Today’s offering of Wednesday Words is short–the origial 250 words used in the #ThursdayThreads challenge. There’s a reason I didn’t expand upon this one. Actually, there’s several–mainly because these words are completely random based on the prompt: **”Both went as far as she could see.”** It was a tough challenge so I just did some “free writing” and this is the scene that got spit out. I thinking it will likely reappear in a Nightrider book or maybe one of the Mafia books. Not sure. Anyway, this is a quick peek into the way my brain works. When it’s working. 😉
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Cops at her door was not a good way to start her day. The living room was empty. Good. And bad. The doorbell jangled again followed by pounding hard enough to rattle the window next to the door.
“I’m comin’, already. For chrissakes hold your freakin’ horses.” She fumbled with the locks but left the security chain in place. She gave the two cops a jaundiced eye. One was a grizzled veteran. The other was just a puppy playing dress up. “Whaddya want?”
The puppy puffed out his chest. “Open the door.”
“You gotta a warrant?”
“Don’t need one.”
She looked down her nose at him even though he was taller. “Are you sure?”
The veteran tossed his partner a side-eye. “We’re looking for two men. Witnesses placed them here last night.”
“What witnesses?” No one in this neighborhood would voluntarily talk to the police.
“Look, ma’am—”
“I don’t gotta look. They ain’t here. Both went.” As far as she could see, the matter was over and done with. She lifted a shoulder in a negligent shrug, her expression bored. “What’s the big deal.”
The older one gave her a hard-eyed once over. She knew what he thought he saw—slept-in mascara giving her raccoon eyes, bed-head hair, ratty shorts and tank top. Wasn’t her fault she’d had all of two hours’ sleep.
“Do you know where they went?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care.” And wouldn’t tell even if she knew. Still, she’d kill her brother when she saw him again.
****
There you have it. I don’t have much else to say so feel free to weigh in, readers. Where do you think this scene might fit? And writer’s do you use prompts and if so, how’s it work for you?
So, Iffy is all over the place these days–except the one place she’s supposed to be. I keep telling myself words are words even if they don’t actually fit into anything current or on the near horizon. Still, words are words. If I keep repeating that, maybe I’ll believe it. Anyway, last week’s #ThursdayThreads prompt was: “A spark is all it takes.” I suppose I should feel happy that Iffy didn’t try to burn something down with that for inspiration. Nope, instead, she went right to the Nightriders. I can’t give you much of a set up other than it’s a bar and the POV character is a fish out of water. Have fun! (I did while writing it, so it’s all good, yeah?)
It’s Monday. Again. And May has 5 of this suckers. Sometimes, I feel sorry for Monday for being so maligned. I mean, in this day and age, do people still strictly work 9-5/M-F? I haven’t worked that way for years, even before I retreated from the real world to live in the imaginary worlds I create in my head. Writers do that. A lot. 😉 But before becoming a full-time frustrated writer, I also worked shifts with the airport fire department and the suburban police department. Anyway, it’s Monday and I’m off to Wallyworld with Jake. In the meantime…
This popped up in my inbox on Tuesday and I immediately decided to pass it along today for two reasons. First, when things get tough, I forget this particular message and truly needed the reminder this week. And second, while it is important for real life, it also applies to the stories I tell. Just like real people, fictional characters need to be nudged along with these thoughts, too.
Silver James 