Vijaya Sundaram

Poet, Musician, Teacher, and Amateur Visual Artist

Story Prompt #2 (My Title: Thanksgiving)

Thanksgiving

(See story-prompt at the end of my story)

©2014 Vijaya Sundaram

January 31st, 2014

Rob and I  are driving to Maynard, racing to get there in time for Thanksgiving supper with his folks, something I always dread, because I’m vegetarian and they’re not, and I’m complaining to him about this charade that happens every year, when I see that I’m driving straight at a man who is standing on the road, swaying, covered in blood, but I don’t know how to stop, when I hear a horrible thump, and someone flies into my windshield, his face in front of me, eyes wide open, mouth open, blood pouring from his head, and a scream is  filling my car, but I don’t know whether it’s his, mine or Rob’s, for Rob is telling me to drive on, and I do so, screaming hysterically.

Three hours later, at the police station, after I’ve answered all the questions, confirmed the date on which I have to appear in court, being assured that I probably won’t be charged for a hit-and-run, I’m drinking a Styrofoam cup of hot coffee kindly offered to me by someone, and my heart is returning to its normal rate, even though I know it’ll never ever be the same again, because I just killed a man, for God’s sake, when Rob says in what he thinks is his joking voice, “Mother will be upset, you know.  We’re always late, and now we’ll never be able to make it up to her.”

I think of the dead man and burst into tears.

­_____________________________(250 words, including my name)____________________________

Here are the details of the prompt for this technical exercise:

TECHNICAL EXERCISE 2

The challenge is to write a two-part story.

Scenario:

Part I.

There are two people, a driver and a passenger, in a car moving along a dark road.  It is very late at night or very early in the morning.  The two people know each other rather well.  They might be friends, blood relatives, romantic partners, or work colleagues.

The car hits something, and both people realize that the car hit a human being—and that person is dead.

The driver slows or stops the car.

The passenger persuades the driver not to get out of the car and to drive away from the scene of the accident.

Part II.

Part II begins at least a week after the accident, but as much time as a year may have passed since that night.  Let the reader know how much time has passed.

The two people are together.  Maybe they are still in a relationship, or maybe they are not.  You have to establish where they are and why they are there.

Something happens—this might be as apparently insignificant as a gesture, a sound, or a spoken phrase, or it might be a more dramatic event—that reminds both of them of the accident.

Write the story.  Assume your readers know nothing about the characters or their situation when you begin.

Limits

  1. No more than 250 words.  Yes, that includes both parts I and II.
  2. Part I must be at least 125-words long.  (Along with your name, please include the word counts for both parts I and II on your story.)
  3. Use first-person narration.  Both parts of the story must be told by the same character, either the driver or the passenger.
  4. The narrator must use the present tense to tell both parts of the story.
  5. One more limit: Part I must be a single, perfect sentence—that is, the sentence must adhere to the conventions of standard grammar and syntax.  And forget about semi-colons; they are not needed.