Friday, September 5, 2008

First lines

I am going with Cathy Gardner on this one. First lines of the last 20 stories you have written.

1. I watched it from the corner of my eye. 'Burnt Offering'
2. The trees moved, bare branches gently pushed by an invisible breeze. 'Open Graves'
3. It was especially cold that winter, although none of us seemed to mind. 'Winter Solstice'
4. Ever since I was a small boy I had asked for a midget of my very own. 'My Birthday Present'
5. Tony turned off his backhoe and leaned out the door. 'Coffin Nails'
6. He looked out onto the empty street and tipped the sign in the window like every morning. 'Wine for two'
7. I guess you could say that I am penning this from prison, if you can call an industrial size pickle jar prison. 'The Glass Jar'
8. the woman lay on the bed of spikes, tiny pressure points that stretched at the flesh of her scantily clad body. 'Circus Freaks'
9. The razor ground claw of the hammer poked at the tender flesh around Dave's mouth. 'Beer Run'
10. It had been a basic church. 'Fire and Brimstone'
11. I never liked Lindsey. 'Solitaire, and Other Games Children Play'
12. It is dark. 'Life In Vignettes'
13. "What is a life, if it is not expendable." 'The Life'
14. He hung the hook out of the water, a piece of cheese attached. 'Fishing Expedition'
15. John O'neal sat and listened to the voice from across the campus. 'Naj Tunich'
16. The bell rang at Southwest Junior High School to signal the beginning of the day. 'Big Chief's Gold' children's novel, WIP
17. The war was hell on everybody. 'western' WIP
18. The shears lopped off another piece of the girls finger. 'lost'
19. It all began on a bad day. 'The bad word' childrens picture book
20. She was dark, like earth that had been turned. 'The passenger'

5 comments:

Cate Gardner said...

YAY! Thanks for playing.

Numbers 1 & 7 are my favourites. :) Though they are all fabulous.

Jamie Eyberg said...

No, they aren't. As first lines go many of them suck. They really pale compared to yours. That was fun.

Aaron Polson said...

Beautiful image on #20. Chilling.

J.C. Tabler said...

7 Has a sort of surreal quality that draws me in, but Aaron's right. #20 has imagery in few words that paints a picture on the back wall of my mind.

Carrie Harris said...

Industrial sized pickle jar? I've GOT to read that story!