You always hear (well, I always hear) that one should avoid the prologue like one avoids the plague. They are lazy, they are info dumps, they basically have no purpose – just start the story at Chapter 1 people. This is, usually, the way that conversation goes.
So I was quite surprised when one of the best suggestions on the developmental edit of Pucker Up was Add A Prologue. Do people still DO that? I wondered.
They do, it seems. And this was a load off of my mind. I’d tossed aside the idea of a prologue early on even though it would have been helpful. This novel is about two people finding each other again, revisiting an old relationship from a decade ago. Providing insight or intrigue to grab the reader right off the bat would help. What I came up with works perfectly as a prologue because it sets up a huge premise of the novel eight years before the rest of it even takes place. You don’t quite know what’s going on but you know it’s all important.
And since I was so happy to have written one, I’ve decided to share it. Just like the lyrics of Pucker Up, here’s a Valerie Seimas Sneak Peak.
Prologue – Eight Years Ago
Dustin slowed at the top of the stairs, staring at the open door in trepidation. He was not equipped to deal with this – what twenty-three year old guy was? Another clap of thunder sounded and he heard the floor creak as someone moved across it. He squared his shoulders, summoned all of his courage, and pushed the door wide open.
Two small faces with wide eyes stared back at him, framed by two sets of pigtails, one blonde, one brown. Lightening slashed across the sky and the girls squeaked and hugged each other closer.
“It’s okay,” Dustin said. He tried to smile reassuringly but his face wouldn’t go, settling into a grimace they frowned at. “It’s just a storm. Nothing to worry about.”
“It’s louder than at home,” Harmony said, her bottom lip quivering.
“She means the old apartment,” Melody clarified, her eyes looking at the floor.
“I know,” he whispered, not sure if they even heard. This was new for them, for him, for Peter downstairs.
“Will you tell us a story?” Harmony asked, earnestness shining out of her nine year old face.
“A story?”
“Mom always told us a story when we couldn’t sleep.”
“He doesn’t know any stories,” Melody admonished, trying to radiate authority.
“Peter – I mean Dad – he knows some good stories. Can you get him?”
“I know stories,” Dustin gulped. He knew stories – couldn’t think of any remotely appropriate to tell little girls but he knew there had to be one. Hell, if Peter could do it, he could definitely do it. He was the smarter twin anyway.
“Really?” Harmony’s face brightened into a wide grin and his heart was lost. How could he take away her simple joy?
“Really?” Melody’s reply was much more disbelieving. She lifted her eyes and he saw the need behind her skepticism, trying to be brave.
“Yes, really.” He sat in the chair across the room and turned to his attentive audience. “So there’s this ninja –”
“No,” Harmony said with a shake of her head.
“Zombie?”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Army Ranger?”
“Nope.”
“Football Player?”
“As if.”
“You, my dear, are hugely opinionated,” Dustin grumbled as he smiled on the inside.
“Yep!” Her eyes sparkled with impish glee. Him and Peter were going to be in so much trouble.
“So what, you only like sparkly girl stuff?”
“A story about zombies is not going to help us get to sleep,” Melody said with an eye roll. “We want to have sweet dreams.”
“Tell us something with a happy ending,” Harmony demanded. Shit, what did he know about happy endings? His mind flittered to another night, another storm, watching the love of his life leave. They’d been so close, just a breath away.
“Okay,” he said, clearing his throat. “Once upon a time –”
“What’s this story called?” Harmony asked, sitting up in bed.
“You need a title now?”
“Yep,” she said, hugging her stuffed rabbit closer. “All the real bedtime stories have titles. This is a real bedtime story, right?”
A title popped up, from where he didn’t know, but he couldn’t tell them. Pucker Up wasn’t at all an appropriate name for a children’s story. It wouldn’t make much sense to them; not knowing the heroine sang that song, one of the Attitunes girls. How he used to whisper those words to her meaning so many different things – I need you, I miss you, I love you. How just thinking them had him wanting the taste of her on his lips. Two years wasn’t long enough to quiet his yearning.
“A title,” he murmured, “a title . . . . okay this story is called . . . Ally and the Truly Remarkable Happily Ever After.” He couldn’t tell them her real name.
“That’s definitely gonna have a happy ending,” Harmony whispered to her sister with a grin.
“Sounds like it,” she responded, her head cocked to the side as she contemplated Dustin.
“Absolutely,” he whispered back. He hadn’t gotten his happy ending in real life but he’d find one in fiction – one that would bring some smiles back to the little girls’ faces even for just a moment. So they could keep believing that things turned out for the best, even in the face of so much proof to the contrary.
“Once upon a time,” he began again, “a long time ago, a girl with curly red hair decided she was going to take a vacation . . .”
