The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.
Memorable, no? Presenting, The 21 First Lines meme:
1. Peter's never considered himself a religious man - science can explain just about everything and most of what's left can be blamed on Walter - but Sunday mornings in the Bishop household are still reserved for worship.
2. Olivia has never done things half-way.
3. Olivia looks out across the lab to where Peter's perched, head bent over a tray of samples, shoulders curved with fatigue, and thinks: this is what divorce feels like.
4. They found Earth.
5. One moment Olivia’s standing next to her desk in the FBI building, watching Lincoln’s back as he slouches his way to the elevators and trying to ignore the flicker of a shadow in the holding room’s door window, and the next she’s in Lincoln’s bed.
6. The Friday Night Colonel's club wasn't always held on Friday nights, nor was it actually a club, at least not in the traditional sense.
7. "Your first time, how old were you?"
8. "So…" Jack's finger traced a path along the bare skin of her back, running from the top of her earlobe to the base of her spine. "Not a real apocalypse, huh?"
9. They plan vacations, though they never actually get to take them; there's plenty of adventure to be had going through the Stargate on a daily basis, after all.
10. Kawalsky knew he was screwed the moment the wormhole snapped shut behind him.
11. The first time they were stranded, he'd let her curse and swear at the DHD all she wanted for the first six hours.
12. “You shave?” hits him from the bathroom doorway.
13. “Do you trust me?” Peter breathes against her neck.
14. "You'd be smart to get yourself pregnant right away," Marnie tells her over coffee a month before the wedding. "Nothing keeps those boys in line when they're over-seas like knowing the wife is waiting at home for them barefoot in the kitchen."
15. They wait together in the tight hide, lying flank to flank, legs intertwined in an awkward parody of post-coital bliss, concealed by the tall grass that whispers around them.
16. When Jack talked about losing himself in Minnesota, Sam never really understood the appeal.
17. There's a pair of ridiculously fluffy and overly scented towels, a toothbrush (still in its package), and a Sharpie marker waiting for Olivia on the edge of the bathroom sink.
18. There are two things Olivia never skimps on: shoes and underwear.
19. Lincoln's supposed to be driving her back to the Bridge, but they end up at his place instead because of Walter. (And doesn't everything come back to Walter, sooner or later?)
20. The evening's drizzle has turned into a full-fledged downpour by the time Olivia finally gets Peter home.
21. In the beginning there was sex. And it was good.
I always struggle with the first line - not only does it need to set the hook for the reader, but it also sets the tone for me for all the rest that come after it. Sometimes I have to stop myself from spewing the entire story out into that one first sentence. If I were writing anything right now (which I'm not because of reasons that are trivial), it would be fun to have a ficathon where your prompt was your first line.
1. Peter's never considered himself a religious man - science can explain just about everything and most of what's left can be blamed on Walter - but Sunday mornings in the Bishop household are still reserved for worship.
2. Olivia has never done things half-way.
3. Olivia looks out across the lab to where Peter's perched, head bent over a tray of samples, shoulders curved with fatigue, and thinks: this is what divorce feels like.
4. They found Earth.
5. One moment Olivia’s standing next to her desk in the FBI building, watching Lincoln’s back as he slouches his way to the elevators and trying to ignore the flicker of a shadow in the holding room’s door window, and the next she’s in Lincoln’s bed.
6. The Friday Night Colonel's club wasn't always held on Friday nights, nor was it actually a club, at least not in the traditional sense.
7. "Your first time, how old were you?"
8. "So…" Jack's finger traced a path along the bare skin of her back, running from the top of her earlobe to the base of her spine. "Not a real apocalypse, huh?"
9. They plan vacations, though they never actually get to take them; there's plenty of adventure to be had going through the Stargate on a daily basis, after all.
10. Kawalsky knew he was screwed the moment the wormhole snapped shut behind him.
11. The first time they were stranded, he'd let her curse and swear at the DHD all she wanted for the first six hours.
12. “You shave?” hits him from the bathroom doorway.
13. “Do you trust me?” Peter breathes against her neck.
14. "You'd be smart to get yourself pregnant right away," Marnie tells her over coffee a month before the wedding. "Nothing keeps those boys in line when they're over-seas like knowing the wife is waiting at home for them barefoot in the kitchen."
15. They wait together in the tight hide, lying flank to flank, legs intertwined in an awkward parody of post-coital bliss, concealed by the tall grass that whispers around them.
16. When Jack talked about losing himself in Minnesota, Sam never really understood the appeal.
17. There's a pair of ridiculously fluffy and overly scented towels, a toothbrush (still in its package), and a Sharpie marker waiting for Olivia on the edge of the bathroom sink.
18. There are two things Olivia never skimps on: shoes and underwear.
19. Lincoln's supposed to be driving her back to the Bridge, but they end up at his place instead because of Walter. (And doesn't everything come back to Walter, sooner or later?)
20. The evening's drizzle has turned into a full-fledged downpour by the time Olivia finally gets Peter home.
21. In the beginning there was sex. And it was good.
I always struggle with the first line - not only does it need to set the hook for the reader, but it also sets the tone for me for all the rest that come after it. Sometimes I have to stop myself from spewing the entire story out into that one first sentence. If I were writing anything right now (which I'm not because of reasons that are trivial), it would be fun to have a ficathon where your prompt was your first line.