Weekly Short Stories Contest and Company! discussion
Brainstormin' Help
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Get to Know Your Character(Popcorn Served)
Nikara: LOL!!! Sorry, Terry, I'll get 'em back to you after we case this joint.Sara: This isn't a detective showing, Nicky. And, odds are, those parts won't be back whole enough for Terry to even use.
(explosion from starboard bow of ship)
Sara: ...Or at all.
Kyra: Found the honeycomb!!!
Nikara: I get the feeling Al and Frank will be back soon.
Kyra: (throwing door open) Out! Now!!!
Terry: Did she just say the letters "L-O-L" instead of laughing?Me: This is going to be a tricky dynamic to work out after the banter with the old man; she needs her own style of humor.
Terry: I'm going to go ... salvage ... or something.
Sara: (snickering) Funny you should ask. She DID actually say the letters LOL out loud...Nikara:? Well, at least Al hasn't caught us.
Kyra: Yet.
(scream from Al's room)
Sara: Run.
Nikara: RUN!!!
Septimus: [To Temperance] I hope we make landfall soon. It's getting a little tense around here.
Temperance: I don't believe we've met.Septimus: Temp, you might want to be careful. I've heard many conflicting reports about that man.
Terry: Has anyone seen my dog?
Nikara: This honeycomb is divine.Sara: Heavenly.
Kyra: Al's gonna kill us.
(everyone smiles at this and continues eating.
Sara: She has tea?Nikara: What flavor?
Kyra: Does it matter? Pass the honeycomb, Nicky.
Temperance: [accepts handshake but raises eyebrows] Don't listen to him when he says we know nothing about you? Sounds like your compesating for some reason that would cause me to distrust you.Septimus: Sorry if we offend you; we have good cause to be suspicious.
Me: [walking up] Yes, y'all do, but if you're worried about Frank ... his moral qualities basically follow the same rules as Superman's powers.
[They nod once simultaneously.]
Me: Now, has anyone seen Bernedette?
Temperence: Not as much as Terry -[I walk away, calling out Bernedette's name]
Temperence: - but most people seem to respect her ... in a roundabout way.
Septimus: When shall we make landfall?
Septimus: They're the only natural food that doesn't spoil?Temperance: I seriously doubt the scientific nuances of the sweet syrup are precisely the cause of her facination, but your estimation may yet prove adequate.
Septimus: No need to be a smart-aleck.
Temperance: So don't be a smart-ass.
Septimus: Bernedette is Terry's German Sheppard.
Muse: Shouldn’t you go ashore?M: I’ve got watch.
Muse: The rowboat will come soon, with the tavern owner and a wine bucket and someone playing a violin.
M: Alex has gone to a funeral.
Muse: A wedding.
M: Same thing.
Muse: At the tavern is a girl with dark eyes and firm--well, let’s just say you could hang your hat on them.
M: (With a sigh.) There’s no woman whose geography I know as well as yours, and none who could possibly hold the attraction for me that you do.
Muse: (Smiling.) I know that.
M: Then why do you want me to go ashore?
Muse: (Arching an eyebrow.) Maybe I’m mischievous.
(M shakes his head, as though trying to clear it of fog that has rolled in.)
Muse: The captain’s gone. Most of the crew have gone ashore and are enjoying themselves.
M: I belong to you.
Muse: (Momentarily at a loss for words.) You, uhm, just had to say that, didn’t you.
M: Alex expects me to stay with the ship.
Muse: (Her hands on her hips.) What are you to her?
M: I don’t know.
Muse: What is she to you?
M: (Taking her hands and pulling her to him.) How long do you think it’s going to take me to get your clothes off?
Muse: (Laughing.) You’ll have to be faster at it than I am. (She pulls him toward the the hatch that leads to the staterooms.)
M: Wait! I’m supposed to be keeping watch.
Muse: When I get finished with you, you won’t know latitude from longitude.
Terry: Because you're so good at it.Septimus: [voice muffled behind male crew quarters] Go to bed, Terry!
Muse: (Between other sounds she’s making.) Don’t the doors to these cabins lock?M: (With annoyance.) I had no idea a mad doctor would barge in. (Moments later, he lies spent in her arms. He feels the warmth of her palms on his back, her fingers pressing him to her.)
Muse: How does she put up with him? (Her arm moves across his back and she runs her fingers through his hair.)
M: She teases him mercilessly then leaves him with a slapped face. It’s no wonder he’s gone mad.
Muse: I must say, this isn’t the most comfortable bed I’ve ever been in.
M: (Kisses her neck, her shoulder.) I won’t write you into any more bedroom scenes that take place aboard the pirate ship. I have a feeling they aren’t, uhm, entirely suitable for an audience that requires parental guidance.
Muse: (Wrinkles her nose.) I suppose I could take advantage of you in French or in Morse code.
M: (Snorts.) You’d have to do it in slow motion.
Muse: (Her breath in his ear.) Maybe one of us should get up and lock the door.
(The sensation of her mouth on his ear, of her fingertips gliding along his back, and the movement of her feet along his legs, has the effect on him she desires.)
M: Maybe we should worry about that later.
(Several thuds can be heard through the wall, and through the open porthole come sounds of men arguing in Alex’s cabin.)
Muse: Surely you don’t mean to tell me you think he was a good-natured, even-tempered fellow before . . .
M: (Running his hand along her waist, her hip.) Before what?
Muse: (Sighs contentedly.) Oh, before a certain woman got a hold of him.
M: (He breathes in the wonderful smell of her mahogany-colored hair. After a long kiss, he looks her in the eyes.) Women will do it to you.
(Snippets of Buxton’s voice can be heard in the night air: “Just look at this place!” Frank’s voice answers derisively: “She’s gone to some wedding. She won’t be back tonight . . .”)
----------------
(In the sail locker. Mouse #1 scampers in, out of breath.)
Mouse #1: Saints preserve us! Earl, I had to see it to believe it.
Mouse #3: (Gnawing on a piece of hemp.) What’s that, Phil?
Mouse #2: I thought you were scavenging up on deck.
Mouse #1: I was.
Mouse #3: Find anything?
Mouse #1: (Shrugs.) Oh, a few pieces of Doritos, Twizzlers, a Jolly Rancher, the usual crap. You know how the crew stands at the rail and snacks.
Mouse #2: What did you see?
Mouse #1: Well, I heard noises and shouting, so I looked over the edge. It’s a cool night. Most of the portholes are open.
Mouse #3: (Nods.) Yeah.
Mouse #1: I looked over the side, and there was a man’s head sticking out of a porthole.
Mouse #2: What was he doing?
Mouse #1: I’m not sure, Clyde. He was making gurgling noises.
Mouse #3: (Shakes his head.) Can’t figure that.
Mouse #1: There was a pair of hands on his throat.
Mouse #2: Maybe he was trying to throw something up.
Mouse #1: He was saying something like, “Frank, let me go!” Another voice said, “Todd, I’ve about had it with you.”
Mouse #3: (Spits out a piece of hemp.) Humans are strange animals, Phil.
Mouse #2: Speaking of strange animals, anyone seen Barney lately?
Mouse #1: Every time I see him, he’s in a sink, trying to get clean.
Mouse #3: I heard Mabel won’t even sleep in the same room with him. (Sniffs a scrap of sailcloth that’s lying in the dust.) The other day, he risked his life and climbed down to the dolphin striker, hoping a bath in salt water would make him smell better.
Mouse #1: Did it?
Mouse #3: Naw. It was a calm night. He never got close to any waves. (He chuckles.) Ralph the cat ain’t looking too good, either.
Mouse #2: He’s been living on mice all these years, and now he’s afraid of ’em.
Mouse #1: (Shaking his head.) I wouldn’t worry about Ralph. The girls on the ship will get to feeling sorry for him.
Mouse #3: When they start feeding him Whoppers and Ding Dongs and tater tots, he’ll get so fat he can’t walk.
(Mouse laughter echoes in the shadows of the sail locker.)
Terry: Land, sweet land!Septimus: You drive that death-trap at ninety miles per hour, and you have a problem with sailing on a ship?
Terry: For three months straight, yes.
Temperence [stretching] He has a point, Sep. Where are we, exactly?
Septimus: Let's ask the captain ...
Sara: (jaw drop)(staring, blinking)Nikara: (waving hand in front of Sara's face) Um... Kyra. What's up with Sara.
Kyra: She just read M's post.
Nikara: What post? Lemme see that. (grabs laptop)(jaw drop)(staring, blinking)
Kyra: That was me two minutes ago. M... (sigh)(walks away, shaking head)
I knew I should’ve taken that one down. I’m going to have to have a stern talk with my muse. I’m not sure why, but I have a feeling it won’t do much good. Time for me to go back outside and mow.
Me: (snort) Sure. "Stern words."Sara: He might.
Nikara: He might not.
Me: He obviously enjoyed it.
Sara: That is disgusting.
Nikara: And not PG13 in the least.
Me: Give him a break, guys. Al also seemed to have enjoyed it.
Sara: So you see our point, then.
Nikara: That's rude, Sara.
Sara: All I'm saying is, when Al's involved, Frank's involved. And she can't ALWAYS control him. Especially once M's muse is in the picture.
Nikara: Was M's muse even clothed?
Me: Did you even read his post thoroughly?
Nikara: I feel kinda sick.
Sara: Do it over the starboard side. No need to spoil our honeycomb. (draws honeycomb bowl closer to her)
Hi, Al!!! How was your trip??? Other than the luggage bit, I mean.
Okay. I’m definitely taking that one down, but I’ll leave up the part with the mice.
NO!!!!! DON'T TAKE IT DOWN!!!!!!!! I'm not one for.... that particular kind... of romance... but I still enjoyed reading it. XD I apologize.
Kyra, don’t apologize! I’ve put that awful thing I wrote back up. To be honest, I didn’t have a good feeling about it even when I had posted it. I get uncomfortable when I push the limits, especially when I’m supposed to be enforcing them.
Terry: [To Sara] Disgusting how?Temperence: Public forum.
Terry: Oh. Fair point, but this is a fictional world; it doesn't work without a few private scenes.
Septimus: Hey, mind the forth wall.
Terry: This entire thread is a giant wrecking ball brought against the forth wall.
Me: It's like the Bible with considerably less violence.
[Silence]
Me: I can't be the only one who saw the "Surprise" by G.K. Chesterton.
Sara: Terry, did you honestly not know HOW that was disgusting???Me: Shut up, Sara. You're making M feel worse.
Sara: Sorry, M. I'm just saying.
Nikara: Of course. Kyra, we're out of honeycomb.
Sara: You know, I'm kinda surprised Al still has any.
Me: (sigh) Let's go, guys. Nicky, would you happen to have a second fake Buxton on hand?
Nikara: Sorry, no. We'll hafta improvise.
Sara: I suck at improv.
Nikara: No kidding.
Terry: No, I don't see how that's disgusting. Almost everyone does it at some point in their life.Me: Yeah, you tried to once.
Terry: You still haven't explained why that guy tried to kill me.
Me: Yeah, I'm lazy.
Sara: Ahahahahh!!!!!! Kyra's having trouble justifying ANYTHING in my story.Me: I've only written the rough draft.
Sara: Then go back and make it the final draft. As for your statement, Terry, I find the idea of sex extremely gross. Don't ask me why, because then I'll hafta go into detail, which is not postable. The idea of doing it to reproduce makes the action slightly more bearable, but just doing it for the heck of it...
Me: That's enough, Sara.
Terry: Well ...Me: Don't. Do. Not. non agas.
Terry: No need to speak Latin at me.
Me: I know exactly why Dante attacked Terry; I just haven't had much interest in writing that story for a few weeks. The last two chapters I wrote for it were worthless, so I decided to take a break.
Terry: Good to know there's a good reason behind it.
Me: Not really.
Terry: You just said -
Me: I said there's a reason; I never said it was a good reason. You were the one that established him as insane.
Thank you, Alex. (She didn’t have to tell Kat to be good. She knows Kat will behave herself.)
Mouse #4: Holy moly! (He points.)Mouse #2: It’s the cat. What’s he doing?
Mouse #3: It looks like . . .
(Several mice run toward the rail, where Ralph the cat is about to plunge overboard.)
Mouse #1: Ralph, wait!
(The cat looks around, confused, as the mice arrive.)
Ralph: What do you want?
Mouse #2: Don’t do it.
Mouse #6: It ain’t worth it.
Mouse #3: You’ll get past this.
Ralph: Huh? What do you care?
Mouse #2: (At a loss for words.) Look, we’re all in this together.
Mouse #9: Yeah. Barney didn’t know you were gonna eat him, or he wouldn’t have used that shampoo.
(All the mice stare incredulously at Mouse #9.)
Ralph: Guys, this ship is no place for a cat like me. I appreciate the gesture, but . . .
Mouse #1: Listen, Ralph. We’ve got a big job to pull. We need your help.
Mouse #3: (Picking up on the cue.) Yeah. Some bad things are going on.
Ralph: (Interested in spite of himself.) Oh? What kind of a job?
LOL!!!!!!! Mice trying to save cats... love the twist of stereotype!!!!Another masterpiece, M.
Septimus: Terry, don't wander too far.Terry: Oh, come on. I don't always wander into trouble.
Septimus: Yes, you do.
Temperence: It should be fine, Sep. We're on an island after all - it's not like he'll get lost.
Septimus: I suppose not, but - where'd he go?
Sara: You know, Al, if you don't want the crew to know you're leaving, maybe you shouldn't post it on the Internet.Kyra: Al's leaving?
Sara: (frantically) No!!! She's not!!! Go buy me some fruit.
Nikara: I've got honeycomb. Turns out Al is-
Sara: Trying out for a sword-swallowing act!!!
Kyra: Excuse me?
Nikara: Or just getting some alone time with Frank.
Sara: Or trying out for a sword-swallowing act.
Kyra: (sighs)(walks away) You two are impossible.
Edward wrote: "Septimus: Terry, don't wander too far.Terry: Oh, come on. I don't always wander into trouble.
Septimus: Yes, you do.
Temperence: It should be fine, Sep. We're on an island after all - it's not li..."
Maybe he's with Al. Wherever she is. ; )
Terry: Maybe we should start a long storyline. It might help you.Me: It would have to be in tiny bites. Also, you'd have to start ignoring the fourth wall.
Terry: It's hard to overlook that giant hole, but I'll try.
Me: Then you might want to pay attention to that eagle heading this way.
[Eagle lands behind a tree. A second later a young boy, dressed in only an ankle-long shirt.]
Terry: Huh?
I've just been catching up on the popcorn. Wow, there has been some great butter and salt with it, too.M, posts 1227, 1249 were simply amazing brilliant and RotFL.
Sophia: [Obviously struggling to stop laughing.] Ha-ha-ha…
Professor: I suppose you found the mice thing funny?
Sophia: [Begins to freely laugh.]
Professor: Harrumph.
Sophia: [Laughs even harder.]
Professor: But it wasn't that funny! [He visibly puffs himself up to stand more erect and professorial despite, or perhaps because of, his rather diminutive five five vertical challenge.]
Sophia: [Wiping her tears, slowly returning to some kind of controlled 'normal' state.] Jack, I wasn't laughing at the mouse thing. [Starts laughing, a little, again.] Nor the mice's things. [Laughs loudly.]
Professor: [Doesn't move or in any way acknowledge Sophia's words.]
Sophia: [Between giggles.] It is the seriousness of the PG-13 discussion. Seriously?! The mouse bit was expertly written, and very funny. But it is the human behaviour and interaction that really caused me to laugh.
Professor: [Turns quickly, with a childish sneer of triumph mixed with anger.] Aha! You've judged them!
Sophia: Seriously? You are a perfect example of the educated moron.
Professor: Again, judgment! You've been held up by the many as some kind of —
Sophia: Saint?
Professor: Oh my god, no!
Sophia: Thank god!
Professor: What?
Sophia: What?
Professor: What?
Sophia: [Huge smile.] What?
Professor: [Very angry.] Stop that!
Sophia: Stop what? [Starts laughing.]
Professor: That!
Sophia: [Laughing very loudly.] What? You started it. (Laughing.)
Professor: [Opens his mouth and closes it very rapidly a few times in succession, obviously at a loss for words.]
Sophia: What's the matter? Cat's caught your tongue — or what?
Professor: [Steaming mad, he looks like he's blowing a gasket before rushing out of the cabin to go on deck while pretending not to be in a hurry.]
Sophia: I give you a straight-line like that, Jack, and that's what you do? Instead of running with it you run away!? [Yells out after him.] Of Mice and em, I tell you, mice and em! [Her laughter moves throughout the ship, and all who hear it pause at its clarity and joy.]
Guy, I thoroughly enjoyed that! It’s by far the most sophisticated thing I’ve seen posted in the Popcorn Served thread.
Sara: More mature than ours, definitely.Me: I enjoyed that.
Nikara: I didn't think a mature posting was possible on this ship.
Sara: Well, if it was going to be anyone, it was going to be Guy.
Me: Or M.
Nikara: Or Al. (pause) OK, maybe not Al.
Me: There's nothing wrong with being immature.
Sara: I figured.
Mouse #3: I feel kind of sorry for Ralph. He didn’t want to go, especially considering how wretched he feels.Mouse #2: What is that place, Earl?
Mouse #3: (Shakes his head.) Malcolm and Ray listened in as best they could. The most they could find out was that it’s somewhere called Orchard Bay.
Mouse #2: (Looking out across the water to the palm trees of an island that’s a few hundred yards away.) How long you reckon we’ll be anchored here?
Mouse #3: Don’t know. (Looks around at the deserted deck, then up at the furled sails.) It’s awful quiet here, ain’t it?
Mouse #2: As far as we can tell, the captain doesn’t suspect she’s being followed. (He hesitates.) That thing you were telling me about, that the fellows reported she’s going there to see . . .”
Mouse #3: (Shudders.) I know what you mean, Clyde. That gives me the creeps, too. Apparently, it can change form into anything it wants.
Mouse #2: Whatever it is, I hope it doesn’t eat Ralph.
Al and M and Kyra, thank you. I'm blushing at the high praise. But I'm smiling too. And M I think your mouse/cat episodes are certainly amongst the very best in popcorn. And M, really, sneaking in such a subtle pun — serious RotfLing! Sophia/Sophisticated?! That is brilliant!And Al, despite what Nikara may think of your sophistication, many of yours are at that same caliber too. It is a curious pleasure staying away from popcorn for a while, and then reading the whole sequence, how they weave in and out. The creativity of this popcorn thing is horribly addictive.
Al, sorry to hear about the migraine! You amaze me that you can carry on with them at the high level you do.
Get better soon, Al!!!And no problem, Guy. It really was hilarious. I'll talk Nicky into apologizing to poor Al. XD
Alex has a muse named Frank.Cheyenne has a muse named Albert.
Guy has a muse named Sophia (Latin for wisdom).
Life with her has certainly been an adventure!
Speaking of amusing — NOT — I'm off to a few hours of strata AGM boring melodrama. Won't be back until late.
Me: I have no idea who my muse is.Sara: Nonsense, you've got two of 'em!!!
Me: I think I'm gonna throw up.
Nikara: Well, that's rude.
Sara: Bye, Guy!!! Have (snicker) fun!!!
Me: That was also rude, Sara.
Nikara:Wanna steal Al's honeycomb or something?
Me: I'm trying to ignore you two for now.
Sara: Is it working?
Me: What do you think?
M wrote: "Alex has a muse named Frank.Cheyenne has a muse named Albert.
Guy has a muse named Sophia (Latin for wisdom)."
Albert: What about me?
Me: No one said anything about you.
Albert: M did, just now.
Me: Sure he did.
Albert: *crosses arms* Don't you have coffee to make?
Me: Don't we have a book to edit?
Mouse #6: (In the shade, near the mouse hole by the stairs to the afterdeck.) Hey, there, Herbert! How did it go?Mouse #9: (Wiping his brow.) Narvis and I managed to get that stuff out of the medicine chest, but it wasn’t easy. It took five mice to hold the lid open while we went down in there. It wasn’t a small bottle, either.
Mouse #6: What does it look like?
Mouse #9: (Heaving a sigh.) Clear. And the liquid in it is, too. It was perfect, Malcolm.
Mouse #6: What does the label say?
Mouse #9: “Dr. Sackett’s Constipation Syrup. Guaranteed.”
Mouse #6: And you managed to spread it all over the honeycombs?
Mouse #9: (Nods.) Narvis tasted it, just to make sure it doesn’t have any noticeable taste.
Mouse #6: Does it?
Mouse #9: No, but Narvis has had his tail hanging over the rail all afternoon. (Snickers.) Wait till those girls steal some more honeycombs!
(Herbert and Malcolm crack up, rolling on the deck with mouse laughter.)
Me: What are?
Terry: The mechanical pieces I left back here.
Me: [sips wine and keeps typing, focused on the Cheese story.]