(From the writing exercise book What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers by Bernays/Painter. Exercise entitled "Beginning a Story with a 'Given' First Line." The exercise: "Where were you last night?")
Angie read the sign advertising CBS's latest bombshell docudramedy. The show followed Andy Bumpass a real-life mall cop following his childhood dream by moonlighting as a carpet-cleaning agency dispatcher. Each episode revealed new complexities to Andy's edgy lifestyle until he arrived home to answer his wife's tagline question "Where were you last night?" Andy always had trouble trying to convincingly recreate the night's events for his wife. Hilarity ensued as the audience endured Andy's imagined flashbacks. Angie hated that she knew this.
WHERE WERE YOU LAST NIGHT? The yellow block letters on the poster cleverly condemned the passers-by for not watching Andy's latest adventure and it was working.
Angie read the sign and when she read it she felt guilty because she was reminded that she had wasted another night last night and that instead of being with people or trying to be with people or trying to be with someone in particular she had instead spent the night alone, again, on her couch that smelled like mustard consuming an entire keg of cheese puffs and watching a series of pathetic primetime network attempts to encapsulate life as it is in one hour unfortunately including the aforementioned CBS docudramedy.
As she trundled down the crowded city street alone Angie briefly thought about what a waste her life was just like her last night but mostly she thought about how when she walked she swayed side to side and slapped her feet more pronouncedly than most people and that was probably why no one would spend time with her.
Angie read the sign advertising CBS's latest bombshell docudramedy. The show followed Andy Bumpass a real-life mall cop following his childhood dream by moonlighting as a carpet-cleaning agency dispatcher. Each episode revealed new complexities to Andy's edgy lifestyle until he arrived home to answer his wife's tagline question "Where were you last night?" Andy always had trouble trying to convincingly recreate the night's events for his wife. Hilarity ensued as the audience endured Andy's imagined flashbacks. Angie hated that she knew this.
WHERE WERE YOU LAST NIGHT? The yellow block letters on the poster cleverly condemned the passers-by for not watching Andy's latest adventure and it was working.
Angie read the sign and when she read it she felt guilty because she was reminded that she had wasted another night last night and that instead of being with people or trying to be with people or trying to be with someone in particular she had instead spent the night alone, again, on her couch that smelled like mustard consuming an entire keg of cheese puffs and watching a series of pathetic primetime network attempts to encapsulate life as it is in one hour unfortunately including the aforementioned CBS docudramedy.
As she trundled down the crowded city street alone Angie briefly thought about what a waste her life was just like her last night but mostly she thought about how when she walked she swayed side to side and slapped her feet more pronouncedly than most people and that was probably why no one would spend time with her.
No comments:
Post a Comment