Party in the Comments Box!
(Okay, so maybe I don't feel like cutting and pasting anything this week. Something tells me you're all going to give me a little grace here.)
Ahem. There's a lot of talent represented in my readership! So I'm eager to see you have some fun with words. Here's how to play:
Read what's been written so far. Write THE NEXT 30 WORDS. No more, no less. No period if you haven't come to the end of a sentence yet. No end quotes if the dialogue has broken off in the middle. 30 words. And make them flow naturally out of the preceding words.
Oh, and one more thing: Your 30 words MUST contain one of the following words:
PITHY
TREMULOUS
SPRECHSTIMME
UNDULATE
CARIBOU
GOURD
REDACT
CANDID
JALEPEÑO
GROMMET
FLUSTER
CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
Yes, you may choose a word that's already been used by someone else -- but not a word that has been used in the 30-word segment right before yours.
Do you think we can shoot for a 1500 word story? That would mean 50 comments.
I will start the story in the comment box, to keep things all together.
Okie dokie? Show me your stuff!
Miss Snark's First Victim
"I'll have the jalepeno fritatta."
ReplyDeleteCalliope wasn't hungry, really. She just wanted something to make her breath smell bad. Maybe then he wouldn't want to sit by her.
"Do you
have refried beans as a side?"
ReplyDeleteRefried beans, no deodorant, and not a stick of gum in sight, Calliope laughed to herself as she fingered the grommet on her new
jacket.
ReplyDeleteNow for the pithy conversation... "Bruno hates when people sit on his lap."
"Bruno?" His eyes flashed amused.
"My invisible friend. That's his seat." There. That ought to make
Nathan move away. Or convince him she was nuts. Either way, she would be able to breathe again.
ReplyDelete“This is your first visit to Caribou Cove, isn’t it?” His nasal
voice sent railroad spikes of pain through her head. It took all Calliope's self control to not grab that bottle gourd on the wall and shove it down his throat.
ReplyDelete"Bruno is grumpy. Bruno is mad. Bruno says you're frumpy and look really bad." Sprechstimme was a last resort, but her music instructor remarked about the eerie cadence her voice
ReplyDelete"Oh-kay," he said, leaning back a fraction in his chair. "And I suppose Bruno thinks I like chicken noodle soup too?"
ReplyDeleteCalliope shrugged. "Bruno might examine the contents of your
of your cell phone directory. You may want to redact any embarrassing phone numbers listed; say in your top five redials. It's important for Bruno not to worry so much
ReplyDeleteabout your intentions."
ReplyDelete"My intentions?" Nathan's face turned crimson.
"You fluster easily, don't you?" asked Calliope with a grin.
"Only when a girl with smelly breath and stinky armpits thinks
that I could be even remotely interested in anything other than borrowing a few packets of Sweet and Low.”
ReplyDeleteWith that pithy comment, Nathan retreated back to the hole he
came from. Calliope watched him dig into chicken noodle soup with gusto. She felt a slow grin spread across her face. Nathan glanced at her and raised his eyebrows. He…
ReplyDeletewasn’t easy to dismiss. Damn him. Why did he have to be so candid about her personal hygiene? She found nothing else attractive about the man, but his unapologetic frankness
ReplyDeletegave her tremulous heartbeats. This could be the man she needed. One who gave an honest answer to "What do you think of my hair?" and "What to do with
ReplyDeleteAunt Gertie? She was as useless as a farm full of gourd vines in a famine. The only answer I'd come up with so far, was to neck her, but
ReplyDeletethat seemed too cruel. Anyway, she made the best chicken noodle soup in the city. What Calliope really needed was a man to help her with such situations.
ReplyDeleteSighing, she
toyed with a left-over jalepeno on her plate.
ReplyDelete"That went well, huh?"
Calliope looked over at Bruno's chair. Then around the restaurant.
Well?" the deep voice said.
She looked nervously
at the vacant chair. "Who said that?"
ReplyDeleteNo answer. Her gaze slid to Nathan. He hunched over his bowl, shaking with laughter.
"Real nice." Calliope grabbed her purse, frantic to
Oops. Scratch that.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to use a word from the list.
at the vacant chair. "Who said that?"
No answer. Her gaze slid to Nathan. He hunched over his bowl, shaking with laughter.
"Real nice." Calliope grabbed her purse, too flustered
Darn it. Now I put the word in the wrong tense.
ReplyDelete*glares at the list*
at the vacant chair. "Who said that?"
No answer. Her gaze slid to Nathan. He hunched over his bowl, shaking with candid laughter.
"Real nice." Calliope grabbed her purse, frantic
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete, jerking bills from her pocket to pay. She bolted outside like a caribou from a polar bear and hit steam-bath hot air. Mixed metaphors. Her hunky writing coach always ranted
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteabout her ability to state the obvious with such flair.
ReplyDeleteWhen Calliope rounded the corner, heading home, a tremulous fear ripped through her as the booming voice sounded in her
head.
ReplyDelete"Weren't expecting pithy commentary, were you?"
"Back off, Goody," another voice answered. "Hey, that cabbie looks cute. Step off the curb. If he hits you, he will have to