the story's history

Writing exercise 2 - So while stories rarely start in the beginning, at some point in the story, the beginning, is told.  Woven in is it's history even as the story moves forward.  So what happened in these books before the first page?

The One and Only Ivan - Ivan had been captured as a young gorilla.  His parents killed, his twin sister died in route, and he was raised by humans.  Three years in a home like a child, and then 20+ years on display at the Big Top Mall.

One Crazy Summer - Delphine's mother was a poet and artist who wrote on the walls.  She had run away from an abusive home, and been abused on the streets as well.  She talked to herself at night in order to stay awake and not be so afraid in the parks where she slept.  Delphine's father had helped her mother off the streets when she was 16, in exchange for her doing basic house work.  And that turned into three children.  Delphine was the oldest and instinctually understood at a young age that to be around her mom she shouldn't speak - as it would interrupt her work.  Delphine's mom left the family just after the youngest sister was born.  Delphine grew up with Big Ma (her father's mother) caring for them and never saying a kind word about the mother - how she was selfish, and good for nothing.


I should do more notes on story's history - but those are the most recent ones I read, so I can give the best detail.

The book I'm reading now -  "Three Times Lucky" starts with the eleven-year-old character opening the small town diner for The Colonel.  I'm sure there is a lot more story history to come - but so far I've learned that:
She doesn't know her mother and sends messages in bottles down the river and waits for response to find out if the person finding it is her mother - then places pushpins in her map to mark out where her mother doesn't live.
She was found in the river as a baby in a basket (thus named Moses), by the Colonel and adopted by Lana - but I'm not sure about their relationship.


My story - well, I don't have one that I'm working on.  Maybe I should.  But I think it usually is my habit to weave in history or stories from my past.  In fact, its a good way to look at people.  Maybe that's a better exercise - to look at the people in my family's past to help understand how they are now.  I don't know, or remember all the details of their history - but I'll try to add some history to today's events, try to give at the very least, myself some perspective.


"Rachel - Gokhan is going with me to the hospital."
"I know, I'm bringing both of you."
(whispering) "He's coughing up blood."
"Did he get an appointment?"
"No, he'll just try to get one while we are there."

Gokhan has been coughing for the past four days.  He's been coughing like an old woman - weak and unproductive coughs.  He threw up the other night probably because he had swallowed too much mucous - which is what happens to two years olds.  The blood probably is from his nose mucous - with the dry winter air and all.

Tolga says Gokhan has always had a weak immune system - easily getting sick.  This is why it is incredibly hard for me to imagine him as a commander of a tank in the army - which is apparently what he did for a year in his early twenties.

On the way to the hospital, we had stop at Turkcell so Gokhan could load credits onto his phone.  His phone is perpetually off, dead, or out of credits.  We waited in the car as two minutes ticked into five and then ten.  We were now late to the appointment - Gokhan explained his phone number was switched off and he had to reopen it and sign with Turkcell again.

Tank commander.

When I picked Anne and Gokhan up an hour-and-a-half later - I called and Gokhan answered.
"R-R-R-Rachel, naber?"  This is part of the reason Gokhan rarely answers his phone.  He stutters under pressure.  And stuttering adds more stress to his speaking and sometimes he can't recover.  Anne believes Gokhan's stuttering is her fault because she couldn't protect him from a dog that scared him at three years old.  His stuttering began then.

I was just happy he answered his phone.  I found them in the hospital.  My mother-in-law did an eye roll and let out a big sigh showing me her new medicine she must get.  She has something wrong with her knee - I couldn't understand the word, but I'm guessing it had to do with cartilage.  The doctor told her not to walk a lot.  She had gone for a heart check-up and will return tomorrow for an effort test, which contradicts the orthopedists advice, but no one seemed to take note of this.  If her knee doesn't improve with the medicine, she should start physical therapy, but my Anne said "Bos ver," about that.  (No need.)

I asked Gokhan if he had seen the doctor.
"Hayir, geçicek," he answered.  No, it's getting better now.

This story must have a lot of history behind in order to explain these medical habits.