One Thing Leads To Another
Every action has a reaction. The reaction is an action and there is another reaction. Think about a sequence of happenings, a string of events, a progression, or a chain reaction. Write your story where one thing leads to another.
How Did I .....
ReplyDeleteOh, wow. Damn! That is a doozy of a headache. What in the hell? Ok, eyes open, have to get to the aspirin.
"Good morning. Glad you could join us today."
"Um, yea. What....?"
"I am just here to get your vitals. Someone will be along shortly for anything else you need."
Why am I in a hospital room? I hurt like hell, but a nurse? Tubes in my arm? Everything is fuzzy. What do I remember?
Ready for work as usual; oh hell. Big fight before I left, bitchin' at me for drinking again. Great start to the day. Work was usual except for the phone calls; three if I remember correctly. All still complaining about the night before.
Met Tim and Rick at the sports bar after work, damn sure was not going home after being yelled at all day. She needs to give it a rest, I don't drink that much. Watched most of the game, had a few beers, headed home. Nothing unusual there except that I stopped answering the calls. We would talk when I got home.
Then she started texting; she knows I hate that. Most of them I ignored, finally could not stand it anymore. I texted her that I would be home in a minute, looked up at the road.....
Dog, swerve, tree. Damn. That is the last thing I remember. How bad am I hurt? I seem to ache all over, but nothing seems to be moving when i want it to. Wait a minute.
Why isn't she here?
A string of events that tell a gripping tale Mark. Good effort.
DeleteA DOLLAR AND A DREAM
ReplyDeleteAn indigent life was indeed a life of hopelessness. Carl Telesco knew this better than anyone. Huddled over the open grating hoping for the steam from the subway station to waft upward to warm him. It was a wonder he slept at all. His sleep - uneasy, but sleep non-the-less.
Somewhere in the night Carl was rousted awake. The poke of a wooden prod; a night stick. The police officer did not care that the broken man had nowhere to go. He needed to keep the grate clear for everyone's safety.
Telesco gathered his meager belongings and shuffled down toward the wharf. It had always been the seedy part of town. Carl hated it there; too much hassle and his dignity, what little he had, was in rapid evaporation.
His feet slid uneasily down the pavement. Shards of broken bottles skittered toward the gutter. Newspaper trash and cigarette butts; used condoms and hypodermic needles littered this lost world within the big city. Carl's foot hit something metallic. Under the street lamp, the shape of a dropped handgun twirled in the shadow. He picked the piece up and felt its heft in his hand. But Carl saw something else; the wad of bills was more money than he had seen in a very long time. Carl tossed the gun back to the pavement. He went off with his treasure.
Carl bought a suit; fine threads made him feel better. He got a shave and haircut, exposing his handsome features. He walked into Chez Cuisine and Carl ate like a king. He flaunted his faux fortune and people noticed him. Carl felt like a big shot.
The blast resounded in the street, echoing off of the brownstone building and triggering the alarms of cars parked nearby. Carl's head bounced on the concrete as he landed in a pool of his own blood. A scared kid had found the discarded pistol. He wanted what Carl had.
Carl felt a hard poke in his side. His eyes butterflied open. Standing above him on the metal grating was a police officer, night stick in hand. Carl was being rousted to move along. Telesco gathered his meager belongings and shuffled down toward the wharf. Carl's foot hit something metallic. Under the street lamp, the shape of a dropped handgun twirled in the shadow. He picked the piece up and felt its heft in his hand.
He remembered his prior dream. Carl thought about the outcome. The blast resounded in the street, echoing off of the brownstone building and triggering the alarms of cars parked nearby. An indigent life was indeed a life of hopelessness. Carl Telesco needed not worry about that anymore.