From the feedback I have gotten about ‘Emergence Collective,” It turns out that “The hole.” Which was (to me) just part of the setting that turned out to be its own Character. I didn’t expect there to be so much intrigue around it. It is fun and satisfying to see reactions and thoughts about my story from other people’s perspectives, which didn’t occur to me since I was focused on different parts of the story. This character snapshot is not a character, but a place in the story.
Old Willy opened the truck door, which whined and screeched in protest as
the rusty hinges rattled. “Whatcha doin’?” Mr. Winston croaked out the question
while clearing his throat, showing genuine interest in Frank’s contraption over
the dump.
He turned a little red, embarrassed by his curiosity. “Umm, well, ya see. I
got to thinking is all.” He began to explain. “I have been using this as a dump
for 30 years now, right?”
“Well… why hasn’t it filled up yet?” He posed the question with increasing
excitement.
Mr. Winston’s eyes lit up as the thought sunk in. “You know…. I never much
gave it a thought….’ Till now. You know your right!” the excitement transferred
to Mr. Winston. They both sat staring at it silently for a minute or two,
pondering the notion as another old beat-up truck shook its way up the path. A
younger man in his mid-30’s poked his head out of the truck window to have a
clearer view of the scene around the hole.
“Is there something I can do?” he asked with concern in his voice.
Not knowing the details of the situation, he offered his services out of simple
neighborly kindness.
Frank and Mr. Winston did not look up or respond, lost in their own
thoughts. Johnny got out of his truck in a hurry and trotted over to the
hole.
“Someone fall in?” he asked in an almost scared tone of voice. He
detected that Jonny was getting amped up a bit, broke his trance from the hole,
cracked a smile, and chuckled. “No, no, everything is fine,” he said in a calm
voice, trying to put out the fire in Jonny’s mind “we were just think’n is all;
how deep is this hole?”
Hand-prints of Darkness 