Friday April 22nd, 2011

The exercise:

Four lines of prose about: the fence.

We're in the process of putting up a fence around the garden in order to keep the vegetable-eating deer out. It was actually fun work today, but that might have had a lot to do with the absolutely gorgeous weather. I didn't want to come inside when we were done for the day.

Mine:

His wife hated it. The kids thought it was awesome. The neighbours wisely kept their opinions to themselves whenever he was within earshot.


But there was one thing they could all agree on: everyone knew that when you reached the fence made out of human skulls, you had reached the Anderson's.

6 comments:

Watermark said...

Marc - yikes!!!! I think would stay well away from those particular Andersons any day!

Here's mine:

The Fence

“This was no ordinary fence, said the wizard to the fine prince. Apart from being invisible, of course, it gave anyone who crossed it special powers.”

Little Tommy who was laying all snug in his warm, cosy bed looked up at his grandpa with a raised eyebrow, sighed deeply as he pursed his lips together and then grabbed hold of his hand.

“Grandpa, I’ve heard this one before and I’m not six anymore so get with the times."

Marc said...

Watermark - well, I wouldn't want to be their neighbour, that's for sure :)

Haha, great final line - I wasn't expecting that at all.

Heather said...

It had faded from it's cedar red and sweet scent, but the fence still stood tall and strong. The fenced in backyard offered security for my two year old and privacy from the peering eyes of the neighbors. Everything should have been perfect, but it had all gone horribly wrong. The worst part was that I would never know who left the gate open.

Marc said...

Heather - ooh, that final line. Very powerful.

Greg said...

@Heather: I agree with Marc, that's a really powerful last line.

@Watermark: That's a great little story; he sounds like a great grandfather!

@Marc: I love the matter-of-fact description and the lingering question of where the Anderson's got that many human skulls from....
Oh, and does your fence not keep the meat-eating deer out then? ;-)

The Fence
"Vince, what's this?"
"It's a fence, Dave. You can tell from the pointy bits, and the 'Danger, 40,000volts' sign."
"Yeah, but isn't that just a jooooaaaaaggghhhh--"

Marc said...

Greg - I don't mess with the meat-eating deer. As long as they don't come after us, they can supplement their meals with veggies all they like.

Poor Dave. Though I suppose it's his own fault.