A Few Samples...

Thanks to those of you who have agreed to share your work... You make it a better class!

Arpita's

There were a lot of people at The Centre, but Inna had already decided which people were worth her while. There was the friendly gardener who spent most of every day in spiritual silence, the cook who was obviously full to the brim with energetic wisdom, and the yoga teacher, Fay. She taught only one class every day and it was in high demand, but in her spare time she was usually working in the garden. Today they were scheduled to work in the garden together, so Inna was excited to get to know this potential friend.Inna walked down the slope to the garden and saw Fay already hard at work in the strawberry patch. It was lovely and sunny out, the perfect time to pick sweet strawberries. Inna knelt down a few yards away from Fay and started picking, looking up at Fay every so often to monitor her facial expressions.

"It's been a while since I've had the pleasure of working in a garden like this," Inna said.

"It's great, eh?"

"So close to the Earth... I finally feel grounded." Inna smiled to herself smugly as she imagined how this kind of comment would be something Fay would relate to happily. When Fay didn't reply for a moment, Inna looked up to read her face. Inna was shocked to see a cynical sort of expression just fading away as she sighed.

"Yes," Fay said slowly, "feeling grounded is one of the best feelings there are to feel. It's too bad neither of us feels that way now. I'm in my head, focusing on our conversation, and I've never seen you be present in any moment before. Aren't you excited to some day experience that?"

Inna stared in disbelief at Fay's truly excited and supportive facial expression. How could anyone be so insensitive and rude? She sat there fuming, staring daggars at Fay as she worked with the strawberries oh-so-calmly. She was about to make her stormy sentiments known, but Fay spoke first. Her voice was deeper and softer. "Yes, being grounded is a good feeling. Mother Earth reminds me when I'm gettting too caught up in the things that don't really matter."

Inna stared cruely as Fay suddenly began to shake with tears. What shameless moodiness! What shameless weakness, to go and be nasty to someone and then start crying out of guilt and act like the tears were pure in some --

"You're projecting." Fay said, a little fed-up. "Go meditate, sweet heart. You'd feel a lot better."

Eric Varga's:

Sara opened the door of the rusted-out pickup and began to search frantically. She was searching for that note, that note that Wally gave her that one night. That one night Wally's pickup broke down on the side of a back highway for four hours; the first time Wally kissed her, after about thirteen minutes of barely any conversation. Putting her hand under the seat, she felt around for anything that felt like it. There it is. She pulled the paper out and looked, it wasn't the note he gave her, not at all. She thrust the condom wrapper back under the seat and climbed into the driver's seat, scanning the truck. The inside was in just as bad of shape as the outside. Where the outside was rusted, the inside was adorned in stains; some Sara didn't even want to think about how they got there. Or what they were from. The truck reaked of alchohol and shame, but she ignored it- she needed to find that note.
"Where the hell is it?" Asked Sara aloud, glancing down at a bag almost under the passenger seat. His gym bag. Sticking out from the top she could see his workout atire; a sweaty t-shirt with the sleeves torn off instead of cut, and some plain black shorts. It wouldn't be in there. Moving over to the passanger seat, Sara almost tipped over a coffecup in her hurry, barely noticing. Reaching under the seat, she pulled out a slew of wrappers and bottles, beer cans and an old baseball cap, printed on the back were the words, Pheonix Coyotes. His favorite hockey team. She leaned over further, reaching deeper and felt a box- pulling it out she revealed the source of the first condom wrapper, along with some of it's long lost brothers and sisters. Men. The glove compartment. She opened it up and saw nothing she needed, just a script he had written. Pulling it out and glanced at the cover, it was dated, May 21st, 2009. His birthday. Why would he be writting on his birthday? He never takes the time to enjoy his day. She opened to the middle of the script and started to read.

Amy: "You know we can't tell anyone about this, I could lose my job... Although we could consider it one of our teacher to student privlages..." Touching the pencil behind her ear, trying not to star at Jerry's transbulging-"

Sara stopped reading, a look of disgust flashed across her face and perhaps a bit of excitment. Out of the corner of her eye she caught the sight of something else in the glove compartment. A flask. It was encased in leather, embroided on the side with the words 'For the good times, and bad. Old friend.' I wish he'd stop drinking so much- especially in the truck. She scanned the dashboard, only two things on it. A speeding ticket and his hat. She hated that hat, but he loved it. The only reason he bought it was that he said it made him look like an old school detective from the 40's. She had to admit, when he wasn't shaved- which was often and when he put that hat on and lit his ciggarette, he did look like he was from the 40's. A real badass.
She picked up the coffeecup and smelt it; coffee, black and it was definately spiked. The cup was over half full. Maybe he passed out halfway through it. She almost didn't notice a small piece of white parchment fall out from under the cup. The note! Sara opened the tiny piece of paper and read it aloud.
"Dear Sara, if you are reading this, it means that I have finally gotten the balls to run away for a while. I'll be back before you know it. I'm sorry, I love you always." By the end of the note, tears were filling her eyes. "You finally did eh? You finally ran away you coward..." She was crying harder now- her eyes were red and her head hurt. She had an itch between her shoulderblades that she knew she could never scratch.
"What the hell are you crying for now? You're always so bloody sensitive." A familiar voice spoke up behind her. It was casual and had a sarcastic tone. It always had a sarcastic tone.
Sara spun round, wiping her eyes. There he was, tall and mostly shoulders with a three day beard. "Wally!"

Christilynn's:

Peyton Corby19 years oldJust moved to Scottland-long black hair-bright green cat like eyes-casual style-5'2 She is a mage that is destined to track down three mages to magically bond with for life along her journey to complete her bond with the second demension and to be able to expand and control her powers to their fullest potential. She has a power crystal that she wears on a necklace around her neck that helps her obtain and control her powers. When she holds her crystal in the palm of her hand she s able to track whom ever she wants and is able to see into the future. At the moment her visions are blurry and she is not abe to control her powers to full extent due to the fact that she has not found the three mages to complete her magical bond. Once she does she will be able to see the near future as she pleases, track people and recieve visions of more acurate locations and she will be able to control her powers and obtain them completely with force. She is able to control the elements of Earth such as flowers, trees, soil, woodland animals, etc. The three mages she will bond with for eternity will control fire, air and water/ice. They are all set out to find one another with the help of their elements and crystals (the other three mages will be able to only track eachother, but Peyton has the gift of tracking who she pleases because it is one of her main gifts). The crystals all pulse when their is dangers at the rate of their mages heart beat. Peyton is not alone though. She has a Tibetan Mastiff that is out of the ordinary. His name is Sully and he is able to speak as humans do. He was also provided a crystal as well to bond magically with his owner Peyton, therefore they are able to create magic together that is twice as strong. Peyton is very strong willed and smart. She is sensitive but never allows it to take over and show. Her style is very casual preferably jeans and a fitted leather jacket. Her parents died unexplainably on their way to Vancouver, Peyton has been on her own since she was 17. She has set out to seek the three mages who will be able to help her unravel her parents sudden death and to unravel the future that awaits them.

Eduardo's:

Character: Clide
"What is the capital of Peru?" In all honesty, I wasn't really listening. This show just pisses me off more than anything. All of these people that actually make it on the show are either doctors, or teachers, or 'scientists' in claim, but are most often med-school drop-outs. They're so full of themselves and usually end up making thousands of dollars by pressing a stupid buzzer - just because they know that magnesium has 26 protons, or neutrons, or whatever. Thousands of dollars that probably don't amount to what they already own from their doctor, or teacher, or scientist parents. This show just pisses me off.Lucky enough for me, I can barely focus on anything right now. I remember I was watching "Friends" a while ago. It was the one when they lose the baby on the bus. Everyone tells me that they hate that show, but I don't mind it. I think that was four shots ago, and when I still had my shirt on - by all rights I should go get the sippy cup in the kitchen, but it's way too far of a walk. I have to use vodka because we ran out of scotch, and I'm not waiting untill tuesday for my paycheck. I can still see 'though, and think (I think,) so Danielle won't get mad. I know she's coming home around six, and she's bringing Ian back from daycare. It will be nice to see him, since I don't have to work tonight.I don't know why I'm still watching this show. Turning off the television probably seems like the best idea right now. In a foolish attempt to get up, I bang my head on the doorframe. Again. I keep fooling myself that if I start something, I can finish it, and it works. The trip to the kitchen wasn't as far as it seemed. There's still a piece of salami in the fridge, so I can tide myself over until about six thirty - which means I've got about an hour to spare before everyone comes home. If I can make it to the door, I may as well go for a walk.It's cold out, but not cold enough for my good jacket. Putting my shirt back on, I grab my sweater and almost trip, stumbling out the door. I feel like everyone stares at me as I make my way down the steps. I know that's not true 'though - people are usually afraid of me. Whenever I pass someone they always stare at the ground, unless they're just kids, then they can't stop staring up. Ian is like that. He will be two years old in June. That's over two months away and Danielle's already preparing for the party. She always gets worried whenever I go out alone. It's not like she says it, but I can tell. She doesn't say, 'Goodbye Clide,' with that happy tone anymore, and there's something about the way that her eyes sink whenever I leave. She has every right to worry 'though. More than once I've turned down the wrong corner and some punks decide to take me on just because of my size. It's worth it since I managed to land a job as a security guard down at the Clivesdale Park Mall - not bad for my first job right after college. Now that I think about it, It's been two or three days since I've got out of the house for something other than work.Maybe I'll get something nice for Danielle. I can always get more scotch next week.


Matt's:

Jake Delaware is a historian/researcher that studies ancient artifacts, and reads ancient symbols that commonly belong to secret societies and/or organizations. He works for a Canadian organization called NTRC (National Treasure Research of Canada). He works as a special agent decoding the most advanced codes in history. He aids in the recovery of ancient artifacts, transcripts, tapestries and other artifacts of the world.
Jake's full name is Jacob Allan Delaware. Jake Delaware is 6'2" tall, and he has an athletic build. He has shoulder length, jet black hair he takes much pride in, but isn't a pretty boy. He usually wears casual clothing (long sleeve shirts, jeans, sneakers) and a leather jacket. He has no problem fitting into a suit, in fact, he enjoys wearing suits, and he thinks it makes him look important.
Jake isn't very openly emotional and he hides most of his feelings with sarcasm and constant joking, but when a serious situation arises, he stays focused and keeps serious about the situation until it's solved. He also has a very short fuse, and gets angry when others are made fun of, hurt, etc. He is selfless, and cares more about the people around him than himself.
He is trained with various projectile weapons (handgun, shotgun, etc.) and carries a 9mm handgun with him at all times. He is not trained in any foreign martial arts, but wishes to pursue one later on in his life. Jake unfortunately does not have a lot of stamina, and can't run long distances for very long.
Jake has no current relationships, and doesn't wish to pursue one until he is settled down. The last girlfriend he had dumped him for one of his friends, which convinced him that all girls hated him since it had happened in the past. Jake would like to get married and possibly have kids, but at an older age (above 25).
Jake's home life is satisfying to his needs. His father past away when Jake was 21 from lung cancer, and his mother lives with him at home with minor arthritis. He has one sister, Sonya Delaware which lives in the Detroit, Michigan a few years after her father's death. Jake and his sister talk to each other every once and a while, and try to keep in touch when they aren't working.
Jake wishes to move to Australia when he gets enough money (or wins the lottery, which ever comes first) and hopefully live with his mother, and sister.

Whitney's Sketch:

It must be six o’clock. My feet don’t want to move, it’s too cold; I’m so comfortable. But okay, I’m up. Shower time. The water’s hot, the best way to have it and I’m falling asleep all over again, probably shouldn’t have stayed up so late last night massacring all those zombies. Okay, condition and I’m done.
Damn, it’s raining again, why did I move here? It’s rained every day since I’ve been here. But of course, time for work, I’ll take a cab today because there’s no time for the bus. My eyes are red and there are dark circles surrounding them... stupid zombies. I wonder if that cute intern is going to be in today, I should probably learn her name.
Not bad, 6:30, hair looks good; all short and soft, so glad I cut it, that intern isn’t going to know what hit her. Jeans are frowned upon at the office, but I won’t be there all day so too bad. Pinstripe dress-shirt and I’m done. And now to call the cab, which is so much more different than just hailing one. But it’s taking forever; I probably could have waited upstairs in my flat and watched out the window, rather than in this cold, damp lobby. “Mr. Etelle?” my name sounds funny when said with an accent, “Your mail is here.” I grab it and stuff it in my bag when I hear a weak horn honk from outside and I thank the old man behind the front desk. Running out into the rain I yank my coat over my head to save my hair from disaster. I jump into the back of the cab; success, its still intact.
“Studio Eight, on St. Adams Street” I demand from the driver and she turns her head to give me a look before pulling out into the street.
“Not from around here?” she asks, but I only hear her faintly because I have my headphones in. “Where you from?”
“Oh, uh, London” I say, and cut her off before she gets excited, “Ontario.”
“Oh, well then. You’re a little far from home, huh?”
“Huh?” I respond, not actually caring what she’s talking about. She turns and pretends to have said nothing, as I shove my other headphone in my left ear. Pulling up to the gates, I hand her £8 and say thanks as I jump out and slam the door behind me.

Now, let's get these characters interacting with one another.

Try picking two or three of the above characters and putting them in one of the following three settings. Strive for about 500 to 800 words of fiction. Try to balance your narration and dialogue.

1) In a crashing airliner. The characters are among the passengers but the pilot and co-pilot are (predictably) unconscious/incapacitated/dead.

2) At the North Pole. The closest settlement is about a 5 day trek. The characters have limited supplies.

3) Stuck in an elevator... whose fault was it anyway? What should we do with our time? How are we goning to get out?