Creative Writing, Hemmingway Style
Hiya! So, if anyone's interested, here's my latest CW assignment. Our task was to write dialogue in Hemmingway's style. I was inspired by the dialogue of the BtVS episode The Body, which has some amazing conversations :D
Enjoy!
Title: A hospital waiting room.
Genre: prose, naturalist.
Word Count: 509.
Summary: the aftermath of an incident.
Link:
A hospital waiting room. The dreary walls surround plain chairs, stacked together in an orderly fashion. The nurses, also dreary and orderly, bustle about silently, as the midnight hours crawl onward towards day. The air is cooler now, heaters given out against the frozen winter outside. A girl sits, slumped, forehead rested on palms, waiting. Her schoolbag rests beside her, fallen sideways on the floor unnoticed. A woman walks ghostlike through the swinging doors at the edge of the room, and the girl jumps up at the crashing of the doors swinging back into place.
“Well?” The girl’s voice is harsh as she speaks from the chair, hoarse from hours of silence.
The women approaches her slowly, her eyes distant. “It wasn’t... I mean...”
A gasp catches in the girl’s throat and she stands abruptly. “You mean.”
“It was too late. If we’d have...”
“You mean, if we’d been there he might have...”
“Maybe.” The woman winces.
“Oh God.” The girl wanders aimlessly across the room. “So if we’d been there... It’s all our fault.”
“Don’t say that!”
The girl spins round, tears in her eyes. “Why not? Why not shout it from the rooftops? It’s true isn’t it?”
“Yes.” The woman hangs her head.
The girl laughs sharply, a cold, empty victory. “Well, I suppose we should start...”
The doctor clears his throat from the doorway. “I’m sorry, but there are forms.”
“Of course.” The woman accompanies the doctor to the desk and busies herself with writing, ignoring the girl who collapses on the chairs, sobbing silently.
“Oh God, oh God, oh God.”
“Stop that,” the woman mutters. “Here.” To the doctor she hands the forms, all filled in. “Can we go?”
“Ah, yes. But we’ll have to speak to you later... tomorrow... about the...” he glances to the girl, “...arrangements.”
“Of course.”
The doctor nods and leaves.
“Hey...” The woman goes over to the girl. “Did you need some food or... the doctor says we can go.”
“We can’t go.”
“What? Why?”
“You know why. We have to tell them... they need to know.”
“No.”
The girl stands. “But...”
“No-one can know.”
“It’s important.”
“I said no.”
“But we saw who did it!”
The woman glares and pulls the girl to the corner. “Hush!”
“We have to...”
“I won’t... He didn’t want anyone to know. It’s not our place to tell his secrets.”
“But she could...”
“It’s taken care of.”
The girl frowns. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing. Let’s go.”
“No, wait, what do you mean it’s taken care of?”
The woman looks around. “I won’t say any more here. We don’t have to tell anyone. Let’s just go home.”
“I can’t leave.”
The woman goes to pick up the girl’s bag. “Yes you can.”
“No.” The girl’s voice is a broken sob. “I can’t... leave him here. All cold on that table, guts everywhere... Can’t leave him. He needs me.”
“He doesn’t need anyone anymore.” The woman’s voice is harsh. She grabs the bag and the girl’s arm, steering her to the exit.
“But...”
They leave.
Also, I've just got to Waiting in the Wings. Wonderful episode. And I'm trying very hard to ship Gunn and Fred - it's a great ship, very cute, but Wes and Fred are just meant to be. Plus I love Wesley too much to be totally happy seeing Gunn with Fred. But I like Gunn/Fred because they aren't the same :D
Anyway. Lots of snow here too. In fact, my workshop will probably be cancelled tomorrow, but I'm journeying in anyway. Which will probably mean walking! I'll be no doubt standing in the snow freezing my arse off waiting for the delayed buses for an hour, then I'll walk. Sigh. At least there's snow!!
Hope everything is well with everyone :D
~Lili
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