser than it should as she stood waiting, realising how fidgety she'd been and trying to focus on the similarities between the flowers printed on her dark dress and the ones framing the open grave four feet ahead of her shoes. She'd been wiping her glassy eyes since the driver picked them up that morning, but something about the beauty of those fresh flowers highlighted the depth of the void they bordered. She rubbed her eyes. She'd decided makeup wasn't needed today, she'd have had a striped face by midday and had stopped trying to be beautiful since she'd stopped talking to people a few weeks ago.

She heard the sound of her uncle, Shane, talking quietly to Seth behind her. Something about a drink? She turned around and interjected - "I couldn't get in on that could I?"

"Hey Ali, you okay?" Shane asked.

"Fine. Give us a drink." She looked him in the eye and Seth laughed at the ground.

“Jesus, all right.”

He led them to his car across the path, opened it, and pulled three plastic cups and a half-empty bottle of Buckfast from the glove compartment. Her favourite drink. Ali wondered if it was Gran who’d started it off.

"Brilliant" Seth laughed. "Thanks, Uncle Shane" Ali smiled and took her glass.

Shane held up his drink "To the mad whore of Dublin Town."

They all laughed as they tapped cups in the chilly air and spoke in unison-

"Sláinte!"

#short story #writing #katie odonnell #katieodo

0 notes

katieodo · 19 days

Text

Artifice

I want to flirt with mermaids

I want to be that free

I want a way to see the light

Before it swallows me

Pretty scales seductive

Drag me down with you

Make me think that I can keep you

Just above the water too

With every lurid whisper

I feel my lungs fill up

Spoon-fed by your opal eyes

I’m never giving up

On making it all work out right

For us down in the deep

Seaweed hands slither up

And wrap around my feet.

#poetry #writing #katie odonnell #katieodo

0 notes

katieodo · 19 days

Text

A Fresh Kind of Mourning

I wish I could take you back to my parents’ house

To the transparent parts of my home we can sneak around

But that hasn’t existed for five or six years now

Back when I was too skinny and red to really get around

Too young and ‘proud’ (excuses, excuses)

So take me back to yours instead

Take me back up to your box room bed

We can sit and make out, you can look in my head

While your parents kiss goodnight downstairs

#poetry #writing #katie odonnell #katieodo

1 note · View note