Sunday May 15th, 2011

The exercise:

Let us write about: the giveaway.

San Jose scored the first goal of the game tonight off of a rather brutal giveaway by Vancouver. Thankfully it didn't end up costing the Canucks, as they came back to win 3-2.

It's looking like it's going to be an exciting series.

Mine:

Business had been slow all morning, but Adrian wasn't ready to give up. He had complete confidence in the ad he'd placed in the paper - it was just a matter of time and patience. Customers would be battling for a place at the cash register any time now.

Approximately fifty minutes after this thought meandered through his mind the silver bell over his shop's front door jingled, bringing Adrian back to the waking world. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he sat a littler taller behind the counter.

"Good morning," he said with his best smile. "How -"

"It's afternoon," the man with the bristling black beard informed him.

"Right, of course it is. How can I help you, this fine afternoon?"

"It's raining out."

"What do you want?" Adrian snapped back.

"I saw your ad." The man paused to wipe his nose with a soggy sleeve. "I'm here for the free stuff."

"The free... no, not quite. You have to buy something in order to qualify for the giveaway." Adrian forced a smile onto his lips before spreading his arms wide. "Anything at all. Have a good look around, I'm sure you'll find something you'll love."

"Nah, screw that dude." The man didn't even look around. "I ain't paying nothing for none of this junk."

While Adrian was busy trying to figure out if all those negatives canceled themselves out, the man left the shop without another word. With a heavy sigh, Adrian went back to waiting for his next customer to arrive - hopefully a paying one.

4 comments:

Greg said...

The Canucks are off to an exciting start then! How good do you think their chances of winning overall are now? They're doing a lot better than other years you've written about them.
So... is today's piece something's that actually happened at your market stall? ;-) I felt a little sorry for Adrian at the end, but the customer intrigued me completely. He's like a much politer version of Henri!

The Giveaway
"Now you give away the parcel to the child next to you," said Miss Snippet, wishing for the third time she'd not been in her office when the Headteacher had knocked. Children who weren't working were just trouble waiting to happen, she felt, and having to administer a toddler's birthday party was degrading.
"Host, not administer," the Head had corrected her, but she refused to listen.
"Give the parcel now." Miss Snippet had tried being encouraging but it had been hard work, so she'd fallen back on her usual ordering.
"Don't wanna!" The little girl clutching the brightly-wrapped parcel screwed her face up, ready to scream. Miss Snippet turned the music up louder, gave the little girl a Chinese burn on the wrist, and caught the parcel before it dropped to the floor.
"Now, boy-child," she said to the toddler next to the screaming girl, "you pass the parcel on until the music stops. Then whoever is holding it may remove one layer of paper. Or else."
The boy grabbed the parcel and stuck a corner of it in his mouth, and Miss Snippet suppressed a scream and wondered where Toddler had gotten to, not realising that his sudden absence was also a giveaway.

Outside, sitting in the car with Toddler, Mummy checked her watch.

morganna said...

Many Native American tribes, particularly of the Pacific Northwest, practiced, and still practice a ritual giveaway or potluck. People with plenty bring their items to the powwow or other gathering, and give them away to those with little or nothing. I have often thought this is a good way to practice non-attachment to worldly possessions, as well as generosity.

Heather said...

I didn't get to write here tonight, but I did manage to get some writing done.

Just a thought for an annoying, yet potentially fun prompt (depending on what you could come up with).....

Look up the definition for 'recursion'

Marc said...

Greg - honestly, I'd say they've got a really good shot. If they play up to their potential, I don't see why they wouldn't go all the way.

Miss Snippet is a great addition to your array of characters :D

Morganna - that seems like something that needs to be more widespread. I hope we all move at least a little in that direction.

Heather - ugh, you just reminded me of my days in computer science class in university. But I think it has potential as a prompt... I'll see what I can do :)