Story with 3 Objects
Write a microstory that includes at least 3 objects you find in this photograph. Include a character whose life is in some kind of emotional limbo. Prompt words: sparrow, cumulous, splinter, “hey now”, ticket, mother, tick. Word count limit: 150 words. Paid subscribers, please feel free to post your stories below!
Pit Stop
The car is dead. You’re pretty sure you are too. "Hey now," your mother whispers from the back seat, " this is not your ticket outta here." But you can't move. Don't want to. Unblinking you stare at the trailer park nestled beneath the splinter of mountains, at the of sun struggling to shine behind a cumulous of clouds. The sparrow is back–peck, peck, pecking at the windshield. Your mother disappears. And now you're drifting. The sound of children laughing, a dog barking, a telephone ringing. "Lady, lady are you okay?" You jerk awake. A chubby face is at the window. Eyes bright and brimming with sky.
Falcon is almost out of gas. Is there any way to drive that conserves gas?
No.
Isn’t it better to drive slow? Is that a thing?
Not a thing.
Think it’s a thing.
No.
Ok. Well, some days we get lucky.
When was the last time we got lucky?
Day we met.
Hitchhiker, by the phone booth.
No.
It’s boiling. He could die out here.
We could die of shooting or stabbing.
When did we become so scared that we wouldn’t help someone?
Day we married.
Do we have anything to protect ourselves?
Hair spray. Deodorant. Bandana. Your mother’s makeup mirror.
Let’s go back.
Not gonna happen. We’re slowing. Tank’s tapped.
He’s coming.
He probably thinks we’ve stopped for him.
We didn’t.
We were going to.
Would you believe that?
No.
What do we say?
The truth.
This is not entirely original to me. I found this long passage of dialog in a post I read somewhere and I have been playing around with it. It's been fun.