The exercise:
Write four lines of prose about: memories of war.
Screw you, sleep - I'm getting this done early tonight.
I've got a two hour, help with the opening rush, shift at the bakery tomorrow morning and then the rest of my day will be taken up with chores around the house and yard, I suspect. But hey, maybe it'll rain enough that I won't be able to do yard stuff?
One can hope, I suppose...
Mine:
I was never daring, dashing, courageous, nor bold. I just did exactly as I was told.
Now you want to give me a medal, throw a parade, start up the band! All because I was foolish enough to lose a hand in a foreign land...
I wouldn't wish for that much rain, you'll end up sitting in the middle of a lake, which will then freeze over into a skating rink. You'll feel compelled then to mark it out for Ice Hockey (of course) and when the thaw finally happens you'll be despondant for days. The yard work is better in the long run, trust me :)
ReplyDeleteSorry for the few days silence, I was sent on an intensive leadership course. Some of it I already know (the various kinds of listening: Attentive, Active, Empathic and Generative) but some of it was quite new and has sparked ideas. I feel that my secondary ambition of ruling the world has moved much closer now ;-)
I think I've mentioned before that I like your rhyming prose, and this piece is no exception. The rhythm is spot on, and the slightly jaunty pace is the ideal counterpoint to the dismissive, slightly cynical voice of someone who knows that what was done was more important than recognition after the fact. I've re-read it at least four times now :)
Memories of war
"Well doc, I know it's not what you're diggin' for, but for me the memories of war are every date I've ever been on. Jesus, I started out with a tour in 'Nam right at the beginning and the moist, dark foliage with that... that smell -- it just took me right back to Julianne. I think she left me with more scars than the gooks ever did, and I'm damn sure I love them more than her. And I might tell you that the Gulf tour was hot as hell and drier too, sand in places you don't want to find sand, scratchy, itchy, nauseous all the time, and it was still fifteen percent better than dating Georgette."
Greg - hah, well, when you put it *that* way :P
ReplyDeleteGood to hear your time away was productive! I shall await your call to do your dirty work en route to world domination :)
Thank you for the kind words.
Hahaha, greatly enjoyed your take on the prompt. I feel like I can hear your narrator speaking as though he were in the room with me.