The exercise:
Write the first three of four paragraphs of an adventure story. You may be tempted to keep going, but I shall ask politely that you do not. For now.
The Canucks opened this year's playoff adventure this evening with a loss in the first game of their best of seven series. Hopefully that is not a sign of things to come.
Mine:
"Who are you?"
"My name would mean nothing to you."
I was angry at that point, not thinking clearly. The alcohol might have had something to do with it as well, to be honest. But how would you feel if you came home at two in the morning to find a stranger sitting in your living room, eating the last of your chocolate mint ice cream?
I raised my sopping wet umbrella overhead and took, from my perspective at least, a menacing step forward. The man in the black trench coat smiled, pointed a thin finger at my chest, and life as I knew it came to a rather abrupt halt.
2 comments:
I’m a born and raised Philly girl. City girls are a bit tougher than the average girl because we have been taught from a very young age how to take care of ourselves. We are more likely to run into a jam than other girls, but we have sharp instincts. My girlfriends and I can tell if a car drives past us more than once. We can tell when the driver switches places with a passenger. We can tell if a group of kids are going to be a problem or not. Rule #1 is to walk on main streets that are well lit. Our fathers tell us this, but they have never been catcalled and harassed by walkers and drivers. They have never met an aggressive man who calls you names and scares you by getting dangerously too close. We believe that our fathers think we are safer where people can see us, but my girls and I have preferred taking our chances in alleyways and side streets.
Mel and I have recently turned 21. We no longer need to use our fake ID’s to get into Callahan’s. Turning 21 is a let down. We have been looking forward to drinking legally for years, but the anticipation was overrated. We feel old. Do we keep going to neighborhood bars or do we start taking cabs downtown? We are two cute girls walking down a side street on our way to the bar. Sounds dangerous, right? If it does, you aren’t a city kid.
We are about to walk past a school. If you aren’t a city kid, you would feel safer there I’m sure. If you are city kid you know there are always kids playing basketball, and bball boys love to talk trash. Tonight it was quiet, but Forrest school is a long city block of poorly lit black asphalt to get past. We saw them first. They were double parked on Shelmire with their blinkers on. They were talking to someone in a house. One was short and fat and the other was tall and skinny; they were different ethnicities so that combination makes for a very memorable duo. They didn’t catcall us and that was our first red flag. They asked if we had any money, and we just knew. That’s when we heard their Timberland boots running toward us.
Mo - great details and attitude really set the stage here. Nicely conveyed :)
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