Hey, Readerland! The Ogre is back once again, pencil and paper in hand (metaphorically speaking) and ready to get down to business on Day 13 of the Ogre/ Chuck Challenge!
So, what's today's topic?
25. Write about the worst mistake a character has ever made -- the kind of mistake that resonates
throughout that character's life. The kind where the snake can never be put back into the can.
Now re-write it like that mistake is the best thing that ever happened to the character.
First off, I would like to apologize for the weird carriage returns in some of my entries, especially when I'm copying down the challenge for the day. I'm copying/pasting from a PDF, so I'll blame it on that. I'd blame Chuck Wendig, but he has more money than me and could sue my pants off. And has a thing against pants, let me tell you.
Anyway, so today's challenge is a repeat or Week...5, I think. I can't remember. I remember writing about a woman giving up money to the police, though. Based on a true story. I think. So, here we go.
Scene 1:
Bobby scrambled up from where he had landed, watching Allie fall to the ground, the thug's knife coming free of her ribs. She landed on the ground and flopped like a rag doll. The thug turned as Bobby rushed him.
Bobby shoved the knife aside and plowed his full body weight into the crook and slammed him back against the nearest wall, the knife falling from the thug's hand. Bobby punched the other man repeatedly in the stomach and groin. This man had killed Bobby's wife. This man was going to pay.
Bobby pulled away from the man and the man puked all over the ground. Bobby stooped over and picked up the knife, the moonlight reflecting on the blood. With a hard overhand swing, Bobby jammed the knife between the crook's ribs.
Bobby threw the man down, pulling the knife free. He kicked the thug onto his back and mounted him. With an animalistic roar, he plunged the thug's knife into the thug's own chest over and over again.
The red and blue flashing lights of a police car brought Bobby out of his homicidal trance. He threw himself to the ground and began crying. One cop went to Bobby and held him to the ground. The other went to where Allie lay.
"She's still alive!" the cop yelled, immediately grabbing for his walkie talkie and radioing for an ambulance.
Within a few minutes, the paramedics arrived. Allie's heart was slowing. They gave her an adrenaline injection, but nothing happened. A couple of minutes later, they declared her dead.
"If only we had gotten here five minutes earlier," one of the paramedics said. "we might have saved her."
Bobby was put into the back of the cruiser knowing that while he had killed the man that attacked them, he had to live knowing that he might have saved his wife.
Scene 2:
Bobby scrambled up from where he had landed. He watched Allie fall to the ground, the thug's knife coming free of her ribs. She landed on the ground and flopped like a rag doll. He ran over to Allie. "Allie? Baby? Talk to me!"
Allie gasped. "Bobby. Honey. I'm sorry. I..."
"Don't be sorry, baby." Bobby said through his tears. "You're going to be okay. The ambulance will be here soon and they're going to patch you right up, okay? You're going to be fine."
"You're a horrible liar, Bobby." Allie gasped again. "I don't know...how..." Her eyes started to unfocus. "I love you, Bobby." And she was gone.
"I...I didn't mean to kill her." The thug said. "But she wouldn't give me her purse. And you wouldn't give me your wallet." He said, his voice filling with anger. "If you had just given me your money, none of this would have happened."
"We don't have any money, you asshole!" Bobby yelled. "We're unemployed college students! We're poor! We just put down a payment on a two hundred dollar engagement ring! Look!" Bobby pulled out his wallet and opened it. "No cash! None! Credit cards are maxed! We were walking because we can't afford a car! We have nothing!" Bobby started to sob. "You killed her for nothing."
"God. If you just...I mean...God." The thug crouched down. "I'm sorry, man. It...this wasn't supposed to happen."
"Wasn't supposed to happen?" Bobby stood. "You held us up with a knife! What did you think would happen?"
"Look, man. Just...just simmer down, okay? I'm sorry." the thug said. "It was an accident."
"You're sorry?" Bobby asked.
"Yeah, man. I didn't want this to happen." the thug said.
"You have no idea what you've just done, do you?" Bobby asked.
"Yeah, I killed a girl. By accident, though." the thug said, shrugging his shoulders.
"No." Bobby said with a laugh. "You killed the woman I loved. You killed her. I have no friends here. I have no family here. I don't have a job or a car or a dog or a wife. You, my man, have taken from me the only thing I had left to live for. For nothing."
"Look, I..." the thug started. He couldn't finish because Bobby kicked him in the mouth.
"Shut up!" Bobby screamed. "You just shut the Hell up!"
"Mother...you know what I'm going to do to you?" the thug asked, wiping blood from his mouth as he stood.
"It doesn't matter." Bobby said. "You have taken everything I cared about from me. What makes you think you can do worse?"
"Man, you crazy." the crook said.
"You think that's crazy? Watch this." Bobby said.
Bobby leapt at the man and drove him to the ground. Before the thug could react, Bobby had his hands locked around the man's neck, slamming the man's bald head against the ground over and over. He ignored the thug's wheezes and feeble attempts to stab him.
The thug stopped moving a few minutes before, but Bobby kept going. He had either strangulated or smashed the man's head in. He didn't care.
Finally, Bobby got off of the man and crawled over to where Allie lay. He wiped his blood hands off as best he could so as to not mar her perfect beauty.
When the police finally arrived, Bobby was still cradling Allie's body in his arms. As he was lead off to the police cruiser, Bobby knew that he had lost the love of his life, but in return had killed her killer. If he was going to be in prison for the rest of his life, he couldn't think of a better reason.
Well. Hm. I'm not sure that turned out to be the 'best thing' to ever happen to Bobby, but that's what came out. You take what you can get, I guess.
So, Day 13 down, Day 14 tomorrow. What's up for tomorrow? Good question! Tomorrow's exercise is:
18. Write the unsexiest sex scene you can write. Maybe it's awkward. Maybe both parties are
totally into it but the reader won't be. Maybe it involves some kind of mind-boggling fetish like
people who get erotically charged by Mylar balloons or who dress up like giant teddy bears and
try to bang parked cars.
Well. THAT should be interesting. I...how...I can't even put together a coherent sentence right maple.
So, there you have it. Not exactly following the rules, but I haven't really been doing that that much the last 13 days, so why start now? Anyway, that's it for today and I'll see you tomorrow. Until then, take care and be awesome to each other.
#WWWYKI
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