Monday, August 29, 2011

Writing Prompt #30

Your character is in a kitchen, could be their own, a friend’s, a restaurant’s, etc., you choose, and they think they hear an intruder approaching! They grab. . .what! Rock the characterization with this simple choice.

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Here’s mine:

Genie paused, soup spoon half to mouth, ramen dangling precariously, and listened. The drip-plop of a noodle landing back in the bowl obscured only for a second the creak she thought she’d heard, but nothing silenced it a third time.

Ice seared her system and she burst out in goosebumps. Who the hell was in her house? Would he know where she was? Her gaze locked on the doorway to the kitchen. Hide or fight?

Part of her mind tried to reason that she might be able to escape if she ran for the door now, but she was too scared to move toward the sound. She could maybe scramble through the kitchen window, but she couldn’t for anything turn away from the doorway and expose her back to the potential threat.

The creak came closer.

Holy shit.

Soup spewed when she dropped her spoon and pushed away from the table with both hands, shoving herself backward before standing.

Weapon. No knives. Weapon. No knives.

Law & Order: SVU and CSI: Miami had drilled it into her brain. People who didn’t know how to use knives were more likely to get themselves injured than their attacker.

With her gaze bolted on the kitchen entrance, all she could see was the mug of cooking utensils she kept in the corner of the counter. She grabbed the heftiest item in there—the potato masher. Maybe she could bash his head in with its wavy edge. Maybe if she caught him on the top of his skull. Maybe if she bashed him with all the spastic, strangling fear rushing through her limbs so fast they shook.

Maybe.

Against the revolting of her stomach she kept her back plastered against the counter and crept along toward the refrigerator, inching closer to the doorway.

She needed surprise, it was her only hope.

She was near to hyperventilating and three feet short of her goal when she locked up, unable to make herself move any closer to the doorway. She should hold the potato masher in her right hand and cock her arm back, ready to lunge and brain him the sec he came into view. Instead she gripped it in both fists, holding it in front of her like a shield. She couldn’t fight the instinct to curl inward and protect her core.

3 comments:

  1. Genni's head raised from her dog dish, her ears perking at the unfamiliar sound. The Alpha wasn't due home for hours yet, although he did sometimes break from routine to come back for a short visit, in which Genni inevitably got a treat and an extra stroll outside for the day!

    The Alpha was a soft touch, and treated Genni more like a beta than the Omega she knew she was.

    There it was again... footsteps. Not the deliberate, paced footsteps of the Alpha - she knew his movements well, and this was definitely Not Him.

    Genni ran to the space just beyond the Portal To Walks. She heard the Noise of Unlocking, and knew that her curiosity would soon be satisfied.

    Would it be an unscheduled visit by the Bringers of Meat and Cheese on Bread? Perhaps the Guy Who Puts Genni In The Bedroom While He Makes Noise?

    Genni's tail started its swift oscillation as her excitement grew. Maybe it was the Alpha's puppy, who had almost earned his own name as Sometimes Walker of Genni! Genni loved the Alpha's puppy, even if he had taken a long time to learn to properly speak and play with her. Alpha had trusted Genni to guard His puppy when the puppy slept since he first appeared, and Genni continued to take her duties to her Alpha seriously, always curling up between the Alpha puppy and any possible threat when the puppy slept.

    Never had the puppy been attacked when Genni was on guard. Alpha called her a Good Dog when she fulfilled her duty, which made her quite happy.

    The door swung open. Genni crouched into her play posture - it was Mommie! Genni whined her happiness and eagerness to play - the Alpha and the Alpha puppy were fun, but nobody was as fun to play with as Alpha Mommie!

    "blah blah blah Genni! blah blah blah leash blah blah blah ride blah blah blah park!" Mommie said, as Genni leaped up, paws patting her on the knee!

    Genni Leash Park!

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  2. I was wondering when Genni would get her own story. She sounds almost as adorable here as she is in real life.

    What a fun read!

    I think my favorite parts were the naming system (love "Portal To Walks") and the way Genni refers to her Alpha's son as a puppy.

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  3. I also liked "The Portal to Walks." Clever idea!

    Rhonda, yours is real good, too. I'm glad you have more training than watching SVU, and I'll bet if it was you instead of Genie greeting the intruder you'd surprise him with such a swift kick to the gut and powerful, bullet-like punch to the chin that he'd be out before he knew what hit him. XD

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