As a writer I have always found writing prompts to be helpful for sparking the imagination. As of late I have been reversing the process and crafting my own writing prompts as a way of getting a few lines on paper that might lead to a promising story. This morning I was working on my job’s version of a TPS Report and then I started daydreaming about Colonial America and exploring the continent and quickly typed this up.
Two days West of the Hood River. Our men are hungry, tired and on the verge of mutiny. Our clothes have been wet for nearly a fortnight. Provisions are meager, morale low. How did we come to this? We left the tranquility of the Missouri backwater in high spirits. One month later, I don’t know if our party will survive this trip intact. If Nature and the indigenous people of this region remain conspired against us, all may be lost.
So my challenge to readers is this: Leave a comment with the next couple of paragraphs. Make them sad, funny, exciting, etc. If we get some good ones I will post them later this week. Happy writing!
OK, I’m going with the obvious….
“Two days West of the Hood River. Our men are hungry, tired and on the verge of mutiny. Our clothes have been wet for nearly a fortnight. Provisions are meager, morale low. How did we come to this? We left the tranquility of the Missouri backwater in high spirits. One month later, I don’t know if our party will survive this trip intact. If Nature and the indigenous people of this region remain conspired against us, all may be lost.
Still, Representative Akin assures us that this time we shall take the Senate, and woe to the Mohammedan tyrant and his Billy-no-mates cronies! We shall lead a righteous donnybrook, and “Freedom and States Rights!” shall be our gardyloo.”Report
Jaybird paused. He removed his virtual reality helmet and looked around at the familiar confines of his living room. “This newest version of ‘Oregon Trail’ is awesome!” he thought to himself.Report
“This game needs more Batman.”Report
Next para v 1:
“Wish you were here.”Report
Two days West of the Hood River. Our men are hungry, tired and on the verge of mutiny. Our clothes have been wet for nearly a fortnight. Provisions are meager, morale low. How did we come to this? We left the tranquility of the Missouri backwater in high spirits. One month later, I don’t know if our party will survive this trip intact. If Nature and the indigenous people of this region remain conspired against us, all may be lost.
It was the spine of the world that broke our spirits, even as it uplifted them. Never have we seen sights so noble. Never a trek so fraught with difficulties. Looking back, sick as we were of gruels of beans or oats, they would be a happy welcome this morning; but the last of our beans and oats are gone, washed down a river with two pack horses, the medical supplies, and Sergeant Clemons. How I miss his jokes; his ability to lighten the mood and poke fun at our foibles. But Clemons is gone, the oats are gone, nothing but forage for the horses and for the men. I’m still foraging for the reasons we’re here; all the reasons that sounded so grand two months ago seem like the plans of ale-sotted men in their dotage.
I know this, if we are to survive, we need a guide. Someone who can speak to the hostiles when necessary and help us avoid them when needed. Someone who can help us find the mountain passes and fords in the rivers to get to the Pacific. Each night, I pray to Almighty God for such a guide; but I fear it will be the Devil that answers my prayers.Report
That is OT, zic!Report
@james-hanley ???
Off topic? (Did I miss some sort of gaming clue?)
I’m sitting in the coner
with the dunce cap on
the dunce cap on
the dunce cap on
I’m sitting in the corner
with the dunce cap on
’cause I miss many
of the cues the cues
I miss too many
of the cues.Report
I believe it was an April Fool’s post, the joke was that great comments will be said to be OT (Ord. Times). It’s high praise on the order of space awesome.Report
you sure you’re not trying to pull my dunce cap over my eyes?Report
I remember, now.
Back in the Gentlemen days. OG.
OT seems off topic.Report
Oh, was it really in the OG times?
Well, instead of admitting I screwed up, I’ll just claim credit for updating it and eliminating the sexist elements.Report
Yup, it was in the ‘Gentlemen’ days. It was a faux rollout of the new design, which was all listicles.
The exact phrase was “THIS POST WAS O.G., DUDE!”
https://ordinary-times.com/blog/2013/04/01/welcome-to-the-new-improved-league-of-ordinary-gentlemenReport
“No point in mentioning those bats, I thought. Poor bastard will see them soon enough.”Report
Fortunately, we have remained undetected. The Columbia Generating Station is only a day’s hike away. After the bad experience in what used to be Nebraska, we hope that the lusher and more overcast conditions will allow us to approach without tripping any alarms from whatever warlord has seized power here. It is hard to remember what we used to be now. More of a vision, really, than a memory. Aasif, the most determined of our party, remembers the least, for he was only nine years old when it all broke down. But if we can secure the cooperation of enough places that still create electricity, we can start to knit a nation together again.Report
You guys are awesome…Report
“Two days West of the Hood River. Our men are hungry, tired and on the verge of mutiny. Our clothes have been wet for nearly a fortnight. Provisions are meager, morale low. How did we come to this? We left the tranquility of the Missouri backwater in high spirits. One month later, I don’t know if our party will survive this trip intact. If Nature and the indigenous people of this region remain conspired against us, all may be lost.”
But if we can press through for two more days, we’ll be in Portland, and can all have a cup of good coffee, and mayhaps a shower at Tod’s house.Report
We were somewhere around Portland on the edge of the ocean when the drugs began to take hold.Report
Great minds…Report
That evening I implored everyone to remember why we were doing this, with the realty of what we were fleeing and visions of our destination. There was a noticeable increase in morale.
Two days later, however, everything came crashing down when our gross navigation error became obvious. Rather that reaching Galt’s Gulch, we were entering the socialist nightmare of Portland!Report
With some action to support the abstracts included, this would be my favorite.Report
This battle over Moral Terrain, waged in the name of liberty and Freedom, has now spanned generations and inflicted immeasurable suffering on both sides. Even though Teh Gays established a stronghold on legal high ground our bloody battle waged on. Liberals watched in horror as our Conservative soldiers hurled themselves against fortifications and ramparts freshly won, wondering if the causalities could ever be justified given the strength of Teh Gay army. Their rare moments of somber reflection, in their small reprieves from the overwhelming fury of our Conservative counterattack, were punctuated by quizzical stares at what an increasing number even of our own host began to call a baffling, and tragic, series of ineffectual responses. Tragic, yes, as the numberly of cowardly deserters increased, and the number of casualties climbed ever higher…
And here we are, those few of us who remain faithful to the cause of TradMar, [t]wo days West of the Hood River. Our men are hungry, tired and on the verge of mutiny. Our clothes have been wet for nearly a fortnight. Provisions are meager, morale low. How did we come to this? We left the tranquility of the Missouri backwater in high spirits. One month later, I don’t know if our party will survive this trip intact. If Nature and the indigenous people of this region remain conspired against us, all may be lost.Report
!!Stillwater Hanley?? Has there been some sort of terrible technological error born of hubris like in The Fly that has led to this previously unknown creation?Report
If Nature and the indigenous people of this region remain conspired against us, all may be lost.
“Diary entry 34: Four days from Missouri now, and desperation fuels our bodies more than the the rancid provisions we boil for food. Efforts to find meat in this God forsaken coastal enclave prove fruitless and our munitions are depleted. Our hopes of defending tradmar from the raving Heathen claws are waning, we’re balanced on the brink of finality, a precipice of doom. Our frustrations grow. We cling to our guns and religion in this final hour as a living testament to freedom.”Report
I’m sorry, this is way, way Off-Topic (deserves the capitals). If the powers-that-be decide that this shouldn’t make the cut of posting, I’ll understand.
A friend, K.T. Beck is posting his unsold screenplays online and his “Colter” is one of them. He’s not selling it; this isn’t a sales pitch; it’s a free download in .pdf. But if you have any interest in the history of the exploration of the continent (or just a rousing adventure), check out this script. You can click past the page where he supplies a link to his novels on Amazon, but really, there’s no sales going on. The script is a fun read.
ktbeck (dot) com will get you there. I am sorry if this is inappropriate. And I have loved the very creative replies above.Report
Man, when I saw that online, it really looked like spam. I’ve posted here before and I swear there’s no sales pitch of any kind in the offing. Sorry.Report
The WordPress software obviously disagreed. Fortunately, we humans here know you. 🙂
Sorry about the delay.Report
Tod — thanks! That’s very nice. And while I’ve got your attention, there is this bridge that I can get you for a great price…Report
Hey everyone… I know I mentioned posting some of the better submissions but these are all too good to choose from. So I will just say that this was so fun to do and read. I will probably try to make this a semi-regular feature in the future.Report