Hello everyone, do forgive our absence these past few weeks; life you know!!! Anywho, we are back with more story-starters (writing prompts/ writing exercises/ whatever you call them!). This time Katherine wrote up the starters and made the collages while I, (Grace), spun stories out of thin air!! I was chuckling to myself whilst writing these, so I hope you get as much enjoyment out of them as I did!
#1.
The delivery man handed me my pizza. I paid him and closed the door. Peeking into the box I froze. There on top written in pepper slices were the words "I'm on to you."
I smiled, closed the lid and reached for my cell phone. I keyed in the number and as it rang lifted out a slice of pizza.
"Hello?"
"It's me"
"What's up?"
"I got a message from you know who"
"And?"
"Well, he says he's onto us, but how could he be? No one has talked and we've been super careful to make sure no one has been followed or any phones tapped; everything is water tight."
"Well, no one’s talked that we know about. I've always thought The Egret to be our weakest link and I saw The Sloth talking to her yesterday so..."
I stopped eating my pizza." Who?"
"The Egret... you know Sara? I sent you the code name memo last week, Alaskan Tiger"
"Alaskan- Who's Sara?"
"Who's Sara? She's your sister!! I know you struggle with forgetfulness, I almost code named you Dory, but your sister?"
"I'm an only child!"
"You are? And all this time I- wait who is this?"
"Who is this? Who else calls you and says It's me and talks about a message from you know who?"
"Ummm, surprisingly a lot of people."
I groaned "I see... this is Ashley."
"Ohhhh, that someone. Man, Ash, you've got to get out of there, your cover must have been blown! The Parakeet can be vicious when he doesn’t get his way!"
"My what??? I don't have a cover!!!"
"You don't have a cover???? You told me you were pretending to be a street performer... wait… Ashley Fingfisher or Ashley Lanigan?"
"Neither, Ashley Howard!!"
"Ashley Howard... I don't know an Ashley Howard, you must have the wrong number."
"Oh, really? I'm sorry I uh- wait- so what were you talking about?"
"What? Oh I uh… well I uh... oh, look at the time , I have to leave for my Yoga class, nice talking to you. Bye"
The line went dead.
Sunshine gleamed through the glass windows, splashing onto the throne room's marble floor. The crowd was hushed, pensive. As the procession of knights came to an end, everyone's eyes were already looking past their shields of armor to the sight beyond. The folds of the ruddy prince's mantle were held by attendants, walking behind him as he entered the room, humble but proud. The prince's eyes were fixed straight ahead as he neared the throne; the jewels he wore shimmering with each step. There was a shower of soft sighs as the prince ascended the steps and sat upon the majestic, ivory seat that had governed the land for centuries. The priest lifted the crown off it's cushion and with it the breath of each subject there. Suddenly, the suspense was shattered by the strange ringing of a cell phone.
“CUT!!!!” screamed the man known only as “The Director” or “Sir”. Everyone within the faux marble walls tensed.
“WHOSE PHONE IS THAT????? I SAID ABSOLUTELY NO PHONES ON MY SET?”.
There was frantic rustling of clothes and clinking of armor as everyone on set fumbled to see if it had been their device and cringing for the one who would receive the full wrath of Jacob Riley.
“Wait… it’s mine…” the director mumbled sheepishly staring at his screen and tapping out a reply. “Um… right… as you were… and ACTION!!!”
As the priest held aloft the crown, the old King recited the vow he had promised all those years ago for his son to carry on the sacred tradition.
“Do you Prince Edward swear to faithfully uphold the laws of the Kingdom of Briezia, to think of your duty before yourself, to fight the kingdom’s battles first with prayer then with force, to guide your people in the paths of Truth, Justice and Mercy before all else, so help you God?”
The prince was silent for a moment and the crowd began to worry. His eyes were downcast and if you looked closely they flickered over to a certain figure half hidden behind a pillar. He sighed, looked forward at the hopeful faces of his people and answered his father.
“I do so swear, so help me God.”
The chapel erupted into applause and shouts of “LONG LIVE THE KING” as the priest lowered the crown onto the Prince’s brown curls. The pealing of the Church bells signified that all was well in the kingdom.
“CUT!!!” The director’s shout broke through the idyllic fantasy of princes and kingdoms and knights bringing everyone back to the present.
“Ok, very good everyone, that will be all for today. We’ll finish up the runaway horse scene tomorrow… uh… I gotta go to the hospital. Janice, get me a coffee to go and one of those donuts from lunch my wife likes”
“The hospital? What’s wrong with you?” Tommy Jones, the Producer, asked.
“I feel fine, Tom, but my wife is having triplets without me and if I don’t get there ASAP, she’ll have my head. JANICE, where's that coffee??!!”
The set burst into a flurry of felicitations, advice and activity. The knights ran ahead of the Director, clearing the way of any pedestrians unlucky enough to have been out walking today while the ladies in waiting hurriedly attempted to compile a makeshift card with everyone’s horribly scrawled signatures. The Prince ran around gathering water bottles, his cape trailing behind him flapping into the King who was describing his own child’s birth to the set designer. As the crowd approached the parking lot, a red Ferrari screamed toward them, halting just long enough for the Priest to switch places with the Director, before he roared off to the hospital. Three "Hip ,Hip, Hooray’s" echoed behind him.
I was in sheer shock. Though my daily news feed reported kidnappings happening all the time, I still never thought I'd personally be a victim of one! But here I was, bound, blindfolded, headed who knows where inside a rusty truck, seated between two masked thugs dressed all in black. I tried to stay calm and keep my wits about me, but I felt like my heart was going to explode it beat so hard. Suddenly, we jerked to a stop and everyone jumped out of the car. "Bring her" somebody yelled gruffly and a set of hands dragged me out of the vehicle. My blindfold was ripped off and my eyes struggled to adjust to sunlight again. Everything slowly came into focus and I saw one of the masked thugs kneeling in front of me. He pulled out a small box from his coat and opened it up for me to see. "Marry me?"
I blinked for a moment trying to get my wits into order, but they were gone, who knows where ,so I said the first thing I could think of.
“Uh, who are you??”
The man on the ground waved his hands exasperatedly “Who else would be proposing to you Angel? It’s me Bert!” His "Jersey" accent confused me even more since I live in Kansas, we had not driven THAT long and I didn’t know anyone named Bert.
“Umm, I don’t know anyone named Bert… so… no? Besides you kidnapped me!! Why would I marry you???”
Bert switched knees “Awww, that was just to get youse here and whatdaya mean you don’t know me? We grew up together!!! Went to school together and worked at the donut shop together! Always together, you and me and that’s how I want it to be forever! Come on Angie, say yes, say we’ll be together forever!! Remember, you’re the filling to my donut, the air in my lungs, the beat in my heart, don’t say no!”
So I wasn’t being “really” kidnapped and I felt kinda bad cause, you know, that was really sweet, but I honestly had no idea who this guy was… and my name was Marcie.
“Um, look mister, that was really sweet and very touching, but my name is Marcie and I honestly have no idea who you are or what you’re talking about.”
Bert pulled off his mask and looked at me closely. “JOE!!! You got the wrong one!!! This ain’t Angie!!!” His yelling was directed to a young man standing near-by, who also pulled his mask off and looked me over.
“Awww gee, sorry, Bert. It’s these masks, I told you I couldn’t see outta them and I’d lost my contacts and I didn’t think no kidnapper would wear glasses." He spread his hands helplessly before pointing at the skinny boy beside him. “Jasper said it was her, didn’t you, Jasper?”
Jasper squirmed under Bert’s glare, “Yeah, but I’d only seen her in that photo you have in your wallet, I’m awfully sorry Bert”
“Don’t say sorry to me, say sorry to her!” Bert pointed to me and for a moment we all stared at one another. Then they lept into action untying me, guiding me to a chair, offering me water and half a Subway foot-long, all the while talking a mile a minute, profusely apologizing. Apparently Bert and Angie were going through a rough patch. Angie wanted to get married and when Bert had stalled so he could get the Right Ring, she had taken it as a lack of commitment. So Bert and his friends had hatched this scheme to show his love and commitment for her before she flew off to her parents for Thanksgiving, where Bert was sure she would be convinced to dump him.
I didn’t think I could hold my kidnapping against them, after all those masks are hard to see in - (I’d worn one for a costume party before) and I did look a lot like her from her picture. So I forgave them, but did drop the advice that Angie might not appreciate being scared to death by a kidnapping only to find out it was her boyfriend proposing to her. They took my advice into consideration and as they drove me back to my apartment, we hatched a new scheme. The next day I got a call from Joe reporting that Angie had loved the Shakespeare themed picnic in the park and had said "YES!!" He had just dropped the happy couple off at the airport to catch a flight to her parent's Thanksgiving celebration where they would announce their engagement! Six months later, I had the honor of being Angie’s Maid of Honor and when Joe and I tied the knot three years later, she returned the favor as her two year old threw flowers before her. You never know what will come from a random kidnapping!
