What’s In A Name, Fiction Fragment

Books of the outside world. Project Gutenberg: A CHRISTMAS CAROL IN PROSE BEING A Ghost Story of Christmas BY CHARLES DICKENS WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHN LEECH.

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Shea waved his hand at the lights and decorations on the walls of the restaurant, “It’s a Christmas, Carol.”

Carole returned his smile, a bit thinly, and bit into her sandwich to keep from speaking. She had never heard that joke before. Ever. Not once in her life. The only question was, were we going book or song?

He went on, “Should I be worried about being visited by three ghosts tonight?”

More thin smile. More sandwich. Okay, literary it was. Would December never end?

When Shea got up to use the restroom, a young woman slipped into his chair. “I couldn’t help overhearing. Your name is Carole, correct?”

Carole nodded.

“My name is Noelle. You need this.” She handed over a small printed slip of paper, rose, and left.

Carole read.

Is your name your nemesis?
We understand.
Join our Cacophony community.
What Were Our Parents Thinking?

At home, Carole logged on.

There were the seasonally appropriate names that she expected, several Noels and Noelles.

She found a namesake subthread with a good-natured argument discussion on the final E. The Carols maintained that typographic accuracy made their situations worse. The Caroles thought that it was an aural issue and the difference didn’t matter.

Then there were the months.

June: My favorite day of the entire year is July first.
May: Mine is June first. Sorry.
Summer: I know suffering is not a comparative sport, but I’ll trade.

Others weighed in.

Rudolph: it’s not the jokes. Its the unoriginality. I’ve always felt for Denise Richards’ character in The World Is Not Enough.

Dr. Christmas Jones: … and don’t tell me any jokes, I’ve heard ’em all.
James Bond: I don’t know any doctor jokes.
IMDB: Quotes

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Afterword

Last week I said I would be pontificating about the November Challenge project. [Extended November Writing Challenge Part 2]

Despite three pages of notes, I decided not to. Writing about fiction doesn’t entertain you, doesn’t advance me. Short version. As with the personal narrative class, the end result was more of the same. In this case, either fragments or two-character conversations floating in the void. Project verdict. Pro. Don’t hate the results. Con. Still no storylines. [Thoughts After A Class]

Instead, for today I decided to do a bonus 200 words with A Christmas Carol.

The plan was to not search on seasonal names until after this was written. Then I saw the Rudolph emoji and my brain wouldn’t let it go. Otherwise, all mine. When I did search for sentiments similar to the fictional group, I got bogged down in baby name sites.

Did you know Charles was the masculine form of Carole? Behind the Name: Carole.

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Onwards!
Katherine