This week, out
of the three prompt options I picked, ‘The Road’. Again, I found it hard to
settle straight in to an idea but there is a road not far from me where a lot
of hitchhikers (yes, they still do) try to thumb a lift, usually heading down
to the coast and at first I thought I could use that, but there was something
too easy, as if I shouldn’t allow the first thing that pops into my mind as
that is probably too common a suggestion and pops into other minds first too.
Then from that idea of thinking about what sort of person would be thumbing a
lift I thought of what it would be to describe someone walking past a
hitchhiker and perhaps discussing person and the reasons why they didn’t stop.
But I didn’t like that either so I then thought about just staring at someone
on a road which changed to following someone on a road and that ended up
getting my mind geared up for describing someone walking down a road. Then from
nowhere the suggestion of being in a work van stuck in traffic came to mind, as
that would allow me to have the time to study a person, i.e. if we are not
moving fast then it seems realistic to be able to use that time to describe a
person. And that was that. I started writing and the below came out. However, I
panicked when I realised I only had two minutes left and I hadn’t picked a
title. I was stuck! I couldn’t think of one, then as two minutes became one,
and then thirty seconds I thought I may actually mess up and not submit in time
so I wrote ‘Destination’ without knowing why and not being happy with it but
managed to submit the story in time. Afterwards, when I had calmed down I
thought that actually, that’s not too bad a title. It sort of describes the
fact that the people didn’t just know who the person walking was, but they
didn’t know where he was going either, and knowing that may have made them
think entirely differently about the man and I wonder then how they would have
described him?
Luckily for me,
this entry was shortlisted this week! Which is very nice. I didn’t win but
being shortlisted in the top three for the first time was a rewarding feeling,
even if I didn’t think this was my best piece, yet it gives you the spur you
need every now and again.
As a reminder,
this is a weekly competition where the online entry opens at 5.30pm and closes
at 6pm giving you thirty minutes to think of, write, edit and submit a short
story from one of three given word prompts. £4 entry and £50 first prize. Here
is the link to the site: http://www.write-invite.com
They also have other competitions and services that may be of interest.
Destination
The man in the white shirt with long grey hair and thin, sharp
features had been walking ahead of them for at least half an hour.
Ron and Tony were stewing in their
hot, sweaty seats. The work van's cabin was full of empty water bottles, crisp
and biscuit packets which were all cracking loudly in the humid air. Both
windows were fully open but it was one of those summer evenings where the
pollution of city roads and low clouds combined to make it feel like the air
had been sucked from the atmosphere. Ron was fidgeting more, shoving his feet
amongst the piles of rubbish to try and get a decent stretch. Tony was fiddling
with the radio.
'Where do you think he's going?' Ron
asked. Tony looked up from the dashboard.
'The hippie?'
'Yeah,'
'Pfff, who knows. Looks like he's
scrabbling about for butt ends and pennies to me,'
'We've been behind him pretty much
all this road and he ain't stopped once, just keeps traipsing along like he's
stoned or something,'
'Maybe he is, looks like he knows how
to roll a fat one,'
The van crept along. The car in front
was a new looking Mercedes with an average fifty something suit and tie tapping
on the steering wheel to Magic FM. Ron and Tony had the luck of a pretty young
thing for a few side roads, low cut top in the heat and small round sunglasses.
They didn't quite manage to get her attention despite their heads bobbing up
and down and left to right to catch her in the mirrors. Now it was the suit and
they had turned their attention to the man.
'It's funny, he sort of looks like
he's got money, you know what I mean? Hair's a bit, like, ageing rock star,
don't you think?'
'Yeah, he does a bit,' Tony was still
messing with the radio and wasn't paying full attention.
'Sad really,'
'Eh?'
'You would have thought someone who
looks like that would be doing well at his age, he's sixty at least I reckon,'
'How d'you know he's not doing well?'
'Well, just look at the clothes. And
the way he walks,'
'Leave the poor bastard alone, maybe
he's just had a hard day, he don't need you going on!'
The traffic let up and they managed a
good spurt forward. A minute of constant movement and they had nearly caught up
with the man again.
'Nah, look at him, unshaven, rough as
mate,'
'You're being a bit bloody harsh,
let's see how your doing at his age,'
The man's pace hadn't altered. His
face had kept front and the occasional beeping from frustrated drivers and
pedestrians passing him hadn't bothered him.
'He's gonna make it to the junction
before we do, bloody traffic,'
'See, there you go. He knows what
he's doing,'
'Hope I have better things to do than
wander the streets when I'm older,'
'Give it a rest, you don't half go
on. What's got you so interested? He's just a normal bloke walking up the
road,'
'Something different about him,'
'When you've got as many miles
clocked up on the road as he has, the last thing you want is some young cocky
bastard looking you up and down. How do you know he ain't a rock star walking
back home after a three day bender? Huh? He could be a millionaire, how would
you know?'
'No chance, he's a scruffy drunk
who's been kicked out the bookies,'
The last section of road before the
traffic lights cleared and Ron and Tony speed up and past the man. They took a
quick look in their mirror before a convertible BMW with two women drew up next
to them waiting to turn at the lights and they forgot all about the man. The
lights turned green and Ron and Tony talked about the attributes of the BMW
driver and never saw or thought about the man walking and minding his own
business again.
Have a great
week,
R.G Rankine
