A while ago, I talked about a story that, to quote Dan Aykroyd (or Harold Ramis) “just popped in there,” inspired by looking at old clips of Vampira. Well, that story is finished, now. It took me about three days. Now I’m in the butcher shop phase, trimming fat where I can find it. There’s also a painful need for about 1-3 lines of exposition regarding an infernal Underwood typewriter, and I’ve recently pinpointed the exact paragraph where it can be safely inserted. (For me, exposition is like a seed isotope implanted in somebody’s prostate; you really gotta watch it.)
Anyway, my favourite part:
A book slammed down beside Hannah’s arm. “There a problem?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah, there is,” Brandon said. “You’re supposed to be mute.”
“I’m not mute, I just don’t waste my time talking to assholes.” Charlie rolled his toothpick with his tongue. “But today I’m feeling extra chatty.”
“You’re asking for it,” Brandon said.
“That your car down in the autoshop?” Charlie asked. “The Chevelle? Cherry red? Pair of purple panties under the passenger seat?” Charlie looked directly at Beth, whose blush deepened into a bruise colour, before rapping his knuckles across his book. “Am I ringing some bells, here? ‘Cause I just wanted to let you know that I’m gonna take excellent care of your vehicle, fifth period. Excellent. You have my word.”
This song helped me stay awake:
It really has nothing to do with the story. (If anything, it reminds me of Watts’ new book, whose outline I had the privilege of examining) I just like the beat. I only have a single Cash record, and I should really pick up more of them.
This might be it for a while; I’m going away for the weekend to work on more Foresters, but I’ll be back Sunday.