The exercise:
Going to try something a little different today. The game today is: continuations.
Each contribution should be a continuation of the one before it. So I'll post mine, the first comment should carry it on, the second comment should keep it going, and so on. I'll drop by throughout the day and maybe add to things.
Multiple additions by the same person are welcome, just try to keep each one to a reasonable length. Alrighty?
Let's give it a shot and see what happens.
Mine:
The dinner guests sat around the living room, chatting quietly and sipping wine as they waited to be called to the table. The hosts were in the kitchen putting the final touches on the meal and darting furtive glances at the five men and three women gathered in their home.
"I'm not sure about this," the man whispered to his wife, slipping two fingers into his collar and loosening its grip on his neck. "Do we really need to go to these lengths?"
"Darling," she replied with a painted smile, "if you back out on me now we're through. There will be no more chances, understand?"
The man swallowed noisily and bobbed his head up and down like an obedient puppy. His wife narrowed her eyes briefly before patting him on the cheek and slipping away to the living room.
"Alright everyone," she announced with practiced grace. "Dinner is ready."
While I was reading this, all I could hear in the back of my mind was a chorus of "MACBETH!!!"
ReplyDeleteAnd there you go again, filling me with ficlet-induced nostalgia. -tries to scowl, but only halfheartedly-
This bit's intriguing, but I can't think of anything just yet... I'll see what happens.
I suppose that observation would make more sense to me if I had read Macbeth more recently than... like a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked the intro, t'is a shame no one continued it. Perhaps tomorrow though, before I get around to posting the next prompt.
Hmm, this is an intriguing idea, I think I quite like it. There are at least two obvious directions to take this in, but which to choose...?
ReplyDeleteContinuation:
There was a gentle hubbub as the guests rose to their feet and followed their hostess through to the dining room, where their host was waiting already. He was stood at the head of the table, a long, quartz-surfaced oval laid with polished silver cutlery and delicately-patterned bone-china plates. A candelabrum acted as the centrepiece, with a single blue candle burning, but the room's lighting came primarily from hidden floor lamps casting a soft yellow glow to the ceiling.
The guests paused in the doorway, almost piling up, muttering words of approval and surprise, and their host smiled, a tight-lipped, wintry smile, and gestured broadly with his hand, indicating that they should come and seat themselves.
As the guests came into the room properly now and spread out around the table, a silence fell over the room as they realised that the table was set only for nine.
Always the gentleman, Adam was the first to speak. "Oh dear, we are missing one setting. Shall I help you bring in a chair?" he turned to his hosts.
ReplyDelete"No Adam," she answered, smoothing the front of her dress before lifting her chin and fixing her guests with a determined eye. "We are not missing a table setting at all. In fact, only nine of us will be dining this evening. You, Anne Marie," she said turning to a tall, slender women who wore her jet-blank hair in a sleek bob about her face, "you will not be joining us."
"I beg your pardon?" Ann Marie raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"I said, you will not be joining us tonight. In fact you will not be joining us at future events either, Anne Marie. Ronald and I have had enough of living under your thumb, living with the fear that you will reveal what we have done, living with this loose noose around our necks, just waiting for you to bleed us dry or turn us in. Oh Anne Marie, do not look at the other guests for salvation. Ronald and I are aware that we are not the only two who are being blackmailed. You'll find no friends here."
Anne Marie glanced around the room, noticing shock on the other guests' faces, but also finding relief on several. When her eyes landed on Ronald, she noticed the small revolver in his hand. It was pointed at her.
Hurray, additions! I guess I should bring it to some sort of conclusion then?
ReplyDelete* * * *
"Never show your face in this town again," Ronald told her, his hand only shaking slightly. "You will not receive another warning."
"Oh it's good to see you children acting all grown up!" Anne Marie declared, her voice honey sweet. "But even now, you are still boys and girls playing at an adult's game."
"What are you saying?" Ronald demanded over the disconcerted mutterings of the remaining guests.
"What I'm saying, darling, is that your little scheme is more see through than your wife's dress." The cockiness of her smirk never left her face, even as Ronald leveled the revolver at her head. "Go ahead, Ronnie dear. Pull the trigger. But I suspect you'd have more success with these."
The air was sucked out of the room as Anne Marie slipped a finely manicured hand into her purse and retrieved six bullets. She tossed them across the dinner table with a mocking laugh.
"You can dine without me tonight, I'm not feeling hungry," she told them as she turned away. "I'll see you all next week though... I think I'll be in the mood for a nice steak. See if you can't mess that up, dears."
Anne Marie stepped gracefully from the room as the others slumped, defeated, into their chairs.
*grinning*
ReplyDeleteWell done!
(Er - your ending, that is. Or, I suppose that could be interpreted as to how I like my steak...)
*still smiling*
The main reason I thought of Macheth was the fact that the wife was the one egging him on, not too unlike Lady Macbeth prodding Macbeth into killing Duncan ("But screw your courage to the sticking point and we'll not fail!")
ReplyDeleteThis little idea was great, and the continuations were even better. I don't know if my words hold any weight around here, but I'd personally like to see this sort of prompt again in the future.
Tracy - thanks, glad you like it. Much thanks for the great setup :)
ReplyDeleteg2 - ah, that makes sense. Thanks for taking the time to explain.
And that is exactly the sort of feedback I love to hear. I'll definitely do it again :)
Nice! I enjoyed reading this! hehe. And yeh, I see your Macbeth point G2...I could see the connection..(Out, damned spot! out, I say!—One, two..lol that's all I remember from Macbeth. Yeh I did it at school. lol)
ReplyDeleteAnd eerm, Tracy, are you on Protagonize already? If you're not, I suggest you head over there! :)
Rose @>}-----
I second Rose's recommendation to Tracy, by the way :)
ReplyDelete