Writing Game

[ready4roleplay]

Prompt #7
^{A little late tonight.
Also, this is Part 1 of a 2 part prompt.}

Prompt #7
Within is a list of items a person carries with them at all times, in their purse, wallet, or pocket.
Tell me a little about this person. Please include at least their name, occupation, and a blurb of some sort to describe them.
You are welcome do do so in any format you want.

• Driver's license
• prepaid phone card with 2,000 minutes
• $253.50 cash
• hand sanitizer
• an old photo of a young woman
• antique button
• key ring with 19 different keys attached
• a coupon for a free movie rental

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Name: Gerard Wilson

Age: 62

Occupation: Retired School bus driver, currently a Wal-mart greeter

Gerard Wilson had been married to Martha for 41 years.  When she fell ill two years ago, he'd taken an early retirement to take care of her.  When she passed away six months ago, the grief made him too lonely so he found another job where he would always be surrounded by people.  It didn't really help his pain though.  Gerard had once been a people person, every kid that rode his bus for the forty years he drove it loved him. Some of them even still remembered him when they came in Wal-mart to do their shopping but he wasn't the same Mr. Wilson they remembered.  He was now a grouchy, mean old man.

[Lexandria]

Thank you Ebpohmr and Ready4roleplay for responding! Both of your responses were awesome, and I love the differences between them despite them being based off of the same collection of items!

Prompt #8
^{Part 2 of Prompt #7.
Technically I guess that makes this Prompt 7.5? 7-2? 7b? I think I'll stick with consecutive whole numbers.
I kind of want to make this a 3 part prompt. We'll see.}

Prompt #8
Within are your instructions.

Your character from Prompt #7 is having a conversation with another person's character from Prompt #7.
Dialogue only (this means everything must be in quotation marks, no descriptions as to tone, stance, movement, setting, etcetera).
Your character is the first to speak.

Prompt #8: Lexandria's Reply

Conversation between A.J. and Gerard Wilson

"Excuse me, can you direct me to the home improvement department? This Walmart seems to be arranged a bit differently than the others I've been to before. Which is weird, because aren't they all supposed to be laid out the same?"

"Back of the store, left hand corner."

"That's odd. Isn't that usually where the garden department is at most stores?"

"How the hell should I know? That's where the home improvement stuff is here."

"Huh... Okay I guess. Aren't you greeters all supposed to be cheery and stuff? Cuz, dude, you are totally cranky. Look, like fifteen people have entered, and you haven't said 'Hi, Welcome to Walmart' to one of them."

"That's because you've been bothering me."

"I have not, I've just been asking you a question, to which you were snappy at me, like you are now. If your supervisor catches you, you're gonna be fired old dude."

"Will you just Go Away?!"

"See, now you're yelling. Bet your manager is gonna come over here any minute"

"..."

"Okay, okay, I'll leave you alone. But you really otta at least pretend to be in a good mood. Sometimes acting happy can help you feel that way... But then again, there are a lot of clowns who commit suicide. So I might not know what I'm talkin' about. Have a good day old man."

[ebpohmr]

Oops. Someone forgot about this wonderful thread again...  :-[

Prompt #8

Prompt #8
Within are your instructions.

Your character from Prompt #7 is having a conversation with another person's character from Prompt #7.
Dialogue only (this means everything must be in quotation marks, no descriptions as to tone, stance, movement, setting, etcetera).
Your character is the first to speak.

Prompt #8: ebpohmr's Reply

Conversation between Jackson Davies and A.J.

"Hey there beautiful, can I buy you a drink?"

"..."

"Now come on, I've got to fly a Boeing 747-8I over to Berlin tomorrow, so its no late night for me tonight. The least you could do is let me have the memory of buying a pretty girl a drink..."

"Fine. I'll have bourbon. Make it a double. The good stuff, mind."

"But of course! Bartender, set us up! Two double's, bourbon. Maker's 46 if you have it, or Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit. You want ice?"

"..."

"Yeah, your right of course. You don't water down good bourbon. No ice! So, what's your name little lady?"

"Amelia, but if you call me anything other than A.J. you're getting punched in the jaw."

"I'm Jackson. Pleasure to meet you, AJ. So tell me, what does AJ do for a living?"

"I set stuff on fire."

"..."

"No, really."

"What, like an arsonist?"

"No you idiot, like pyrotechnics. I run them for a circus."

"Oh. That sounds like fun. I'm a pilot for Lufthansa, the German airline."

"You said you were a pilot."

"And so I did. You ever fly?"

"I work for a circus..."

"Oh, of course. And here are the drinks. At least we can have the bourbon in common. Here's to making new friends!"

"...Hey, this IS the good stuff!"

Yeah, I suck at conversation...

[Lexandria]

Thank you, Ebpohmr! I don't think you suck at conversation. I find conversation between two characters, especially those I don't have a feel for yet, quite challenging. And I know that writing realistic conversations between two characters, even when I know them well, is sometimes difficult without a lot of supporting text. So, what could be more challenging than a cold conversation, where the words only get to tell the story?

I quite liked your characterization of AJ, it is somewhat along the lines of what I had in mind for her, so awesome! I found Jackson Davies to be rather entertaining as well. I really liked how I got a good impression of the characters through the dialog, and could imagine their facial expressions and movements and a good setting for them as well, without any of it explicitly stated.

I might be posting my prompt for Wednesday on Thursday this week. Tons of work stuff to do due to valentines day, I'm having a lot of late nights.

I do think I might be doing a third part to this prompt-series...

[Lexandria]

Prompt #9
^{Part 3 of Prompt #7.
I apologize for the tardiness of the prompt, I was slammed at work the entire week of Valentine's Day.
I also injured my back pretty badly, and haven't felt back to normal until today.}

Prompt #9
Within are your instructions.

For the character you created in Prompt #7, please explain, in any way you choose (ie: short story, paragraph, description, list ect.) the story behind 4 of the 8 items that you based your character off of. This could include, but is not limited to: Why does the character keep the item with them? What significance does it hold? How did they acquire the item?

For convenience, I have included the list below:

The List

   

• Driver's license
• prepaid phone card with 2,000 minutes
• $253.50 cash
• hand sanitizer
• an old photo of a young woman
• antique button
• key ring with 19 different keys attached
• a coupon for a free movie rental

Prompt #9: Lexandria's Reply

AJ's Items:

Key Ring with 19 different keys attached: AJ keeps these keys with her at all times, two of them are for her mother's house and garage back home, one to her private storage trailer, one to her vehicle (an old, beaten up truck that manages to run real well still), one to a P.O. Box back in her home town for mail, ten to various storage lockers within her storage trailer (for extra security of stored equipment and chemicals) and five to various trailers and storage containers that are maintained by the traveling theatrical carnival.

Hand Sanitizer: AJ is completely obsessed with keeping her hands clean, to the point where it boarders on OCD. The hand sanitizer is for emergencies when a sink and soap are not present.

An old photo of a young woman: This is a photo of her grandmother at 20 years old. AJ spent a lot of time with her grandmother growing up, as her parents were often off working and needed someone reliable to watch their daughter. Her grandmother, Anna, is AJ's hero, and when the woman died, AJ acquired and kept her grandmother's picture, to keep her motivation up so that she could push toward her goals and dreams.

Antique Button: AJ's grandmother used to collect buttons, and let her pick one from her collection at a young age. It is kept with the photograph, as a further reminder and memento of her deceased relative.

[ready4roleplay]

Prompt #9
^{Part 3 of Prompt #7.}

Prompt #9
Within are your instructions.

For the character you created in Prompt #7, please explain, in any way you choose (ie: short story, paragraph, description, list ect.) the story behind 4 of the 8 items that you based your character off of. This could include, but is not limited to: Why does the character keep the item with them? What significance does it hold? How did they acquire the item?

For convenience, I have included the list below:

The List

   

• Driver's license
• prepaid phone card with 2,000 minutes
• $253.50 cash
• hand sanitizer
• an old photo of a young woman
• antique button
• key ring with 19 different keys attached
• a coupon for a free movie rental

Hello there... I didn't respond to Prompt #8 as I was having a very hard time with it.... I think my fear of "god-modding" keeps me from being able to speak for other people's characters.  Anyway..... Here's my response to this :)

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Gerard carried a pre-paid phone card, at his daughter's insistence.  He had never saw the purpose of buying one of those new cell phones everyone was toting around.  And since he didn't have a cell phone, his daughter wanted him to have a phone card in case he was out somewhere and ever needed to call.  Why he would need to talk to her for 33 and 1/3 hours he would never understand, but to keep the peace, he carried it.  He also always had a picture of his beloved wife - she had her eyes closed and her head was tilted back in laughter.  It had been taken only hours before he'd asked her to marry him.  It reminded him of how happy she'd always been to be with him.  The amount of cash he carried was Indicative of her birthday the 25th of March, 1950.  Yes, his wife had been older than he was, but that hadn't stopped the two of them from being happy.  Clipped onto his front right belt loop was a small bottle of hand sanitizer.  People were nasty and Gerard was always wiping his hands after checking their receipts or handling their bags containing returns before directing them to customer service.

[Lexandria]

Prompt #10
^{Sorry this has been two weeks since I posted last.
Work has been kicking my ass of late.}

Prompt #10
Within is a setting. Describe it

A forest at dusk

Prompt #10: Lexandria's Reply

The trees stood like soldiers at attention: straight-backed, solid footed, and forever unyielding. Their uniform consisted of rough brown bark, their features blank and yet completely unique. Long shadows extended from the army, blackening the needle-ridden ground and running into one another as spilled ink might, melding and mixing  to race across the land. There were others, too: some shrubbery and grasses. But the trees! The trees were the true masters of their home. They towered over it all, surveying their land, observing the comings and goings of the world. Each day the span of a minute or a second in their lifetime.

Animals would come and go, some nesting within branches or curling about the trunk, nibbling the offerings of their budding leaves or soft, newly-formed needles. At times a brother or sister would fall to illness or acts of nature beyond any control. Lightning might strike, might light a fire that burned the outter of their thick and old-formed skin. But most would live on, blackened perhaps, but strong and fighting for life beneath. There were other war wounds as well, and yet here they stood: tall, strong, and ready to weather another storm.

[Lexandria]

Also: Thank you ReadyforRoleplay for your post a few weeks ago! I quite liked your take on the prompt!

[RageOfTheTitan]

Prompt #10
^{Sorry this has been two weeks since I posted last.
Work has been kicking my ass of late.}

Prompt #10
Within is a setting. Describe it

A forest at dusk

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

The Autumn day was coming to an end. The world turning from vibrant, exciting gold to a calming blue. There was a clearing with a fire oit in the middle that was frequented by the kids from the high school. There were a few there setting up for this friday nights festivities, stacking wood on the old ashes in the middle of the dirt circle. It was surrounded by thick brush and brambles on all side except the path most traveled, which led to a discrete side street. The smaller trees were leaning over each other like the kids would be later in the evening, drunkenly. The party goers had thought it was fun to knock them over to prove their strength, or stupidity. The ground was littered with the remnents of past events, beer cans, cigarette butts, and glasses of all kinds. There was even a fair number of pairs of pants and under garments in the thick brush around the clearing, but no one could see them, so no one cared. It was clear nothing good ever happened here.