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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Hotel/Motel (09/12/05)
As Sarah put on her apron she sighed loudly. She was rostered on tonight to wait on tables of her parents’ Ocean Breeze Motel restaurant. Well rostered on wasn’t exactly right, she was called in after one of the other staff members had rung to say they were sick with a gastro bug – a likely excuse.

It summed up her life at the moment. All her plans were falling apart and her world seemed out of control. Working for her parents was hardly the way she planned to spend her holidays. But when Sarah found out she was pregnant and her long-time boyfriend’s reaction was to have an abortion, she decided to cancel her camping trip with Justin and head home for the break.

Besides she needed some head space to decide on her options for the next year. Sarah had been so cautious with contraception. She hadn’t even thought about the antibiotics affecting the pill. When they first started dating Justin had agreed that they would wait until they were married before they slept together. But one night of weakness had broken that promise, and from then on it became easier to make up excuses like “We’re going to be married soon anyway”.

Sarah checked her hair and make-up one more time and reached for her front pocket to check she had her note pad and paper. She walked out to see a large family just helping themselves to the menus and rearranging the tables in the way they saw fit.

“Great, our first lot of know it alls for the evening” Sarah thought. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders ready to do battle. As Sarah approached them she could see they were already getting comfortable and animatedly talking amongst themselves. “Excuse me” Sarah said in a bored tone of voice, “I’ll have to ask you to move over to this corner of the restaurant, as these tables are reserved for couples and small group bookings.”

Instead of responding rudely to Sarah’s directions the group stopped talking and just looked at one another. They then followed the lead of the elegantly dressed older lady by getting up, murmuring their apologies and moving towards the tables at the back corner of the room.

Once they were seated Sarah continued to serve them in her bad mood. She slammed the glasses down on their tables, spilling the drinks the group had ordered. When asked at one point how long before main would arrive she answered by saying “Sometime in this lifetime!”

Sarah couldn’t believe how this family continued to respond. They smiled at her and thanked her as she went aggressively about her duties. Throughout the whole evening of serving this family, Sarah’s treatment of them was totally unacceptable. She knew that her parents prided themselves in the Motel’s good name for hospitality and fine food, but tonight she couldn’t even maintain her professionalism for them.

Towards the end of the evening as the ‘smiley’ family were settling their bill, the elegant matriarchal lady approached Sarah.

“Sarah Thankyou for serving us tonight.” Sarah looked at the woman in surprise, and didn’t move as she put her hand on Sarah’s cheek and said “You will get through this child, there is a time for everything.”

Sarah stood with tears welling in her eyes as she watched the gentlewoman lead her large family group out of the restaurant.
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This article has been read 921 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Jan Ackerson
09/20/05
A sweet lesson without being preachy. Well done.
Julianne Jones
09/20/05
A lovely well-written story that challenges us to live Christ-like lives 100% of the time. I would have liked to have seen the reason for the family's gentle response to Sarah made stronger, but all-in-all a gentle piece that was enjoyable to read. Keep writing and God Bless.
Garnet Miller 
09/21/05
I liked the story line. Be careful with your punctuation, though. Good work.
B Brenton
09/22/05
Thumbs up. Hope it gets in the winner circle. If so, you will have deserved it for this easy to read, awesome piece. You keep it simple and it totally ran circles over some of the more complex articles out there. Well done!
Deborah Porter 
09/27/05
Emily, good on you! This was a very good story, and boy, that family in the restaurant were amazing. I don't think I would have been anywhere near as patient (which is a lesson for me!)

You rated very well with the Level 1 judges and ranked 11th out of the 44 entries for that level. So well done. For a beginning writer, I think you're off to a very good start.

Now, having said that, there was a bit of a mystery happen with your entry for the bon voyage challenge. I knew which one was yours, and made a point to contact you once the entries went public. But when they did, your name wasn't listed next to it. I have no idea what happened - but I apologize if it was a glitch in the FaithWriters' system.

Anyway, the reason I really wanted to contact you was to find out if you are Australian? Just send me a Private Message (click on my name on this feedback and it will take you to my member page, then click on the link to send me a private message). There's a reason why I'm curious. :-)

With love, Deb (Challenge Coordinator)