Victory Dance

Author note:

This is just a short explanation about the origins of this story. Please feel free to skip it if you're not interested!

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Victory Dance started a long time ago for me. The character of Ruth has been with me for a while, constantly changing and shifting over time. For a while, I loved to RP on tumblr. For those not in the know, this was a written role play with other people, essentially working together to write a story involving your own original characters.

The idea of my original character, ('Ruth Flores' as she was known at the time) being in a WW2 setting happened at least five years ago now. For a short spell, Ruth was a woman in her 30s, leaving London to live in the countryside with her husband in order to foster some children there. Unfortunately, me and my friend never managed to write a lot about Ruth at that point in time and Ruth's story was sadly lost to time.

Luckily, a prompt from Wattpad brought all that back to mind. When writing the 500 words for the prompt (as presented below), I realised how much I enjoyed writing about Ruth in this time period. 'Modern times' Ruth was a career woman, artistic and creative, snarky, but haunted with a sense of guilt for what she wasn't successful in and what it means to be a 'complete woman'. Ruth here has other issues to deal with, but her fortitude and determination remain the same. I'm excited to pick up Ruth's story once more.

Below, I've placed my original response to the prompt from this flash fiction competition, just to serve as a reminder of where things came from and how they're now developing. I hope you enjoy.

Jasmine, if you somehow ever manage to come across this, thanks for writing with me.

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                                                                                                                                              Wednesday 15th, May 1946

Dear Lieutenant Murray,

I do hope that this letter and the enclosed package containing your coat reaches you well and I do apologise greatly for the delay. In repayment for the wait, I have had it freshly washed and pressed. I hope that this will suffice.

I had a rather splendid time with yourself at the Victory Ball and I hope that your foot has recovered quite well from my shamefully horrific dancing. I certainly hope that your wife or partner was not upset at any of the harm caused.

I am forever grateful for the kindness that you displayed in providing me with your coat against the chill and I do hope that we could stay in touch.

Warmest regards,

             Ms. Ruth Fraser.

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                                                                                                                                                     Monday 20th  May, 1946

Dear Mr Murray,

You are indeed too kind. I am sure that you had not forgotten about your coat, but merely wished to spare me the worry for keeping it for so long. I must admit, my mother was rather adamant that I should refrain from contacting you in regards to your coat until I could send it to you. Her logic as to why this was a good idea was rather flimsy, but when she has her heart set on something, it would do well not to tread on it. I believe my father agreed with myself that it was rather silly, so for the unnecessary delay, I must apologise.

I admit, I was sure that my mother squealed at the sight of your letter today amongst the post. I am sure that she has likely opened the letter and replaced it in a new envelope before handing it over to me - if I know her well enough. One does wonder at what wild thoughts may go through her mind, but I digress.

What a relief to know that your feet are quite alright! I had visions of your poor, seemingly nonexistent wife preparing a soak for you and chiding you for picking out the only girl in the room with two left feet and no sense of rhythm. I do hope that this was the case, especially now that I have learnt of your injury. My father would not be proud if he heard that I caused additional harm to one of our veterans!

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Warmest regards and the best of wishes,

           Ruth

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                                                                                                                                             Wednesday 22nd May, 1946

Dearest 'Tommy',

It certainly was a nice touch to address your latest correspondence to your 'darling Ruthie'. I will be sure to send you a personal invitation to Mother's funeral in our next correspondence. You did cause her heart attack after all...

If however, she is still alive, I trust that she will be planning our upcoming nuptials. One hopes that your fictitious wife will be understanding.

I do suppose, however, that if your offer to meet for tea still stands, one could provide you with this invitation in person?

I await your response with baited breath,

Yours,

            Ruthie.