HT100 #123: Scene It
Think I'm going to play with the staff on these prompts. The first two are below.
01 - Lottery Ticket
Characters - Claire, Gloria, McManus, Murphy, Sister Pete
Word Count - 268
“You want to go in on the lottery?” asked Murphy when McManus came into the kitchen.
McManus shook his head and moved to get a cup of coffee.
“Oh, don’t tell me that the lottery violates some ‘no gambling’ code with you,” replied Claire.
“It’s not that,” said Gloria. “Tim makes an occasional bet, plays poker with the guys...”
“Every Thursday,” McManus chimed in, as if to remind them all that he was still in the room.
“So whatsa matter? It’s only a buck. You want to stay in your precious EmCity until you’re seventy?”
Tim sat down at the table, smile on his face. “If I can, yeah.”
“The reason Tim doesn’t play the lottery is because of a book,” supplied Murphy.
“A book?” Claire rolled her eyes.
“Short story, actually. Any of you ever read ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson?” McManus asked.
Sister Pete scrunched her face up. “Oh, that’s an awful story. Just awful. Every year or so the people in this little town hold a lottery. Everybody in town comes out for it. Kids, old folks, everybody. One by one each person takes a slip of paper from this box. And the one that takes the slip of paper...”
“...With a big black spot in the center...” continued Murphy.
“...Gets stoned to death,” finished McManus.
“Ugh,” replied Gloria. “If this is what you read, Tim, no wonder you’re fucked up.” Claire nodded in agreement.
“Here’s my point. Every day I come through those doors, I draw my ticket. And I wonder, is today the day that my number is really gonna come up?”
02 - Museum/Art Gallery
Characters - Leo, McManus
Word Count - 191
Warning - Complete and total crackfic
“No, and I mean no, McManus.”
“But, Leo, you say we should do everything within our power to rehabilitate these guys.”
“Rehabilitation should involve skills that these guys are going to use on the outside. It should not involve crayons and chalk.”
“It’s art therapy. It’s good for them. Look at this.”
Tim laid a piece of paper over Leo’s desk. It was done in red crayon of faces staring out through flames.
“What the hell is that?”
“Exactly. It is hell. Timmy Kirk’s vision of it.”
“Kirk is a nutjob.”
“Maybe. But the only way he can get his personal demons out is through art. I’d like to display this in one of the classrooms. If we do have an art class, I’d like to have an example for the students.”
“And then you’d probably want to have an art show in the cafeteria where you could show off Kirk’s devils, Vern Schillinger’s swastikas, Chris Keller’s tracings of his dick - or worse yet, Beecher’s. This is undoubtedly one of the worst ideas you have ever had, McManus.”
“So you’ll think about it?”
“Get the hell out of my office.”
01 - Lottery Ticket
Characters - Claire, Gloria, McManus, Murphy, Sister Pete
Word Count - 268
“You want to go in on the lottery?” asked Murphy when McManus came into the kitchen.
McManus shook his head and moved to get a cup of coffee.
“Oh, don’t tell me that the lottery violates some ‘no gambling’ code with you,” replied Claire.
“It’s not that,” said Gloria. “Tim makes an occasional bet, plays poker with the guys...”
“Every Thursday,” McManus chimed in, as if to remind them all that he was still in the room.
“So whatsa matter? It’s only a buck. You want to stay in your precious EmCity until you’re seventy?”
Tim sat down at the table, smile on his face. “If I can, yeah.”
“The reason Tim doesn’t play the lottery is because of a book,” supplied Murphy.
“A book?” Claire rolled her eyes.
“Short story, actually. Any of you ever read ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson?” McManus asked.
Sister Pete scrunched her face up. “Oh, that’s an awful story. Just awful. Every year or so the people in this little town hold a lottery. Everybody in town comes out for it. Kids, old folks, everybody. One by one each person takes a slip of paper from this box. And the one that takes the slip of paper...”
“...With a big black spot in the center...” continued Murphy.
“...Gets stoned to death,” finished McManus.
“Ugh,” replied Gloria. “If this is what you read, Tim, no wonder you’re fucked up.” Claire nodded in agreement.
“Here’s my point. Every day I come through those doors, I draw my ticket. And I wonder, is today the day that my number is really gonna come up?”
02 - Museum/Art Gallery
Characters - Leo, McManus
Word Count - 191
Warning - Complete and total crackfic
“No, and I mean no, McManus.”
“But, Leo, you say we should do everything within our power to rehabilitate these guys.”
“Rehabilitation should involve skills that these guys are going to use on the outside. It should not involve crayons and chalk.”
“It’s art therapy. It’s good for them. Look at this.”
Tim laid a piece of paper over Leo’s desk. It was done in red crayon of faces staring out through flames.
“What the hell is that?”
“Exactly. It is hell. Timmy Kirk’s vision of it.”
“Kirk is a nutjob.”
“Maybe. But the only way he can get his personal demons out is through art. I’d like to display this in one of the classrooms. If we do have an art class, I’d like to have an example for the students.”
“And then you’d probably want to have an art show in the cafeteria where you could show off Kirk’s devils, Vern Schillinger’s swastikas, Chris Keller’s tracings of his dick - or worse yet, Beecher’s. This is undoubtedly one of the worst ideas you have ever had, McManus.”
“So you’ll think about it?”
“Get the hell out of my office.”