Friday January 6th, 2012

The exercise:

Four lines of prose that have something to do with: water.

Judging by the increase in comments here lately, I do believe we have some New Year writing resolutions going on. So I just wanted to say best of luck sticking with it, and please do let me know if I can be of any help.

Mine:

The glass sat empty on his desk, exactly where he'd left it the evening before. Not even a hint of water remained, as though he'd tipped it upside down and waited for all of it to drip into his mouth. Every last drop.

Poison and all.

10 comments:

Greg said...

I think we're seeing some pretty good writing in the comments too, so those resolutions are well made! I'm sticking with my revolutions though :)
I'm curious now as to who the narrator of your four lines is! Did the poison work?

Water
"I don't know where these kids find these illnesses!" Nurse Hearse finally found two aspirin tablets in a blister pack and took them, following them with a handy glass of water on the examining table.
The Gorillamumps Staff Surgeon looked up just as she put the glass back down.
"Um," he said, "that was a student that you've just drunk."

Anonymous said...

i expanded mine,

Water

It was one of those rare moments between the tidal shifts; the lake was smooth as glass. 6 AM, no one around. Stillness. Silence, yes, even the birds were quiet (the calm before the storm? Perhaps.)
I ventured out. The lake was smooth like a mirror, reflecting the surroundings. Not a ripple stirred its surface, not one insect dived to be caught in the jaws of a mullet. Nothing. 
Then, two kayaks appeared, gliding, their silence adding to the ambience. The smoothest waves started, uniform, at first. Once they hit the shore, they bounced back, of course; they joined and met coming from opposite directions, colliding into one another like pedestrians on a busy street, nowhere to go but bump! bump! into one another.
The smoothness disappeared. What ensued was a cacophany of motion. Peaks and troughs shortened in frequency, momentarily neutralised by a flat plane in the middle, full of nothingness, where the waves cancelled each other out. Chaos theory reigned here, where particles and waves married into strings that vibrate, as everything vibrates, except for those tiny moments of cancellation which hark back to the silence of before...
Waves stayed today, whipping up the water as the breeze took over the job the kayaks had begun.  

Cathryn Leigh said...

To Marc on yesterday - don't worry I'll probably will complete that book of which you've gotten, tow sort of peeks at. The Nueri-Nin-Ni won't rest until I've set them free. It's just a matter of figuring out where to start and setting down the time to write it.

Interesting stuff everyone has here.

Water
The ocean rose and fell with the pull of the six moons. It was under these and in their spectacular full moonlight that the Free Nueri began their revolt. There would be no more slavery; no more unfounded rumors. Rachael the half-blood had given them the means and they knew the way!

David said...

Some Saturday morning writing . . . . great way to start the morning everyone

Her fingers playfully ran through his hair. He bobbed up, his charcoal eyes meeting hers. He beamed that alluring smile, the one that conned her into bed. She pushed hard on the top of his head, watching his eyes sink below the water, praying she never had to see his lying face again.

Nita said...

I googled daily writing and found this page somewhere near the top of the results list. My non-writing status has been bothering me lately, so it made for a good resolution. I'm a nursing student (what they call a non-traditional student because I'm way older than most of my class). I spend my days reading, studying, and writing 19 page care plans and 11 page take-home quizzes. Oddly enough, the nursing profession frowns on creative writing, so it's not exactly meeting my needs as a creative outlet. Glad to be here, and thank you for the opportunity to join in.


Water (sort of):

I was already 2 steps down on my way to the basement when I caught the scent. It was another 2 steps before I could reach the string that turned on the lights. Thick brown sludge at least 6 feet in diameter tapered down to a watery puddle around a drain I couldn't see from my spot still high on the steps. The sewer was backed up again.

Marc said...

Greg - Nurse Hearse, very clever :D

Writebite - while I didn't see the original version, I'm still glad you expanded it into that. I think compacting that into four lines would have hurt the overall effect for sure.

Regardless, I enjoyed the end result :)

Elor - nicely done. Makes me want to write some science fiction about faraway planets...

David - great twist in your final line!

Nita - that's very cool! And I'm glad you found your way here, as I've enjoyed what you've shared so far :)

And that's a shame about nursing not encouraging creative writing - I bet there are some really great ways to describe various symptoms :P

Ugh, sort of water indeed. Hope that wasn't inspired by real events.

Audey said...

Near water I can breath,
In my veins runs the salt of the sea.
Loved as a child,
Peace you bring to me.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Marc, I was here once about 9 months ago. I don't really have much else to say except that here I am again, drawing much inspiration and motivation from what you keep putting together every day. Here is my first practice:

The water ran as it had the previous three days. A clear, lazy stream alive with all sorts of bugs and fish and waterfowl, many the boy apprentice had never seen before. He was enthralled by the hundred little stories that were playing out before him, continually moving, shifting, and flowing downstream. Brightly colored green ducks with blue feathers on their backs floated past, paying no attention to him as they flipped upside down, in search of some tasty bit they had spotted. Sometimes thoughts and worries crept from the surrounding woods, tugging at his mind but he would turn and just watch, letting distraction pull him gently away. Finally, with hunger becoming almost unbearable, he could keep it back no longer. He wondered openly, anxiously how long he should wait for his master before he got up and followed his path into the trees.

Thanks again.

-Heidi

Aholiab said...

Marc, we had five inches of rain here today, so your prompt was quite timely.


Water

He stands at the window watching a single drop of rain trace its way through the dust. The trail down the pane looks like the smeared mascara on her cheek. An old Simon and Garfunkel song tickles at the edge of his memory. Sighing, he places his hand on the glass, feeling the chill as he sees her slam her car door.

Marc said...

Audey - very nice, really captures the comfort the sea can bring.

H.N. - welcome back! Glad you found your way back to us, and it's great to hear this blog is of some use to you :)

Wonderful descriptions. Begging to be continued. Or maybe that's just me, begging you to continue it :P

Aholiab - lovely, really captured a moment there.

I hope some sunshine followed the rain your way!