I disliked the Gilmore Girls revival.
I disliked it so much I wrote an alternate year, closer to the ending of Season 7, resolving emotional threads that should not have been left hanging for a decade. The result? A year in a slightly different life, following our favorites.
I really enjoyed getting into the banter on this one, and exploring changes.
I can think of no introduction better than the introduction:
The Dragonfly Inn didn’t always have perfect air conditioning, but the dining room was nonnegotiable. The place settings were crisp and neat, the rows of plates on the wall spotless and cheery, the comfortable green chairs arranged during a pristine moment between breakfast and lunch. On this day of sunbeams and blazing temperature extremes, the dining room was where the reunion took place.
“Michel, you’re back!”
“Ah, Sookie, your grasp of the obvious has not changed.” Michel was smiling when he said it. He even allowed a brief hug, not close enough to muss his lapels.
Lorelai beamed. The entire energy of the Dragonfly Inn’s dining room was different with his return. “So, Michel, how was your exchange program with the big city?”
“Oscar was such a disappointment,” exaggerated Sookie. “New York city slicker. We were counting the days until we got you back.”
“With tally marks scratched into the front desk,” said Lorelai. “Come on, it was at least bad enough that you decided to come back.”
Michel tilted his head, seeming to savor the attention. “They were very positive, it wasn’t natural. Can’t a person have a snippy day once in a while? Not there.”
“It might have been the twice, three times, or every day in a while.”
“I am happy you think my ordeal was so laughable.”
“I made braised duck for you coming back,” said Sookie. “Then I thought, what if he found something he likes more in New York and he’s got the taste for the unique? So then I made orange tilapia, which is low calorie and…which…nobody really makes.”
“There may have been a reason.”
“Okay, scratch the tilapia. And the lamb loaf. Oh, and the angel food tower.”
“You know I cannot eat—”
Sookie flapped her hands, still riding the high of Michel’s return. “So you haven’t changed a bit. That’s valuable information. Lorelai, do you think we can make tilapia our special for today? They brought about twenty pounds and what was I supposed to do but cook it? After it broke open while I was carrying it in…”
“I hear we have a nice freezer,” said Lorelai. “But I think you were wise not to overwork it.”
“Oh, no,” Sookie said, crestfallen. “No, I should have thought of that.”
It’s not long. ~20,000 words for a year. Over on AO3.
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