A Short Story by Elaine Carlson

"You can't believe the thrill," he said. "There probably isn't any more intense feeling than to be somewhere you don't belong."

The guy was telling me how he had been a burglar. And he was trying to describe what it felt like. I had to agree with him that it must have been something. Even now I can only imagine the feeling because I have never done any burglarizing.

He was the truck driver who had given me a ride. Then I fancied myself a free spirit because I was out hitchhiking. One day I decided I wanted to go to Greenwich Village. Then I was sure New York City was magical and that Greenwich was the most magical place in that city.

I didn't have enough money to get to New York so that was why I was hitchhiking. I had a good time when I got there – and yes Greenwich is a magical place.

I don't even remember the guy's name. But I do I know all this happened eleven years ago because I was seventeen and now I am twenty-eight.

Recently I have been thinking I would like to feel the sensation of being somewhere I am not supposed to be. But I don't want to burglarize a commercial establishment. Instead I want to go into somebody's home and see what is in there. I can think of no better way to get a high than to be inside a private residence when the people are not home, and I am sure wouldn't want me to be there.

I would want to go into the houses of wealthy people. I think all I would expect to see in regular people's homes would be a stove, a refrigerator and regular furniture. And probably a pile of magazines. But to see anything amazing I would have to go where the wealthy live.

Not too long ago I decided I could write a story about someone who broke into a home. I would get all of the vicarious pleasures of planning and thinking through a criminal deed.

Once I took the class "Write A Short Story People Will Want To Read." The instructor was Isabella Gonzales. She told us the first part of writing a story is to decide on a character, the action that character does and on a conflict.

One of the guys in the class asked, "But aren't you supposed to put in other characters?"

"You can," Ms Gonzales said. "You get those other characters when you are working on the conflict."

She went on to say that at the beginning stage we should write notes and maybe do outlines of what we want to have in the story. Then after a bit we "need to take things out." She said a common mistake of beginners is to put in too much detail in their stories.

Finally the moment came when I knew I had to start work on my short story – plan and map it out. And as a nod to Mrs. Gonzales I had to decide what to keep out. I certainly didn't want to put in too much detail.

The main character is going to be a young woman and just for the hell of it I thought to name her Isabella. But then that was also my grandmother's name. I am going to drop the euphemisms and say Isabella burglarizes a house. To me it seems funny to be partially naming a character who embarks on such a criminal enterprise after a staid Republican. And that was what my grandmother was --- a staid Republican.

I will make Isabella twenty-three. I am not exactly sure why I decided on twenty-three instead of say twenty-two or twenty-one or even older. The point is I didn't want her to be a teenager.

Isabella listens to the local disk jockey Breezin Bud. Throughout his program he says "Start Your Day With Breezin Bud" and "BB Tells You The News." She thinks he is fun to listen to and thinks she would like to go into his house. But she made no efforts to follow through on that wish until she heard BB would take his family on a vacation.

I also decide to make Isabella's friend since third grade a sister of the man who is going with the DJ's oldest daughter. Also I decide that I have to present Isabella as a person trying her best to look like she is completely uninterested in BB. Since she can't ask any questions it takes her a while to get the information she needs. But she is lucky because her friend Susan loves to talk. And her favorite topic of conversation seems to be the celebrity father of the girl her brother is dating.

I am on a roll and the story is going well. My character finally decides she knows enough to start her project.

Isabella wants to take the risk of living in the shed in the family's backyard for five days before they leave. So of course the whole time she is paranoid that someone is going to go there to get the lawn mover or one of the tools. She just about had a heart attack when she saw a gardener coming to work. But he never went into the shed. She was grateful he brought his own tools. During that time no one went into the shed to retrieve anything.

She has fun observing the family come and go and on the day before they leave she sneaks into the house. She thinks it would be less risky than to go into the house after they have gone. She stays there for ten days but they are away on their vacation for two and a half weeks.

I know everything about how the story is going to go. Now all I have to do is write the damn thing. But lately I have been feeling some uncertainty. I worry maybe I should add some tragedy to the plot just to make the story interesting – and as the title of Mrs. Gonzales class says to make it a "short story people want to read." Do I need to put in a fire at the end or make sure that Isabella gets caught?