Hey, Readerland! The Ogre is back once again, this time Day 10 of the Ogre/Chuck Challenge is in session! YEAH!
So, first off, I need to talk about yesterday's blog entry a little bit. What I wrote yesterday were my recollections of things that happened to me as a child. I got a call from my sister today and we talked about what happened. Apparently, mom remembered something that I forgot that changes a lot of things. I'm not going to go into specifics. I'm also not going to say that one of us is 'wrong,' because we were both under a lot of emotional stress, so our recollections might not be 100% accurate. It's the same reason why eye witnesses tend to be useless: emotions change your perception of an event. Anyway, it was a good talk and mkaes me view things a little differently.
But never mind that sh*t! Here comes Mongo! Er, Day 10! So, what was today's exercise?
21. Go out into the world and do a little people-watching. Pick a person -- preferably one who
looks nothing like you -- and write three brief scenes from their life. One of those scenes must be
that person's death.
This is interesting because I didn't make it to the outdoor mall like I had planned. I'm actually in one of the buildings on the university campus, tucked into a little alcove. There aren't a tong of people walking by, but there have been a few. I don't know if that counts as 'people watching' but hey...it works for me.
Let's get rolling.
Scene 1:
'God, get out of the way.' Kelly thought to the guy ahead of her. She was quite a bit shorter than him and he was walking too slow and she was running just a little behind getting to her final. It didn't help that Chris had wanted to talk and caused her to be late.
A space on the sidewalk opened up and she hurried around the guy, brushing her long brown hair out of her eyes as the wind swirled around. Lucky for her it wasn't snowing, or she wouldn't have been able to wear her cutest pink sweatshirt.
She hustled up the steps of the building to her classroom and just got in as the professor was shutting the door. She couldn't remember why she had decided to take a class on art history, but it had seemed to be a good idea at the time. Sliding into her third-row seat, she waved to Mindy, how sat behind her.
The professor handed out the test and Kelly sighed, trying to keep herself from freaking out with test anxiety. She hated tests. If only she were allowed to have an oral exam instead of a paper one, she would do a lot better. She was better at talking than writing.
Thinking about an 'oral exam' made her blush. She had heard stories of girls who had used that euphemism in order to get better grades. She couldn't think of anytime that she would do anything like that simply for a better grade. Shaking her head, she started.
After the test, she met Mindy out in the hallway. Both of them complained about the test and then went to get a cup of coffee, making plans for the winter break.
"I have to go home over Christmas for a whole week to stay with family." Mindy said. "I'd rather shoot myself."
"I know what you mean." Kelly said. "I have to be home for five days and then Chris wants me to go home with him over New Years."
"Are you going?" Mindy asked.
"I don't know." Kelly said. "I don't really want to, but Chris wants me to. I've been thinking of breaking off with him."
"What? Why?" Mindy asked in shock.
"He's too grabby." Kelly said. "He says that he respects my decision to wait and everything, but he just...he never seems to want to talk or any of that stuff. It's always about him getting off."
"I've been there." Mindy said, slipping her arm around Kelly's shoulders. "Don't worry, girlfriend. You'll find the right someone eventually."
---
Scene 2:
Kelly set her suitcase down and knocked on Mindy's door. She wrapped her coat around her to help protect from the wind and to hopefully help mitigate the cold inside her. She knocked again and the door opened.
Mindy pulled Kelly inside without saying anything. "Geez, girl! What are you doing outside on a night like this? It's below freezing!"
Kelly shivered moving from the cold to the warmth of the apartment. "Chris kicked me out."
"What?" Mindy was livid. "I'm going to go over there and cut off his balls!"
"Mindy, no." Kelly said. "He's not worth the hassle. Um, I was wondering..."
"Of course you can stay here." Mindy said. "Let me go heat up some hot chocolate." She hurried to the kitchen. "Put your coat in the closet. There's a spare room down the hall and to the right. Paula has already headed home and she left her bed behind. I'll get you some clean sheets." Without waiting for a response, Mindy got Kelly to sit on the couch and put a blanket over her, giving Kelly a warm mug. "Drink up. It'll help you feel better." Mindy went down the hallway and got some clean sheets for Paula's bed. "Okay. Not the best situation, but we'll get you through this. Okay?"
"Okay." Kelly said. She held out her hand and Mindy took it. "Thank you."
"My pleasure." Mindy said. "I'm glad to have the company. So. About Chris."
"No. I'm not talking about him." Kelly said. "What do you do for fun around here?" she asked, refusing to think of her ex-boyfriend.
"Usually I get on my webcam and make out with other girls." Mindy said. "Guys give you money to watch that."
Kelly almost spit out her hot chocolate. "What?"
"I'm kidding!" Mindy said with a laugh. "Usually we watch movies and order Chinese or pizza or something. We're not real complicated around here."
---
Scene 3:
Kelly had made the decision not to return to school for the Spring semester. With Mindy's help, she had gotten Chris to let her back into their former apartment to get the rest of her stuff and move into Mindy's apartment until she left for Christmas break.
"Sure you won't come back?" Mindy asked. "It's going to be lonely without someone here and I really don't want to train another roommate."
Kelly laughed and wiped back a few tears. "I'll give it some thought," she said. "but I don't think so. Too many memories around here."
"Call me when you get home, okay?" Mindy asked.
"Definitely." Kelly said.
They hugged one last time outside the apartment as Kelly got into her car.
"Drive safe!" Mindy yelled.
Kelly honked the horn and moved out onto the snowy street.
Mindy wouldn't find out for three more days, but Kelly had lost control of her car and ended up upside down in a ditch along the highway during a blizzard part was across Illinois. She had managed to get herself out of the carand had walked back up the embankment up to the highway for help. The driver of the SUV didn't see her until it was too late.
Aw. That's kinda sad. I actually had to fight off the urge to make Kelly and Mindy a couple toward the end. It seemed too easy, though.
Anyway, that's all for today. Tomorrow's exercise should be pretty exciting, though. Why is that? Because tomorrow's exercise is:
9. Go to Home Depot. Or Lowe's. Or some kind of hardware store. (You can visit the online
versions if you like, but the real deal will be much better.) Find in there one truly creative murder
weapon you don't recall anybody using in their fiction, then write a murder scene with that
weapon in play.
Oh. Man. This should be fun. I'll be going to a local 'everything' store called McGuckin Hardware, so I'll probably be there for a couple of hours. And I'll probably go over the fifteen minute time limit, but you know what? I'm pretty much ignoring that now anyway.
So, I guess I'll see you all tomorrow. Until then, take care and be awesome to each other.
#WWWYKI
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