The Assignment

I decided to do Tarantino Your Story, which asks you do to the following:

Write a story–can be about anything, but put the last image (can be more than one sentence) at the beginning of the story. Similar to some of Quentin Tarantino’s films–starting the movie with the end. Make it interesting and fun!

Since this assignment had to be about one of the FALO topics, I decided to do something related to vice and emotional infidelity/cyber cheating. I rushed towards the end to make sure I got this in on time, but meh. I think it worked out for the most part.

She bit her bottom lip anxiously as she cast her gaze downwards, staring at the finger that hovered so precariously over the enter button of her computer. Finally her fingertip plunged downwards, sinking the key beneath the level of its brethren. The emotional force of her decision had physical consequences. Realizing what she had done sent an anxious shudder through her body. Her heartbeat seemed to hitch momentarily, but only briefly, before resuming at what felt like twice its normal speed. This was it.

/scene

The bedroom doorknob twisted, alerting Janet to John’s imminent entry. She casually shut her laptop and placed it on the nightstand beside the bed as she nestled into the covers on her side of the bed. She had heard his car in the driveway, so she had ample time to shut down everything before he got home. It was already 10:00pm, but it wasn’t unusual for John to work until midnight. The fact that he made it home while she was awake was a rare treat.

“Hey hon.” He smiled weakly as he stepped over the threshold and into the room. He was already undoing his tie with one hand while he shut the door behind him with the other.

“How was work?” Janet inquired politely despite already knowing the answer. Judging by his expression, it hadn’t been a good day.

“Ugh. You know what I was telling you last week about Bob? Well…”

Janet had already stopped listening. She nodded and would occasionally interject with a comment that feigned her interest in the topic. She was quite good at it, actually. She had a slew of neutral inquiries at her disposal and had become an artist at parroting just the right phrases to fool him into thinking she was following the story. “Really?” She chimed in disbelief. “How so?” She would cock her head to the side as if analyzing his response. “So he actually said that to her face?” She would echo.

This went on for about 10 minutes until he was finally undressed, down to his boxers, and joined her beneath the sheets. She smiled as he turned off the lights. She rolled over to face him and slipped her arms around his waist, pulling herself closer. She couldn’t help but frown as she realized that she was nestled against his back; he was facing away from her again. “John?” She whispered softly in his ear.

“Hm? Yeah?” He murmured half interestedly.

“I was thinking tonight we could…” She trailed off. The suggestion was all too obvious.

“I’m tired honey. I just want to go to sleep.” He sighed and tried not to feel annoyed. It wasn’t her fault he was so tired. She had to understand that that; he had just explained his day to her after all. He felt her grip tense and then go slack as she withdrew her grasp and rolled over to her side of the bed. Instinctually he mumbled an apology. “Sorry.” He felt ridiculous for having to apologize for being tired after work, but he didn’t know what else to say. Her disappointment was tangible.

Janet knew that without having to turn around that he could read her emotions. “It’s okay. I understand.” She sighed lightly as she sat up in bed and scooped the laptop under her arm. “I’m just going to go unwind downstairs for a bit then. I wasn’t really tired, I was just hoping… Y’know…”

He finally rolled over, even though he couldn’t see her well in the darkness. “I know. I’m sorry. I’ll take a day off later in the week, alright? Just me and you.”

She smiled. “That sounds great.” If he had been able to see her face he would’ve seen how forced the expression was and the lingering disappointment in her eyes. However just forming her mouth into a smile changed the sound of her words, making it seem like she was more satisfied with his suggestion than he actually was. “Goodnight.” She chimed sweetly before taking her laptop and exiting the room.

/scene

It was already 1:00am. She couldn’t believe how long they had been up chatting. It was great catching up with Alex. They had gone to high school together but it was only recently they reconnected on Facebook, despite living only two towns away. And only in the past couple of weeks had things had started slowly crossing the line as conversations about memories and childhood dreams became conversations about “what ifs.” What started as harmless compliments quickly devolved into a Facebook thread of aggressive flirting. While not explicit, it was enough to make her feel guilty.

She glanced at the clock and it was 1:05am. She hadn’t yet responded to his message that he sent 5 minutes ago. He was asking her to meet him for a lunch at a local sushi restaurant later in the week. She had been there before and so she knew she liked the fare. She also knew that the restaurant was located inside of the Marriot Hotel. She had already typed an affirmative reply, but she hadn’t quite brought herself to send it yet. She knew things could only get stickier from here.

[repeat of last scene follows]

She bit her bottom lip anxiously as she cast her gaze downwards, staring at the finger that hovered so precariously over the enter button of her computer. Finally her fingertip plunged downwards, sinking the key beneath the level of its brethren. The emotional force of her decision had physical consequences. Realizing what she had done sent an anxious shudder through her body. Her heartbeat seemed to hitch momentarily, but only briefly, before resuming at what felt like twice its normal speed. This was it.

The Process

I started writing from the last scene and developed the characters as I wrote them. At first I wanted to make it more Tarantino-esque by having crazy gang wars, violence, and Japanese themes, but I decided to be more tame and write something more realistic. I had to relate it to the internet and somehow to FALO and so I started with the last scene first (like the assignment says).

My closing image is just a woman nervously confirming an action on her computer. It was really ambiguous. I wrote this first and decided to return to it later to allow myself time to have something shape up.

When I returned to it I had an image of a woman browsing websites on questionable fetishes and orientations, who was dissatisfied by the vanilla nature of her husband. Perhaps she found BDSM compelling while he found it demeaning and repulsive. Turned off by her husband’s rejection she decided to find solace in online communities.

However, the next scene I wrote was about her shutting down her laptop when he got in from work. And that’s when it started to shape into what it is now. A woman in a marriage that she was dissatisfied in. Janet gets her thoughts played out more than John, who just seems like a passive victim now that I look at it. While her dissatisfaction in this piece appears to be mostly sexual, I hoped her empty listening to his work day conveyed an emotional lack.

Long story short, Janet doesn’t feel she gets enough from her husband John, who is constantly driven by work. Perhaps though she doesn’t give him anything back either. She just feels very “checked out” to me.

It was only at the end that I decided to give her an actual affair where she’d meet up with a person, and decided it was an old friend that she reconnected with on Facebook. That seems like a common scenario recently.

The Story

I think most of this is covered in the process. I mainly wanted to depict a scenario of emotional infidelity made possible by the internet. The scenario is one that I’ve heard often– Mostly in regards to the emotional aspect. You find fulfillment in somebody online that you’ve idealized rather than your actual partner. It doesn’t necessarily have to be sexual or romantic but tends to progress there. I’ve done online relationships before, so I tried to put myself into Janet’s shoes a bit in order to write her.

I don’t think either of the characters deserve to be sympathized with though. They should probably get marriage counseling or a divorce. I think Janet is kind of a bitch.

The Assignment

I decided to do Tarantino Your Story, which asks you do to the following:

Write a story–can be about anything, but put the last image (can be more than one sentence) at the beginning of the story. Similar to some of Quentin Tarantino’s films–starting the movie with the end. Make it interesting and fun!

Since this assignment had to be about one of the FALO topics, I decided to do something related to vice and emotional infidelity/cyber cheating. I rushed towards the end to make sure I got this in on time, but meh. I think it worked out for the most part.

She bit her bottom lip anxiously as she cast her gaze downwards, staring at the finger that hovered so precariously over the enter button of her computer. Finally her fingertip plunged downwards, sinking the key beneath the level of its brethren. The emotional force of her decision had physical consequences. Realizing what she had done sent an anxious shudder through her body. Her heartbeat seemed to hitch momentarily, but only briefly, before resuming at what felt like twice its normal speed. This was it.

/scene

The bedroom doorknob twisted, alerting Janet to John’s imminent entry. She casually shut her laptop and placed it on the nightstand beside the bed as she nestled into the covers on her side of the bed. She had heard his car in the driveway, so she had ample time to shut down everything before he got home. It was already 10:00pm, but it wasn’t unusual for John to work until midnight. The fact that he made it home while she was awake was a rare treat.

“Hey hon.” He smiled weakly as he stepped over the threshold and into the room. He was already undoing his tie with one hand while he shut the door behind him with the other.

“How was work?” Janet inquired politely despite already knowing the answer. Judging by his expression, it hadn’t been a good day.

“Ugh. You know what I was telling you last week about Bob? Well…”

Janet had already stopped listening. She nodded and would occasionally interject with a comment that feigned her interest in the topic. She was quite good at it, actually. She had a slew of neutral inquiries at her disposal and had become an artist at parroting just the right phrases to fool him into thinking she was following the story. “Really?” She chimed in disbelief. “How so?” She would cock her head to the side as if analyzing his response. “So he actually said that to her face?” She would echo.

This went on for about 10 minutes until he was finally undressed, down to his boxers, and joined her beneath the sheets. She smiled as he turned off the lights. She rolled over to face him and slipped her arms around his waist, pulling herself closer. She couldn’t help but frown as she realized that she was nestled against his back; he was facing away from her again. “John?” She whispered softly in his ear.

“Hm? Yeah?” He murmured half interestedly.

“I was thinking tonight we could…” She trailed off. The suggestion was all too obvious.

“I’m tired honey. I just want to go to sleep.” He sighed and tried not to feel annoyed. It wasn’t her fault he was so tired. She had to understand that that; he had just explained his day to her after all. He felt her grip tense and then go slack as she withdrew her grasp and rolled over to her side of the bed. Instinctually he mumbled an apology. “Sorry.” He felt ridiculous for having to apologize for being tired after work, but he didn’t know what else to say. Her disappointment was tangible.

Janet knew that without having to turn around that he could read her emotions. “It’s okay. I understand.” She sighed lightly as she sat up in bed and scooped the laptop under her arm. “I’m just going to go unwind downstairs for a bit then. I wasn’t really tired, I was just hoping… Y’know…”

He finally rolled over, even though he couldn’t see her well in the darkness. “I know. I’m sorry. I’ll take a day off later in the week, alright? Just me and you.”

She smiled. “That sounds great.” If he had been able to see her face he would’ve seen how forced the expression was and the lingering disappointment in her eyes. However just forming her mouth into a smile changed the sound of her words, making it seem like she was more satisfied with his suggestion than he actually was. “Goodnight.” She chimed sweetly before taking her laptop and exiting the room.

/scene

It was already 1:00am. She couldn’t believe how long they had been up chatting. It was great catching up with Alex. They had gone to high school together but it was only recently they reconnected on Facebook, despite living only two towns away. And only in the past couple of weeks had things had started slowly crossing the line as conversations about memories and childhood dreams became conversations about “what ifs.” What started as harmless compliments quickly devolved into a Facebook thread of aggressive flirting. While not explicit, it was enough to make her feel guilty.

She glanced at the clock and it was 1:05am. She hadn’t yet responded to his message that he sent 5 minutes ago. He was asking her to meet him for a lunch at a local sushi restaurant later in the week. She had been there before and so she knew she liked the fare. She also knew that the restaurant was located inside of the Marriot Hotel. She had already typed an affirmative reply, but she hadn’t quite brought herself to send it yet. She knew things could only get stickier from here.

[repeat of last scene follows]

She bit her bottom lip anxiously as she cast her gaze downwards, staring at the finger that hovered so precariously over the enter button of her computer. Finally her fingertip plunged downwards, sinking the key beneath the level of its brethren. The emotional force of her decision had physical consequences. Realizing what she had done sent an anxious shudder through her body. Her heartbeat seemed to hitch momentarily, but only briefly, before resuming at what felt like twice its normal speed. This was it.

The Process

I started writing from the last scene and developed the characters as I wrote them. At first I wanted to make it more Tarantino-esque by having crazy gang wars, violence, and Japanese themes, but I decided to be more tame and write something more realistic. I had to relate it to the internet and somehow to FALO and so I started with the last scene first (like the assignment says).

My closing image is just a woman nervously confirming an action on her computer. It was really ambiguous. I wrote this first and decided to return to it later to allow myself time to have something shape up.

When I returned to it I had an image of a woman browsing websites on questionable fetishes and orientations, who was dissatisfied by the vanilla nature of her husband. Perhaps she found BDSM compelling while he found it demeaning and repulsive. Turned off by her husband’s rejection she decided to find solace in online communities.

However, the next scene I wrote was about her shutting down her laptop when he got in from work. And that’s when it started to shape into what it is now. A woman in a marriage that she was dissatisfied in. Janet gets her thoughts played out more than John, who just seems like a passive victim now that I look at it. While her dissatisfaction in this piece appears to be mostly sexual, I hoped her empty listening to his work day conveyed an emotional lack.

Long story short, Janet doesn’t feel she gets enough from her husband John, who is constantly driven by work. Perhaps though she doesn’t give him anything back either. She just feels very “checked out” to me.

It was only at the end that I decided to give her an actual affair where she’d meet up with a person, and decided it was an old friend that she reconnected with on Facebook. That seems like a common scenario recently.

The Story

I think most of this is covered in the process. I mainly wanted to depict a scenario of emotional infidelity made possible by the internet. The scenario is one that I’ve heard often– Mostly in regards to the emotional aspect. You find fulfillment in somebody online that you’ve idealized rather than your actual partner. It doesn’t necessarily have to be sexual or romantic but tends to progress there. I’ve done online relationships before, so I tried to put myself into Janet’s shoes a bit in order to write her.

I don’t think either of the characters deserve to be sympathized with though. They should probably get marriage counseling or a divorce. I think Janet is kind of a bitch.

The Assignment

I decided to do Tarantino Your Story, which asks you do to the following:

Write a story–can be about anything, but put the last image (can be more than one sentence) at the beginning of the story. Similar to some of Quentin Tarantino’s films–starting the movie with the end. Make it interesting and fun!

Since this assignment had to be about one of the FALO topics, I decided to do something related to vice and emotional infidelity/cyber cheating. I rushed towards the end to make sure I got this in on time, but meh. I think it worked out for the most part.

She bit her bottom lip anxiously as she cast her gaze downwards, staring at the finger that hovered so precariously over the enter button of her computer. Finally her fingertip plunged downwards, sinking the key beneath the level of its brethren. The emotional force of her decision had physical consequences. Realizing what she had done sent an anxious shudder through her body. Her heartbeat seemed to hitch momentarily, but only briefly, before resuming at what felt like twice its normal speed. This was it.

/scene

The bedroom doorknob twisted, alerting Janet to John’s imminent entry. She casually shut her laptop and placed it on the nightstand beside the bed as she nestled into the covers on her side of the bed. She had heard his car in the driveway, so she had ample time to shut down everything before he got home. It was already 10:00pm, but it wasn’t unusual for John to work until midnight. The fact that he made it home while she was awake was a rare treat.

“Hey hon.” He smiled weakly as he stepped over the threshold and into the room. He was already undoing his tie with one hand while he shut the door behind him with the other.

“How was work?” Janet inquired politely despite already knowing the answer. Judging by his expression, it hadn’t been a good day.

“Ugh. You know what I was telling you last week about Bob? Well…”

Janet had already stopped listening. She nodded and would occasionally interject with a comment that feigned her interest in the topic. She was quite good at it, actually. She had a slew of neutral inquiries at her disposal and had become an artist at parroting just the right phrases to fool him into thinking she was following the story. “Really?” She chimed in disbelief. “How so?” She would cock her head to the side as if analyzing his response. “So he actually said that to her face?” She would echo.

This went on for about 10 minutes until he was finally undressed, down to his boxers, and joined her beneath the sheets. She smiled as he turned off the lights. She rolled over to face him and slipped her arms around his waist, pulling herself closer. She couldn’t help but frown as she realized that she was nestled against his back; he was facing away from her again. “John?” She whispered softly in his ear.

“Hm? Yeah?” He murmured half interestedly.

“I was thinking tonight we could…” She trailed off. The suggestion was all too obvious.

“I’m tired honey. I just want to go to sleep.” He sighed and tried not to feel annoyed. It wasn’t her fault he was so tired. She had to understand that that; he had just explained his day to her after all. He felt her grip tense and then go slack as she withdrew her grasp and rolled over to her side of the bed. Instinctually he mumbled an apology. “Sorry.” He felt ridiculous for having to apologize for being tired after work, but he didn’t know what else to say. Her disappointment was tangible.

Janet knew that without having to turn around that he could read her emotions. “It’s okay. I understand.” She sighed lightly as she sat up in bed and scooped the laptop under her arm. “I’m just going to go unwind downstairs for a bit then. I wasn’t really tired, I was just hoping… Y’know…”

He finally rolled over, even though he couldn’t see her well in the darkness. “I know. I’m sorry. I’ll take a day off later in the week, alright? Just me and you.”

She smiled. “That sounds great.” If he had been able to see her face he would’ve seen how forced the expression was and the lingering disappointment in her eyes. However just forming her mouth into a smile changed the sound of her words, making it seem like she was more satisfied with his suggestion than he actually was. “Goodnight.” She chimed sweetly before taking her laptop and exiting the room.

/scene

It was already 1:00am. She couldn’t believe how long they had been up chatting. It was great catching up with Alex. They had gone to high school together but it was only recently they reconnected on Facebook, despite living only two towns away. And only in the past couple of weeks had things had started slowly crossing the line as conversations about memories and childhood dreams became conversations about “what ifs.” What started as harmless compliments quickly devolved into a Facebook thread of aggressive flirting. While not explicit, it was enough to make her feel guilty.

She glanced at the clock and it was 1:05am. She hadn’t yet responded to his message that he sent 5 minutes ago. He was asking her to meet him for a lunch at a local sushi restaurant later in the week. She had been there before and so she knew she liked the fare. She also knew that the restaurant was located inside of the Marriot Hotel. She had already typed an affirmative reply, but she hadn’t quite brought herself to send it yet. She knew things could only get stickier from here.

[repeat of last scene follows]

She bit her bottom lip anxiously as she cast her gaze downwards, staring at the finger that hovered so precariously over the enter button of her computer. Finally her fingertip plunged downwards, sinking the key beneath the level of its brethren. The emotional force of her decision had physical consequences. Realizing what she had done sent an anxious shudder through her body. Her heartbeat seemed to hitch momentarily, but only briefly, before resuming at what felt like twice its normal speed. This was it.

The Process

I started writing from the last scene and developed the characters as I wrote them. At first I wanted to make it more Tarantino-esque by having crazy gang wars, violence, and Japanese themes, but I decided to be more tame and write something more realistic. I had to relate it to the internet and somehow to FALO and so I started with the last scene first (like the assignment says).

My closing image is just a woman nervously confirming an action on her computer. It was really ambiguous. I wrote this first and decided to return to it later to allow myself time to have something shape up.

When I returned to it I had an image of a woman browsing websites on questionable fetishes and orientations, who was dissatisfied by the vanilla nature of her husband. Perhaps she found BDSM compelling while he found it demeaning and repulsive. Turned off by her husband’s rejection she decided to find solace in online communities.

However, the next scene I wrote was about her shutting down her laptop when he got in from work. And that’s when it started to shape into what it is now. A woman in a marriage that she was dissatisfied in. Janet gets her thoughts played out more than John, who just seems like a passive victim now that I look at it. While her dissatisfaction in this piece appears to be mostly sexual, I hoped her empty listening to his work day conveyed an emotional lack.

Long story short, Janet doesn’t feel she gets enough from her husband John, who is constantly driven by work. Perhaps though she doesn’t give him anything back either. She just feels very “checked out” to me.

It was only at the end that I decided to give her an actual affair where she’d meet up with a person, and decided it was an old friend that she reconnected with on Facebook. That seems like a common scenario recently.

The Story

I think most of this is covered in the process. I mainly wanted to depict a scenario of emotional infidelity made possible by the internet. The scenario is one that I’ve heard often– Mostly in regards to the emotional aspect. You find fulfillment in somebody online that you’ve idealized rather than your actual partner. It doesn’t necessarily have to be sexual or romantic but tends to progress there. I’ve done online relationships before, so I tried to put myself into Janet’s shoes a bit in order to write her.

I don’t think either of the characters deserve to be sympathized with though. They should probably get marriage counseling or a divorce. I think Janet is kind of a bitch.

Ill-Timed Travel

Tracy had never wondered what her friend was like in youth, she was exactly the same just in a different time and place. 

The sharp pungent scent of chlorine and echoed laughter of children set the stage. Normally the gentle whispers of energetic nurses and could be herd, and the screech of a whistle for scampering children. This day was special; it was a day for a show. Three rows: four, three, two, of shinny elastic Pepto-Bismol swim caps.  Each woman adorned with polka-dots and a fake glossy smile. They had trained for months, none of them wanting to, some had given up on health, others on life. The doctor, and overbearing children often win.

Each woman was one nuclear shade of lipstick away from vanishing, what was the point of such theatrics? The Everly Brothers were switched on, and the routine began. Each movement slow and concentrated, pasty, saggy, and with little genuine enthusiasm, the years of wear on each body resulting in perfect synchronization. The splashing was gentle and delicate, like reaching your hand between the barbs of a electric fence to fetch a valuable.   The first chorus went well, splashing and smiling the ladies were having no difficulty faking their enjoyment enough to please the supervision. It was when the ladies had formed a star with wrinkled and slippery hands that Ruth broke away. Great balls of fire, she had left them again and was making a run for it.

“Welcome. Welcome I am so glad you decided to stop by” she said opening her arms wide to Tracy, whose look went from concern to confusion, where had she gone this time? Tracy the ever present friend was always the one to go to the rescue of their friend Ruth. Ruth was the shortest, darkest, and she gave the least gruff about her forced exercise, she knew about her disease but hardly remembered about it. ‘Hopefully it disrupts and entertains enough to give you all a break’ she used to say with a thick Brooklyn accent when the ladies would talk together. Tracy was such a busy-body, ‘that is what you get for having millions of kids, just care care care all the time’ she had herd the other ladies say behind her back. Eventually Ruth would lose all of herself totally, but not just yet.  She really preferred the past to the present anyways, let it come quickly she thought to herself often.

“You know the pool is just one of the many new features our hotel has to offer, if you would follow me this way I can show you to the sauna and the steam rooms too” she explained with a slightly mischievous grin. Just then the final number came on the cheap pink boom-box. The music was muffled from the protective plastic bag and the pool was not known for its acoustics, but Elves Presley was Elves Presley even through a plastic bag. The music changed Ruth, and she stopped mouth agape scraggily pink lipstick, cataract blue eyes, and enough wrinkles to write a story.

“I always have a couple of extra minutes for Elvis” she proclaimed and proceeded to dance energetically, splashing with her arms and kicking her legs up as far as they would go.

Process:

This is my second DS106 assignment of the section “Tarantino Your Story!” This is my story, and I just followed the directions and put the last sentence at the beginning, I wonder if you all can tell? This is from the Writing section, one of my favorites, so I am sad to see it go~ I hope you enjoy the story, let me know what you think. I re-did some of the sentences you can see them in purple, I hope it affords clarification. Also I added some pictures, because everyone loves pictures and I think it helps capture the reminiscent feeling that I am going for. Did I go overboard with the pictures?? Let me know~

Ill-Timed Travel

Tracy had never wondered what her friend was like in youth, she was exactly the same just in a different time and place. 

The sharp pungent scent of chlorine and echoed laughter of children set the stage. Normally the gentle whispers of energetic nurses and could be herd, and the screech of a whistle for scampering children. This day was special; it was a day for a show. Three rows: four, three, two, of shinny elastic Pepto-Bismol swim caps.  Each woman adorned with polka-dots and a fake glossy smile. They had trained for months, none of them wanting to, some had given up on health, others on life. The doctor, and overbearing children often win.

Each woman was one nuclear shade of lipstick away from vanishing, what was the point of such theatrics? The Everly Brothers were switched on, and the routine began. Each movement slow and concentrated, pasty, saggy, and with little genuine enthusiasm, the years of wear on each body resulting in perfect synchronization. The splashing was gentle and delicate, like reaching your hand between the barbs of a electric fence to fetch a valuable.   The first chorus went well, splashing and smiling the ladies were having no difficulty faking their enjoyment enough to please the supervision. It was when the ladies had formed a star with wrinkled and slippery hands that Ruth broke away. Great balls of fire, she had left them again and was making a run for it.

“Welcome. Welcome I am so glad you decided to stop by” she said opening her arms wide to Tracy, whose look went from concern to confusion, where had she gone this time? Tracy the ever present friend was always the one to go to the rescue of their friend Ruth. Ruth was the shortest, darkest, and she gave the least gruff about her forced exercise, she knew about her disease but hardly remembered about it. ‘Hopefully it disrupts and entertains enough to give you all a break’ she used to say with a thick Brooklyn accent when the ladies would talk together. Tracy was such a busy-body, ‘that is what you get for having millions of kids, just care care care all the time’ she had herd the other ladies say behind her back. Eventually Ruth would lose all of herself totally, but not just yet.  She really preferred the past to the present anyways, let it come quickly she thought to herself often.

“You know the pool is just one of the many new features our hotel has to offer, if you would follow me this way I can show you to the sauna and the steam rooms too” she explained with a slightly mischievous grin. Just then the final number came on the cheap pink boom-box. The music was muffled from the protective plastic bag and the pool was not known for its acoustics, but Elves Presley was Elves Presley even through a plastic bag. The music changed Ruth, and she stopped mouth agape scraggily pink lipstick, cataract blue eyes, and enough wrinkles to write a story.

“I always have a couple of extra minutes for Elvis” she proclaimed and proceeded to dance energetically, splashing with her arms and kicking her legs up as far as they would go.

Process:

This is my second DS106 assignment of the section “Tarantino Your Story!” This is my story, and I just followed the directions and put the last sentence at the beginning, I wonder if you all can tell? This is from the Writing section, one of my favorites, so I am sad to see it go~ I hope you enjoy the story, let me know what you think. I re-did some of the sentences you can see them in purple, I hope it affords clarification. Also I added some pictures, because everyone loves pictures and I think it helps capture the reminiscent feeling that I am going for. Did I go overboard with the pictures?? Let me know~

Ill-Timed Travel

Tracy had never wondered what her friend was like in youth, she was exactly the same just in a different time and place. 

The sharp pungent scent of chlorine and echoed laughter of children set the stage. Normally the gentle whispers of energetic nurses and could be herd, and the screech of a whistle for scampering children. This day was special; it was a day for a show. Three rows: four, three, two, of shinny elastic Pepto-Bismol swim caps.  Each woman adorned with polka-dots and a fake glossy smile. They had trained for months, none of them wanting to, some had given up on health, others on life. The doctor, and overbearing children often win.

Each woman was one nuclear shade of lipstick away from vanishing, what was the point of such theatrics? The Everly Brothers were switched on, and the routine began. Each movement slow and concentrated, pasty, saggy, and with little genuine enthusiasm, the years of wear on each body resulting in perfect synchronization. The splashing was gentle and delicate, like reaching your hand between the barbs of a electric fence to fetch a valuable.   The first chorus went well, splashing and smiling the ladies were having no difficulty faking their enjoyment enough to please the supervision. It was when the ladies had formed a star with wrinkled and slippery hands that Ruth broke away. Great balls of fire, she had left them again and was making a run for it.

“Welcome. Welcome I am so glad you decided to stop by” she said opening her arms wide to Tracy, whose look went from concern to confusion, where had she gone this time? Tracy the ever present friend was always the one to go to the rescue of their friend Ruth. Ruth was the shortest, darkest, and she gave the least gruff about her forced exercise, she knew about her disease but hardly remembered about it. ‘Hopefully it disrupts and entertains enough to give you all a break’ she used to say with a thick Brooklyn accent when the ladies would talk together. Tracy was such a busy-body, ‘that is what you get for having millions of kids, just care care care all the time’ she had herd the other ladies say behind her back. Eventually Ruth would lose all of herself totally, but not just yet.  She really preferred the past to the present anyways, let it come quickly she thought to herself often.

“You know the pool is just one of the many new features our hotel has to offer, if you would follow me this way I can show you to the sauna and the steam rooms too” she explained with a slightly mischievous grin. Just then the final number came on the cheap pink boom-box. The music was muffled from the protective plastic bag and the pool was not known for its acoustics, but Elves Presley was Elves Presley even through a plastic bag. The music changed Ruth, and she stopped mouth agape scraggily pink lipstick, cataract blue eyes, and enough wrinkles to write a story.

“I always have a couple of extra minutes for Elvis” she proclaimed and proceeded to dance energetically, splashing with her arms and kicking her legs up as far as they would go.

Process:

This is my second DS106 assignment of the section “Tarantino Your Story!” This is my story, and I just followed the directions and put the last sentence at the beginning, I wonder if you all can tell? This is from the Writing section, one of my favorites, so I am sad to see it go~ I hope you enjoy the story, let me know what you think. I re-did some of the sentences you can see them in purple, I hope it affords clarification. Also I added some pictures, because everyone loves pictures and I think it helps capture the reminiscent feeling that I am going for. Did I go overboard with the pictures?? Let me know~