Monday October 9th, 2017

The exercise:

Well, it has certainly been a long time since I've made use of the Last Line Prompt. So, of course, now that I'm bringing it back around I'm changing the rules a little bit.

This time I want you to take any line from a song and use it as your last. Still the same idea, knowing your ending before you begin writing, just tweaking things slightly.

Oh, and just to be a pain, the song you pluck your line from has to be one on the Hamilton soundtrack.

You're welcome.

Had a good day with the boys and my parents. Lunch out in town with everybody, harvesting fruit and veggies with Max and my parents while Miles napped. A yummy borscht dinner together.

Will be sad to see them go tomorrow.

Mine:

Wait For It - Hamilton Soundtrack

I am deeply misunderstood by the likes of you. You have made so many incorrect assumptions. You hold even more misconceptions.

Allow me to shed some light and clarity for you. It is probably best if you save your thanks until later.

Trust me.

So. Where to begin? Perhaps it would be wise to commence with my response to those responsible for my downfall. You think I've gone into hiding? You consider my silence a sign of weakness or, even worse, cowardice?

These men took everything from me. My wealth, my power, my loved ones. Do you really think that I would do nothing in the face of their hateful actions? Do you really think I would turn the other cheek? Do you really think that I will show these men mercy?

And, to be clear, know that I count you among them. You have not escaped my attention.

All of you have mistaken the cause of my inaction. Like the fools you are. So allow me, if you will, to spell this out for you simpletons.

I'm not standing still.

I am lying in wait.

3 comments:

Greg said...

Borscht sounds very Russian! Are your parents taking Max and Miles with them to entertain them in the car? ;-)
Ok, I've found lyrics to these songs so it looks like I can achieve this prompt today. I've not forgotten about the Yearlong prompt but I need some time to think about what to add given that we've got only two more months after this, so realistically we have to reach King Brekstan next month... wow.
Yours is rather sinister today; full of veiled and not-so-veiled threats. The italicised lines at the end have weight to them even without the threats of earlier, which is rather nice. I especially liked that I found myself wondering if it was a man or woman narrating, as I think either changes the tone a little :)

Inspired by a line from Yorktown
"You know, I've always liked orange."
"It's not really what you'd call hair colour though, is it? Perhaps auburn, or strawberry blonde? Perhaps go for more of a sunset red? People like sunsets."
"I like sunsets as it happens, but for hair? I think that's a bit like suggesting fire-truck red. It sounds great at first, but then people start asking if your 6-year-old picked it and before you know it you're the same colour through embarrassment."
"Yes, but... but... but this is Fanta Orange."
"And I like it."
"But... what if we get sued for copyright infringement?"
"It's hair colour, as you pointed out. We can't be sued. Maybe Fanta could try suing Mother Nature, but not us."
"Oh good God. I mean. Good Lord. Well. Fine, fine, if you must. I can try and find a pasty skin tone that looks as though it belong–"
"Oh no, fake tan orange for the skin too! Homogeneous."
"Homo–!"
"Close your mouth, you look like you're catching flies. It's important that nothing varies too sharply. People like a steady gradation, a gentle change that they can barely see."
"Homogeneous is what you said about his brain! It's like pea soup inside that skull, you can't expect me to do the same thing on his skin! I'm an artist, for the love of... love of... love of just about bloody anything!"
"Fake tan orange. It's got to be easy right, you can just use real fake tan."
"Real fake tan. Real fak– Are you even listening to yourself?"
"Look, this is a one-off, remember. I can see you don't like doing this, but it's just the once. It's just a test. I'll never come back and ask you to do it again, and you can keep your name off it if you like."
"Of course my bloody name's not being associated with this... this... this–"
"Presidential candidate."

And so the American experiment begins

Kyle said...

Both of you guys produced amazing prompts on this one! Mine's shorter for once, but I hope it holds up to precedent:

“My Shot” – Hamilton Soundtrack
You scratched the surface, kid. We had a good thing goin’.
But you couldn’t keep your nose clean, and now you know things that could be . . . dangerous for you.
I’d off ya right now, if it were up to me. But bein’ the Boss’s blood makes you special.
He don’t want you involved, see. Thinks you’re better’n this.
But he wanted me to tell you one thing, as your loving uncle:
If you talk, you’re gonna get shot!

Marc said...

Greg - hah, that would have been an interesting car trip. That probably wouldn't have made it very far before turning back...

Yes, we do have some work ahead of us in the yearlong prompt. I'm sure we'll figure something out!

Hmm, that's very true about the gender of the narrator changing the tone. I had a male in mind while writing it but now I kind of prefer to read it from a female perspective now.

I've listened to this song many times, so I was trying to guess your ending line as I read yours. Then I got distracted by how much I was enjoying the dialogue and the ending caught me unaware. Very nicely done :)

Kyle - that's some good work originating from that final line. Things flow right into it very smoothly and seemingly without effort. Also: another good song choice :)