Day #2 -- November 19, 2012

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     Day #2                                                                   November 19, 2012

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     "You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."

     -- Jack London

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                                                          .

                                                        Prompt :

                                            "This was a bad idea."

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     My turn:

     "This was a bad idea," said Mike, ducking under his jacket. "We should go back . . ."

     Emily rolled her eyes. "Suck it up. It's not raining too bad."

     Mike didn't know what she was talking about. It was pouring. And how was he supposed to suck it up? He was out in the woods freezing his ass off instead of studying for his English midterm he had the next day. He almost forgot why he was there in the first place, but then Emily looked back at him and grinned.

     Right, he reminded himself. That's why.

     They continued walking. Mike kept his head down and stared at the path, following Emily's muddy footprints. Her feet were so tiny compared to his. He felt like a giant--or like King Kong, and she was his Ann. Except he wasn't a gorilla, and she wasn't in love with him. 

     A minute later, Emily came to a stop. "Listen," she said. "Do you hear that?"

     Mike also stopped. It was difficult to hear anything other than the rain pelting against the ground, but somewhere in the distance he could make out a gushing sound.

     "Ugh. More water?"

     Emily grinned at him again, and this time her whole face lit up. "The river. We're almost there." 

     Sure enough, within the next few minutes they found themselves on the edge of a rampant river. It was fairly wide and moving quickly, flowing straight off a cliff. A few large stones stuck out of the water, but otherwise there didn't seem to be any other way across. 

     Emily stuck out a converse shoe and placed it on a stone. 

     "Don't," said Mike, grabbing her arm. 

     She turned her head to give him a little smirk. "You scared?"

      He wasn't sure why, but Mike let his grip soften. His face was hot. "No," he replied, almost defensively. "Just be careful."

     It sounded like Emily let out a short little laugh, but Mike couldn't be sure because the rushing water drowned her out. As he let his arm drop to his side, she brought her other foot to the stone, and then moved to the next one, where he could no longer reach her.

     He stood at the side and watched her feet intently. Her shoes had a layer of mud at the bottom of them and the rocks were wet, yet she was completely at ease with her balance.

     Once she got to the middle of the river, Emily turned her whole body to face him. The rock she was on was smaller than her others, and the tips of her shoes stuck out over the edge. "You coming or what?" she called out.

     The wind was picking up. Before he had a chance to call out her name, her balance was faltering. She waved her arms and twisted her body to regain her stability, but the fatal moment was when her leg dipped into the raging water.

     "Emily!"

     There was nothing he could do.

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     Your turn: 

     Feel free to use this prompt as a catalyst for your own writing! New prompts and exercises will be posted every day. =)

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     A few words:

     Yeah, so, that wasn't exactly my first image when I read this prompt but I think it turned out all right. Sorry about the rushed ending--it's been a busy day and I'm just about out of time. Maybe I'll come back and revise this piece later on. =)

     Thanks a lot to those who've voted and commented so far. Feedback is always awesome. =)

     See you tomorrow.

     - Eric 

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