NaNoPrep2023#04 Plot: Beginning

The story begins with Jane driving to the retreat. The GPS on her phone gives out as the wifi signal is lost, and she is left navigating on her own. But she sees a large church tower in the distance and assumes this is where she is headed, since the retreat is being held at a converted convent.

She was talking to her husband before the call got dropped, and their conversation is cute, establishing a solid relationship and his loving support of what she’s doing. Their adult child is in the background offering quips and wishing Jane good luck. Jane’s husband wants to know how the new laptop he supplied her with holds up. She is not tech-savvy so she’s like, “sure, whatever, man.” The call drops in the middle of Jane’s instructions about dinners, the cat, and other things she wants to ensure the family takes care of in her absence. After the call is cut short, she uses voice-to-text to schedule a note to be sent to him, finishing her thought. She opens a memo on her phone to start notating her thoughts as she locates signs and turns toward the church. Her thoughts are about things she wants to remember for work, and it is made clear she has a busy mind and feels like she has to take care of everything or it will fall apart in her absence. Sadly, she is probably right. She pulls into the parking lot, and her week away from home is off to a start.

Some odd stuff occurs which I’ve already detailed elsewhere, but the inciting incident is when she finds blood everywhere in her room, with no other sign of her roommate, whom everyone else tells her never existed in the first place. While things were super weird up to now, this is the point at which she could get in her car and drive away, or stay in the upside-down world and try to figure out what the heck is happening.