Tragedy Writing Prompt 2

It seems this is tragedy week in Elements of Genre Writing on Facebook.  Yeah, I know, I am slow on the uptake, but it wasn’t really mentioned until today.  We had another picture for today’s prompt.  Another prompt had a song and video for the prompt but it was a tag game for the whole group to work with.  I may give it a try another week.  For now, I am getting accustomed to people there.

There was nothing left to say. She didn’t want him any longer and that was abundantly clear. Seeing her anger flashing in her eyes like a forest fire out of control only added emphasis to the shrill words and the sudden slam of the door in his face. Behind the thick oak, he could hear her sobs and the slam of another door somewhere inside the house.

Shawn heaved a heavy sigh, turned around, then headed to his beat up old truck. Sitting on the passenger’s seat was a small, slender, box; a gift for the woman who shattered his heart without giving him a chance to explain. The bracelet inside may never get to feel the soft flesh of her wrist or the charms dance along her sleeves. He couldn’t bear to keep it, so he slipped it into the mailbox with the hope that she would find it before the postman made his rounds that afternoon.

Rather than head back to his quiet apartment, he decided to keep on driving. Far passed the city limits he went until his tank ran empty. The battered and broken fence of the old quarry lay just down the slope from him, hidden behind overgrown vines and trees. Everyone knew it was there and many have trespassed for the privacy the barren rock walls gave on full moon nights.

The keys were left behind on the driver’s seat and the gas can placed by them to let whoever found it know, it needed fuel and it was abandoned. Shawn didn’t want it. He didn’t want the ache in his heart. The angry words thrown at him ran races through his mind giving him little peace. If only she would have let him speak.

Rumor took his girl away from him and misinformation cemented the idea he cheated into her heart and mind. Sarah would have none of it. She believed everything her friends told her and believed the pictures they showed her on their phones.

If only… if only… It all ran through his head trying to sweep away those angry words and give him peace. Peace would not be his friend. It eluded him as easily as the shadows in the night. With his truck down, he had only his two feet and the dirt road ahead of him with the trees reaching toward each other from both sides.

With hands in his pockets and his head bowed, he walked, following the old road. The animals watching reflected his mood and stayed quiet out of deference for his emotional loss. They watched and moved on, leaving him to his circling thoughts and softly mumbled words.

A week later, Sarah found herself driving down the same road. The old truck was still there, untouched by human hands. No signs of Shawn were there. Seeing how empty and alone that truck was, she shivered and gasped as if something cold ran up her spine to tickle the base of her skull. Her fingers traced the little charms of her bracelet while she looked for any sign of him.

Only the quiet of the woods greeted her and the sense that she was no longer welcome filled the air. Unsure of what it was, Sara turned her car around and left. Nothing was waiting for her down the road, only more loneliness and the idea that the past cannot be changed. If only she knew what her words had done to the lonely man. Only the woods know and they won’t give up their secret.

Writing Prompt

This was a writing prompt in a Facebook group I recently joined called Elements of Genre Writing.  Today’s prompt was for tragedy and we were given a picture for the prompt.

It was supposed to be a quiet evening. Nothing exciting, just dinner, maybe a movie, and some alone with her special guy. He had promised her that there would a surprise for her after dinner. Just thinking about what it could be had her on pins and needles waiting for six o’clock when he’d arrive in his beat up old Jeep to pick her up for their date.

That was all it was supposed to be. No more, no less. Katie didn’t expect the limo to take her and Joe to the restaurant, nor did she expect to be taken to one of the most lavish places in town that had a waiting list almost a year long. It was more than she ever dreamed.

Joe gave her bouquet of red and white roses at the door and treated her like a queen. Nothing could have been more perfect. Nothing, until he knelt beside her at the table when their desserts were delivered then opened a small box to reveal a glittering ring. Her answer was only a tearful nod as she covered her face with her hands.

Just as the ring was slipped onto her finger, the nightmare began with the rapid fire of automatic weapons and the shattering of glass. Those closest to the windows didn’t stand a chance. But they were the lucky ones. The rest of the diners were rounded up and forced into a truck to endure a one way trip someplace outside of town.

Why they were kidnapped, Katie didn’t know, nor did she understand why. No one else knew why they were taken away from their normal lives, either. All they knew was they were being taken somewhere far from their homes.

When the doors finally opened, gun fire filled the small compartment making an escape futile at best. No one escaped unscathed. Joe took several bullets trying to protect her and died in her arms. Katie cried, in pain from the hits she took when Joe’s body slipped from her arms to the floor of the truck.

The last thing she saw before the last bullet ripped the life from her body was the sneer of her captor after he took off the black ski mask and aimed the gun at her and the rest of the living.

It was supposed to be a quiet evening.

I hope you enjoy the free write for this prompt.  Critique all you want, I enjoy what others think of my rough work.

Writing Prompt for #writemotivation Google+ Group

I couldn't let this one go unnoticed or undone.  It just may appear in my book Society of Night and Lies.  It's a very good set up for an escape scene.

Daily Writing Prompt May 24:Partial First Sentence "With her feet on the window sill..."

With her feet on the sill, she grasped the sash and pulled with all her might to open the huge window.  It gave way, but only grudgingly with a creak then a sudden motion upward which nearly knocked her off balance.  Hanging on for dear life, Sabrina looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was coming in only to hear the pounding footsteps of her captors.

"Shit!"  She muttered then looked down at the street far below.  She had to be at least three stories up and the only soft landing was the half filled trash bin.  "Double shit!"  She didn't relish getting herself smothered in stuff that no stray animal would want to touch let alone walk near.

She then looked at the building across the alley.  The window directly across from her was broken, leaving just a few shards of glass still caught in the pane.  It would be a painful leap but better than getting covered in smelly trash.  After taking a deep breath, she set her resolved and didn't try to think about the distance she would have to cross.  Either way, she was trash if she stayed there and this could be her only chance to escape Dean's clutches.

Crouching low, she closed her eyes and sent a silent prayer.  Sabrina wasn't a religious feline, but even she knew this was going to be a leap of faith as well as a leap for her life.  "One.  Two.  Three!" She counted aloud to herself and launched with all her might to get to the window so enticingly close.

Her captors burst through the door just as she jumped, each of the yelling and getting in each other's way as they scrambled to try to stop her, only to miss the hairs on the tip of her tail as she went sailing through the air to uncertain freedom.

Writing Prompt From #writemotivation Google+ Group

I think I may post these here as well as on my Google+ account.  It's amazing what comes to mind when you have something random placed in front of you that has nothing at all to do with the current works on your plate.

May 25 Daily Writing Prompt: "With bleary eyes she approached the machine"

With bleary eyes, she approached the machine.  While she did have her glasses on, the items still appeared to be one huge blur with distinct points making themselves visible the closer she got.  Deep in the back of her sleep riddled mind, she cursed the machine for the very things it held within its grasp.  She hated anything coming out the old vending machines.

To make things worse, it was a vending machine in the 'breakfast room' of the motel, if it could even be called that, she took refuge from the storm in the night before.  The place looked like it had seen better years before a war against time took chips out of the pain and chunks out of the brick and mortar.  It wasn't someplace she willingly wanted to stay in.  The roaches could keep it for all she cared, as long as they left her alone and didn't try to hitch a ride in the trailer she was pulling.

Now, it was barely sunrise and she needed to get back on the road before traffic got too thick to manage with her rig.  All she needed was something to eat.  Stale chips, half melted candy bars, pretzels that no one wanted to touch let alone eat.  A few packs of gum, but that wouldn't be able to do much about her hunger.

How she dreamed to have an omelette willed with ham, mushrooms, and peppers, a cup of coffee that smelled like it was ground that morning and a pile of hash browns that would make any trucker die from the grease lingering about the plate beneath it all.  Drooling, she smacked her lips then saw, with fresh eyes, the poor excuse for a meal in front of her hiding behind the plexiglass shield of the machine.

She sighed then pushed herself away from the machine.  "Maybe there's something better down the road," she said to herself as she headed back to her room and prepare to leave the nightmarish domain of the roadside motel.