I got home from work today to a message from the dentist. They needed to change the appointment because the doctor who was going to do the “hygiene work” – someone I thought was a hygienist but I guess not? – had to go out of town for a family emergency.
That’s fine. I get it. Shit happens in life. Here’s what I don’t get. The appointment isn’t for two weeks. And while I appreciate the advance notice (it’s better than no notice), I’m kind of confused how someone can know about or schedule a family emergency for two weeks from now.
I suppose it’s possible that the receptionist misspoke and didn’t mean “family emergency” but something else family oriented that is kind of like an emergency (major surgery) that can be scheduled in advance. But, the concept of a family emergency scheduled two weeks out got me thinking that it could make for an interesting story.
Something along the lines of, the Main Character knows his dad is going to have a heart attack, stroke, something along those lines, so he rebooks the family vacation to accommodate that. Hilarity, or calamity, perhaps, ensues as he tries to last minute change everything he meticulously planned down to the minute for eighteen months.
Or, Main Character gets notice that her daughter is going to have a life changing car accident that lands said daughter in a wheelchair. So Main Character Mom starts getting estimates in advance from contractors on how to remodel house to accommodate all the medical equipment. Chaos is inevitable as the remodeling doesn’t go as planned.
This is the kind of thing I’d like to write. Speculative fiction (though what fiction isn’t speculative) with a time-travel/sci-fi bent. Not really in my wheel house right now. But, maybe one day. In the mean time, I’d love to read something like this. Feel free to lift the idea. I’ll probably never use it.
Partly Writing 