Wednesday January 8th, 2014

The exercise:

Write about: Gym and Alley.

I figured it was probably about time.

Work was mostly okay today. Could have done without the migraine that arrived late morning, but nobody asked my opinion on that one beforehand.

Mine:

"My coffee is cold," Gym announced with a slow shake of his head. "Again."

"The way you were adding cream to that thing," Alley said, "I'm not sure that it still qualifies as coffee."

"Well, they should provide heated cream then!"

"For who? You and Bucktooth Nobody?" Alley rolled her eyes and used her right index finger to dig something out of her ear before continuing. "Don't be such a dumbbell."

"I bet tonnes of people would like that, you stupid pinhead!"

"Really? Should I take a little wander around this coffee shop and see who else might be interested? Maybe get them to sign a petition?" Alley sprung out of her seat, bouncing on the balls of her feet as though she couldn't wait to get started.

"Sit down!" Gym hissed, looking around nervously as he shifted his weight from side to side. "You know I hate it when you make a scene. Besides, that cute girl over there is watching."

Seated at her favorite corner table, Libby allowed a brief smile to cross her lips before returning her gaze to her copy of Stephen Hawking's A Brief History Of Time.

3 comments:

Greg said...

Aren't migraines God's way of telling you that the world isn't colourful enough? :) Still, you've produced a good story despite it, so perhaps they boost creativity?
I like Alley, I think I've known people like her before. Heck, I think I've been people like her before! And I like how you've worked all the appropriate nouns into your piece too :)

Gym and Alley
The Orphanarium was having an open day, where the children were exhibited to visitors provided they were clean and well-behaved enough. Which rule, oddly enough, applied to both the children and the visitors. The nurses were dressed in their best flak jackets and the children had been hosed down where necessary and dressed where unavoidable, and had been neatly sat on a long row of hard-backed chairs with claw-feet. A description that again, oddly enough, applied to both chairs and children.
"This is Gym," said Dr. Morbidity gesturing vaguely in the direction of a child. "He was found abandoned in a Vipr and brought to us by a concerned weight-lifter. You'll notice his unusual tubular shape; we believe he'd spent several months in the Vipr before it became too heavy to lift. He only eats flat food."
A group of well-dressed ladies, wearing floral hats and twin-piece knitted suits cooed and aahed and carefully didn't get too close.
"And this is Alley," said Dr. Morbidity. "She was being raised by cats in a dumpster when she was found. She's not to be trusted with pets, soft furnishings or small, valuable objects, but she is surprisingly furry and easy to cuddle. Only don't let her get too close to your eyes."
The ladies oohed a little, and one of them tossed a ball of wool at Alley, who batted it away aloofly, but kept an eye on where it rolled to.
"And this," said Dr. Morbidity moving on, "is Digger Number 9...".

Marc said...

Greg - thanks! Did it come across that Libby was supposed to be short for Library?

Hah, that is quite the collection of orphans :D

Greg said...

Looking back at it, I think it does come across, although I remember thinking at the time that Libby sounded much like Lobby and guessing that that's what you meant :)