Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Writing Prompt #1: Use the Author As the Model

Explanation: Rewrite the first three sentences of a favorite book or current book you are reading. Change the names, verbs, etc using the sentence as your guide. Book: The Wrong Side of Goodbye, Michael Connelly (chosen because it is literally the only fiction/novel type book on the bookcase next to me) "Bosch didn't mind the wait. The view was spectacular. He didn't bother with the waiting room couch. Instead he stood with his face a foot from the glass and took in the view that ranged from the rooftops of downtown to the Pacific Ocean." Rebecca could wait for hours. What she was taking in was remarkable. She couldn't stand staying inside. Instead she was out on the balcony where she got the full view of the snow-capped mountains and the hidden lake below.... ....She had been waiting. For hours, that is. She expected as much, as her visit was unannounced and she knows Randy doesn't like surprises. Any kind of surprise. Even from his baby sister. So she would wait and enjoy the view. He would eventually have to go home and she knows where that is even if he decides to brush her off. The last time she came unannounced he had brushed her off and she had let him. Ten people died because of it. This time, she would not let that happen. She saw a pattern and he was going to listen to her, even if it is through his bathroom door in that monstrosity of a house he calls home. He bought it for Julie because Julie always has to have better that everyone else. Randy would have been just as happy in a cabin in the valley. However, Julie drives their boat so Julie gets what she wants. Rebecca heard the soft scraping of the chair behind her and saw her brother standing there. He was more pale that she remembered and had lost about 20lbs. As she turned towards him to get a full view, he lit a cigarette. "Randy. Really? You're smoking again? I thought you quit when the twins were born." The twins - Julia and Julius - were Randy's first born. They were now in Ivy League schools with undeclared majors and no one was pushing them to decide. Not even the school as they knew Randy and Julie would just continue with payments and who says no to easy cash. "Hello to you too, little sister. Long time no eye contact." Rebecca let out a soft sigh and decided it could wait. The cigarettes that is, not the reason she came to see him. "Do you recall two years ago when I came to you and told you I had discover an anomaly in the system and you didn't take me seriously?" Randy slowly lifted his head, letting his cigarette hang out of his mouth. "Yes." He didn't need a reminder. He hasn't fallen asleep since then without the faces of that mistake floating through his mind. "There's another anomaly. It's bigger this time and I need you to look into it." Randy let his head slowly fall back down as he watched an ant carry the smallest bread crumb he had even seen across the balcony. "Randy. Did you hear me? I think they're back." Randy stood up and put his cigar out on the arm of the chair. As he walked back inside, he turned to look at Rebecca. "Yes. I heard you and even though I don't think it is possible, be back at 7pm. Shirley will have left by then and Julie is going to a play tonight with the Margarita Girls. We won't be bothered." And with that, he was gone. As Rebecca walked back to her bike, she thought of Julie and her Margarita Girls. They had been friends since middle school and had always lived near each other. When everyone was single, they were roommates and neighbors. Now that they were all married, some on their second or third marriages, they were not as willing to move around and had all agreed to live within a couple hours of Julie. Her house was centrally located and Julie always had a way of getting her way, even with this group. The husbands never joined them and as far as Rebecca knew, the husbands never asked what they were doing or where they were going. They were just happy to have the arm candy for their corporate dinners and trips to places Rebecca couldn't remember, let alone pronounce. As far as she knew, they're little outings and trips were just girls having fun and no one cheating on their husbands. As far as she knew. Rebecca got back to Randy's office just before 7pm and he was sitting in the conference room with files spread out and a half eaten sandwich from the deli on the corner on the table. He looked up as she walked into the room and asked her, "What is the anomaly 'cause I've been looking through the stuff from two years ago and I think I found a piece that doesn't fit." He smirked as he noticed the shocked look in Rebecca's face. "Yes, I kept all of this and I have been pouring over it since you gave it to me. It bothers me that I missed it and that because of my laziness people died. I was determined to be ready if they came back." Rebecca slowly sat down and just stared at her brother. "You've been studying all this. The whole time?! Why didn't you tell me? We could've been working on this together?" "Yes. I didn't tell you because I needed one of us to be out there keeping an eye on them. I knew if I told you that you would want to be here and I needed you out there." With the papers in his hand, Randy pointed through the office to the balcony. "That is where they are. That is where we will find them. This, this right here, this is how we trap them and I think I've found it." Rebecca slowly lowered herself into the chair next to her brother and looked at him for the a moment without saying a word. It was then that she realized this is why he looked pale, why he had started smoking again and why he had lost all that weight. The guilt and determination he must feel. She had not even thought of that. All she had thought of was how he had not listened and how she had to make him listen this time. All the while, he had been pouting over the files she had given him so he didn't miss it this time. He did all of that not knowing if there would even be a next time. Rebecca reached up and put her hand on his. As he looked over at her, she noticed his eyes were holding back tears. "We will get them this time. Together, we will get them."