Tuesday, June 24, 2008

PROMPTuesday

Deb over at San Diego Momma has a fun writing challenge.  I always mean to try it, but then I read some of the submissions and get clouded with other people's images, and lose my nerve.  So this week, I'm playing along before I read the other entries.  

The rules are simple.  10 minutes only.  Follow the prompt and write.  Here we go:

You’re in a bookstore. You see stacks and stacks of books, but one in particular catches your eye. Something about the title. You’re intrigued. You pick the book up, open it, and read the first paragraph. Now you’re hooked. What is the title of the book and what did the first paragraph say?

Her hand reaches across the table, fingers tracing the outline of letters.  She circles the book table once, first searching for titles, then twice, searching now for photographs on the covers.  Is it here, she wonders?  Week after week she searches for the one.  She settles on a paperback, rubber boots on a porch, a hand print on the glass door.  Flipping the pages quickly near her face, she inhales.  The smell of fresh paper and ink.  No.  Not this one.  Next her hands float along the table straightening stacks, feeling the raised print of text.  This time they reach for a hardback, a black and white photo, a child, perhaps four, centered between a man and a woman.  The young child, head thrown back, toes reaching for the sky as the couple swing her forward.  Once again, the pages are brought up close enough to smell.  The woman fans them again, and breathes deeply.  Instantly she knows, this is it.  This is the one he left for her.  The one lightly scented with his familiar scent of bar soap, and leather.  She's found it.  Tomorrow, the title reads.  Satisfied and enthralled with her discovery, she tucks the novel under her arm, and heads for the counter.  


(You can play along too.  Head over to San Diego Momma for some divine entries.)

18 comments:

Jennifer said...

I think you did a great job!! :) I woudl be so nervous to do this... I'm not a good writer at all. very well done!! :)

i'm always here checking in on you... but i will be anticipating next tuesday to see what you write then. :)

very well written. great job!!
xoxoxo

Unknown said...

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Melanie Sheridan said...

Ooh that's good!

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

Moving and writing?! You rock. I want to read her book.

Kat said...

I'm intruiged! I want more! Please tell me you will follow this one up. You did a great job! Wow!

San Diego Momma said...

Great Jamie! I'm so happy you gave PT a whirl.
I love the description here. (I always smell my books! True story.)

Deb
sandiegomomma.com

Laski said...

Jamie--you are GOOD!!! Not that this means much coming for an (former) English teacher, but I would give it an A!

Cheffie-Mom said...

Wow! Great writing in 10 minutes! Please stop by my blog and leave a comment at www.dishingwithdebbie.com/wordpress
anytime!!

Misty said...

Excellent.

david mcmahon said...

Well done with that post!

Amy said...

Well done, girl!

Cecily R said...

J, you are good. Just GOOD. There is no way in heck I could come up with that in ten minutes...

Great writing!

Amber M. said...

I loved it, Jamie! Good for you for taking the PT plunge.

Kristen said...

OK, so I am more than slightly impressed!!

That was awesome, and I agree with Kathryn. Please tell me you are going to update this!!

Great job, and do NOT be intimidated again. YOU ROCK sister girl!

Stephanie said...

Jamie - that is amazing! I would have kept reading had it been longer.
You could be on to something...

Wendi said...

I am sitting on the edge of my seat.
That is it?
I need another 10 minutes.
Write more.

I. am. impressed.
It would take me 10 hours to write that.
Even then it would not have been great.

Add great writer to your list of talents.

duchess said...

Good job, Jamie. I want more.
You're right about reading & getting off track - I totally want to add more to your story.

Jennifer S said...

Beautifully written. Wow. You've got the beginning of a great story. (I want to get close enough to smell that man, by the way.)