Hesitation, Then Imbalance

Her attempts to achieve something were interrupted by her father telling her that women never achieved anything.

His attempts to make love were interrupted by the laughter of his lover, who told him he was doing it all wrong.

Her attempts to finish the novel were interrupted by having children.

His attempts to create a small business were interrupted by the pandemic.

Her attempts to recite a favorite poem were interrupted by an air-raid siren.

His attempts to demonstrate an Irish jig were interrupted by an earthquake.

The dog’s territory-marking was interrupted by a mis-aimed beach ball.

The cat’s prowling was interrupted by a falling pecan.

The frog’s swim was interrupted by a release of pollution from an illegal drainage pipe.

The butterfly’s flitting was interrupted by a torrent of water from a garden hose.

One interruption overlays another in a weave of interruptions.

One interruption stands out, but another is not acknowledged.

Show business is often resistant to interruptions because the show must go on.

A hiccup is one of the most annoying interruptions ever.

A possible character, Susan, could be a person who is always interrupting.

Susan thinks she has important things to say, so much so that she interrupts herself if necessary.

Once, I took the chance of interrupting Susan, and it turned out well.

My listening— to Susan or music or lectures or weather reports— is often interrupted by random bursts of inattention.

A person enjoying one offering on the internet is frequently interrupted by other offerings, unasked-for and intrusive.

A list of thoughts about interruptions could itself be interrupted by a relatively focused paragraph of expository fiction.

e.g., “Brandon played dulcimer; he’d played dulcimer for years. It was not an appreciated instrument in his sophisticated home city. He’d go to open mics, sit himself down, and render obscure old folk songs. His dulcimer would ring sweetly, as its name implied, and his voice was pleasant, but no one paid attention; they were waiting for something more rock’n’rollish or emo or grungey. Because Brandon was elderly and used up most of his inner energy just getting up to play, and then actually playing, he couldn’t muster any resentment toward these philistine audiences of half-a-dozen. He patiently sat and listened to other performers until it was his turn. He sang of true love, but Brandon had never fully experienced such a thing. He’d been engaged once, but Hannah had suffered a brain injury in a car accident, and hadn’t remembered him when he went to visit her in the hospital.”

A woman sewing merrily at a sewing machine is interrupted by the bobbin’s running out of thread.

A UPS driver, hastening— package in hand— to the porch of a house in one of the leafy green suburbs of Atlanta, is interrupted by an anxious-looking person of indeterminate gender leaning out the window of a slowly passing car, asking for directions to a street that the UPS driver has never heard of.

The one-year-old, learning to walk, is interrupted by hesitation, then imbalance.

Good works are interrupted by sinful deeds every time, although the sinful deeds are usually instigated by a different entity than the good works (but not always).

Without interruptions, some things would just go on and on and on and on.

— Macoff