TV

The Assignment: Write a short interior scene during which a TV is on.  Let the words and images on the screen interact interestingly with the activity going on in the room.  Your characters can be watching the TV, or it can be background noise.  Choose your TV show carefully to reflect an interesting aspect of the human situation you're also describing.  You might do some research, taking notes with the TV on (more difficult to do than you might think).  Think about the kind of people who have a TV on all the time and don't seem to know about the mute button on the remote.  Maybe you could play with the notion of TV reality interfering with your characters' reality.  500 words.

My Response:

 The eyes of the alligator stuck out of the water, looking like nothing more than two bubbles. Except that the group of people in the boat behind it were looking excited and pointing. This was what they had been looking for. They had found it, and they were going to capture it.

A rope came out, and the girl stepped forward, ready to do what she had come along to do. Her hand came up and…

“So what do you think?”

My head whirled around to see the entire table staring at me, waiting to see what I thought about the topic I hadn’t heard.

“Um, what?” I asked, forcing myself to turn and sit in the chair properly rather than staring at the TV in the other room.

It was Thanksgiving, and my family had gathered together. In the kitchen my grandmother was holding court. She sat at the end of the table, her petite form leaning back in her chair, and her eyes carefully watching the pots set up on the stove.

At the table with her was my Aunt Helena, her daughter Janine, my sister Carole and myself. This was what we did during family get togethers. Sitting in the kitchen talking was something that had been ingrained in us since we were children. So was leaving the television on. I wasn’t sure that my grandmother knew there was an off button.

I didn’t even like what was on TV. Stupid reality shows that I never found interesting. Unfortunately I couldn’t help what distracted me, and generally the TV was enough.

“What are you watching?” My sister asked leaning back, her long brown hair swinging over the back of her chair as she watched four people with multiple ropes hauling the alligator up onto the bank and give it a shot to knock it out. The girl had apparently been successful.

“Nothing,” I said with a shrug, “I hate those shows.”

“Which is why she didn’t hear any of the conversation.” Aunt Helena said with a roll of her eyes. I ignored her. She had an opinion on everything, and we had gotten used to having to listen to them.

“What is this?” Carole asked, turning more fully and squinting at the television.

My eyes turned back to it, taking in the men picking up the large reptile and throwing it into the back of their truck. I didn’t even want to think about where they were going to take it.

“I don’t know,” I said, forcing my eyes back to the table. “What were we talking about, anyway?”

Carole finally gave up on trying to figure out what was on the television. “Meredith. What do you think of our new sister-in-law?”

I sighed. No one liked her. In fact, there had been a huge fight with our brother right before the wedding. I had tried to stay out of it, but I got the feeling he was never going to forgive us.

“I think that she’s his choice, and we shouldn’t interfere.”

My Thoughts: This one wasn't actually too difficult for me.  I often find myself distracted by a television, even if I don't care at all about what's being shown there.  I don't know why, but it happens more often than I would like to admit.

I would love to hear what you thought of my response.   And if you feel inspired by the exercise, I would love to see what you come up with.  Leave me a comment!

All exercises taken from The 3 A.M. Epiphany by Brian Kiteley.