The Mighty Pen writing contest is held every Thursday. I post the beginning of a story, you post your ending in the comments. I judge all the entries on style, voice, imagery, humor, and pretty much anything else I think is important. On the following Monday I present the winner with The Mighty Pen award and feature them on my blog.
See The Mighty Pen tab above for previous winners.
The Beginning
- Eggs
- Milk
- Can of Peas
- Cream of Tarter
- Bread
- Cheese
Laura read through the list one more time, then folded it carefully and placed it back in her pocket. Taking the handle of the shopping cart she readied herself. This was it.
Sure, she had met the parents of her other boyfriends, but to actually be cooking for them - we'll she hoped it wasn't a repeat of Christmas '08.
ReplyDeleteLet's just put it this way, the dry, hard, turkey in National Lampoons Christmas looked like eating pillows compared to what had come out of the oven that year.
Making a quiche wouldn't be so hard, right?
:) Good ending Jen!
ReplyDeleteOh how fun! I'm too late so I'll have to wait for next week. ;)
ReplyDeleteJen's entry is brilliant, btw. :)
Dadgum, Krista. Here is why I have a hard time writing. I have 42 ending possibilities running through my head, and can't decide what would be best, most interesting, most worth writing. So finally instead of writing anything, I walk away. I hope you and the little muse voices in my head are having a good laugh. :)
ReplyDeleteOkay, really, I'll just do one, here it is:
Before Laura woke up today, 16 days ago, she thought grocery shopping insignificant in a persons life. In and out, back to work, don't make eye-contact, don't stray from the plan. That was her motto. But after living the same part of the same day over and over, she had begun to suspect there must be something more to it. By the third repeat of the day she knew there was something she was missing. By the eighth she suspected that she was supposed to be doing something different. On repeat number 12 she realized that she make something better for someone else. It wasn't until the fourteenth repeat of the day that she finally started to notice things, things that she could change. On day fifteen she had observed, made extensive mental notes about what she had seen. The Mother in the checkout line with the puking child - maybe if Laura did something other than sneer at her, the woman would look less mortified and overwhelmed. Or the man who must have passed his 90th birthday in the last 10 years, that was trying balance a pickle jar and his cane...surely something could have been done there to prevent his fall that lead to the paramedics rushing through Rupert's Market.
The cashier in tears, the orange avalanche, the lovers spat in the paper goods aisle...Today was the day she was going to do something about them all. Today was the last time she was going to repeat today. She hoped.
Not sure if I'm too late, but I'll be brave enough to have a try :)
ReplyDeleteShe didn't think this would work, not really. Sure Grizelda said that canned peas were similar to frogs eyes, and cream of tarter was almost as good as newt's blood; And it was true that proper supplies were almost impossible to get nowadays, but really what experience did the old witch have with 21st century groceries?
Laura pulled out the list again and checked it one more time. Something wasn't right. She called Grizelda on her mobile.
"Okay, I get the peas and the cream of tartar, but what are we going to use the other stuff for?"
"Lunch. I'm starving."
I love all these entries! I have a tough decision to make. And Cherie, you can still enter if you like.
ReplyDelete