CRW2100, first assignment
Assignment: write one page of a story. It can be a story that's one page long or the first page, last page, or a page cut from the middle of, a story.
so here it is. i'd call it a rough draft, but i'm not sure its that sophisticated yet.
The gorilla was definitely dead. There little doubt about that. The gorilla’s knuckles dragged against the floor as it swung gently to and fro in the tire swing-turned-death trap. All gorilla cages had tire swings, didn’t they? Alex couldn’t remember ever seeing a gorilla cage without one. Surely no zookeeper would install a play item proven to be lethal. Maybe this would lead to a change in zoo standard operating procedure, vis-à-vis gorilla playthings.
The gorilla’s swinging motion stopped and it hung stationary until an elderly woman poked her walking stick through the cage bars and shoved, perhaps hoping to magically resuscitate the animal. Alex had watched the gorilla (whom he named Franklin) climb into the swing feet first and then try to slide the rest of his body through. The fit was too snug so Franklin was unsuccessful, and that would’ve been the end of it if another ape hadn’t leapt onto the swing’s rope, jerking Franklin enough that his body weight pulled him through the swing until the tire was at chest level. The diameter of the tire was less room than Franklin’s chest needed to fully expand in the act of respiration, which led to Franklin’s untimely expiration. Poor Franklin struggled for several minutes, observed only by Alex, until he passed out. That was ten minutes ago. Alex, despite knowing nothing of primate physiology, felt safe in assuming that if Franklin wasn’t dead yet, he was at least well on his way and had probably already suffered some serious neurological trauma.
The few other zoo patrons in the area of the gorilla cage had mistaken Franklin’s predicament for play, and only now, in Franklin’s tenth (going on eleventh) minute of stillness were people starting to murmur about calling a zookeeper. Alex tried to recall everything he’d learned in his entry level psychology classes about experiments on gorillas. Would the death be correctly labeled accidental? Or, would some PhD. somewhere start researching levels of depression and suicide among great apes in captivity?
so here it is. i'd call it a rough draft, but i'm not sure its that sophisticated yet.
The gorilla was definitely dead. There little doubt about that. The gorilla’s knuckles dragged against the floor as it swung gently to and fro in the tire swing-turned-death trap. All gorilla cages had tire swings, didn’t they? Alex couldn’t remember ever seeing a gorilla cage without one. Surely no zookeeper would install a play item proven to be lethal. Maybe this would lead to a change in zoo standard operating procedure, vis-à-vis gorilla playthings.
The gorilla’s swinging motion stopped and it hung stationary until an elderly woman poked her walking stick through the cage bars and shoved, perhaps hoping to magically resuscitate the animal. Alex had watched the gorilla (whom he named Franklin) climb into the swing feet first and then try to slide the rest of his body through. The fit was too snug so Franklin was unsuccessful, and that would’ve been the end of it if another ape hadn’t leapt onto the swing’s rope, jerking Franklin enough that his body weight pulled him through the swing until the tire was at chest level. The diameter of the tire was less room than Franklin’s chest needed to fully expand in the act of respiration, which led to Franklin’s untimely expiration. Poor Franklin struggled for several minutes, observed only by Alex, until he passed out. That was ten minutes ago. Alex, despite knowing nothing of primate physiology, felt safe in assuming that if Franklin wasn’t dead yet, he was at least well on his way and had probably already suffered some serious neurological trauma.
The few other zoo patrons in the area of the gorilla cage had mistaken Franklin’s predicament for play, and only now, in Franklin’s tenth (going on eleventh) minute of stillness were people starting to murmur about calling a zookeeper. Alex tried to recall everything he’d learned in his entry level psychology classes about experiments on gorillas. Would the death be correctly labeled accidental? Or, would some PhD. somewhere start researching levels of depression and suicide among great apes in captivity?