The exercise:
Today's theme is: the emergency.
Another beautiful fall day. Still no frost in the garden. Fingers crossed for a good restaurant order this week.
Mine:
"Timothy, call the doctor at once!"
"What is it this time, my darling? Not another split end, I hope."
"No, it's far, far worse this time. I cannot stand to even look at it!"
"Oh you poor little thing, what terrible fate has befallen you now?"
"I've... I've... broke a nail!"
7 comments:
We've not actually had any frost here in the UK yet either (well, here in London in the UK, anyway!) which is a little unusual for the middle of October; however the weather is chilling down now, so I live in hope!
So in today's story... Timothy is Kat, and the other speaker is you? ;-)
The emergency
"This," said Dr. Septopus, his beak clacking as he spoke, "is Captain Chrysalis." On the projector screen behind was a sepia-toned image of a man in old-fashion dress with abdominal muscles to be in awe of.
"Why is that slide in sepia?" asked Sylvestra, squinting slightly at it. "And why is it out of focus?"
"He's very boffo," sniffed the Green Lightbulb before Dr. Septopus could answer, causing the usual befuddlement as they worked out what word he'd mangled this time.
"It's in sepia because it was taken sixty-five years ago," said Dr. Septopus. "Which is when he was last seen. However, I had good information that suggests he's been pupating for all that time, and very soon will be his emergency. The big question is: what will he emerge as?"
"Where do you keep getting this information from?" Sylvestra was squinting harder at the image on the screen now. "You know, that room he's in looks familiar...."
"Typically butteries and mollymoos emergerate from cryptosporids," said the Green Lightbulb.
Sylvestra and the Doctor looked at each other, and shrugged.
"That room – it's our Council Chamber!" said Sylvestra suddenly. Dr. Septopus shuffled backwards looking embarrassed.
"Florilegium mahabharat fundicular demonstrate co-operateration disenfranchise mollymoo convenientalise," said the Green Lightbulb.
Sylvestra was the first to speak. "I think he's having a stroke," she said.
"No," said Dr. Septopus slowly. "No, I think Captain Chrysalis might be trying to emerge into him."
And I'm back after a long lay off ...
A siren. Far away. It needs to be here. I breathed deeply, feeling the air fill my chest. The siren. Further away. It’s not coming. My head bursts. Tears streak down my cheeks. How dare they, I need them. We need them. Another siren. A busy night. Come here. My cell phone dangles in my loose hand. Silence. Why won’t they come. I breathe deeply. Tears stop. Blood pulses. Anger consumes. They never listen. One more siren. This must be the one. Hope. Dashed. As the sound diminishes. They’re not coming. I look at the display on my phone. Numbers. Nine. One. One. I should have pressed send. I drop the phone. Stomp it with my foot. I feel the gun in my left hand. Cold. Heavy. Ready. They should have come. I would have stopped.
Scene: A college classroom. A class is in session, students sitting quietly at the desks, watching the professor at the front of the room attentively. On the board:
Emergency: constituting a state of emergency
The professor reads the words aloud, and someone whispers softly: That definition is not helpful.
The professor continues, writing on the board as he speaks.
Let us define a state of emergency.
1. an event in which circumstances are rapidly changing for the worse.
2. a person has been injured and needs medical attention quickly.
3. an insect is emerging from its cocoon or chrysalis.
The giant chrysalis in the corner of the room cracked open. One of the halves hit a girl in the last row of seats as it fell, knocking her unconscious.
In this case, class, which definition of emergency shall we use?
The class didn't bother answering. They were too busy running for the doors.
Brilliant entries there!
The Emergency
"Quick! where is my other earring? I can't go out like this!"
"Hey! Who put the red sock in my white wash? Now I haven't got a white shirt for my job interview!"
"Oh, the truckers are on strike! The supermarket shelves are running out of food! I will starve!"
"You forgot to collect the suit from the cleaners! What will I wear to the funeral?"
"Darn, you wrote off the car! Now the kids have to walk to school!"
"Whoa, how do you stop the bleeding from that gash?"
"Hey, does anyone know CPR?"
"Geez, the bridge fell into the sea. How will all those commuters get to work now?"
"OMG, that nuclear reactor just blew. The radiation is blowing this way...our crops!"
"Look up! The sky is falling! Is it a meteor? A Comet?" the dinosaurs said amongst themselves.
Pick your emergency.
Greg - ha ha, Mister Funny Man :P
Poor Green. If it's not one thing, it's another.
David - welcome back :)
Extremely powerful writing. The short, punchy sentences are very effective.
Morganna - ha, I could totally picture that scene in my head. Really nicely conveyed :)
World of Exp. - really enjoyed the multiple takes on the prompt. Just shows how many different ways we could have gone with it.
David: I loved that story. It was amazing.
Ok, emergency. Let's see...
---
"Come on! Hurry up!"
"I'm coming! Can't you see I'm coming?!"
"If you don't hurry up, she'll die!"
"I'll get there when I get there!"
On the other side of the building, Cisne was buried under a pile of rocks. A faulty support. Cisne. What had she ever done for Levi anyway?
There were people there already, digging her out. But she would need medical attention. Pssh. Levi was in the middle of eating his lunch. What an inconvenience.
If Cisne died, it would be her own damned fault. Levi would get there when he got there. If he was too late, he was too late.
The man came running down the hallway as fast as he could.
"You're too late. Cisne is dead."
Drake - Levi is an interesting character, I wouldn't mind hearing more stories from his point of view. He has me intrigued.
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