My Response:
“Jonah,” Karen said as she walked into the room and sat down on one end of the long table.
“Karen,” Jonah was sitting on the other end of the table and barely looked up from the phone that he was staring at.
Both were dressed in jeans. Jonah had matched his with a white tshirt that depicted a fist and the words ‘Nerds Unite!’ on it. Karen had a deep green sweater that stated the name of her college, and her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Their style was in sharp contrast to the conference room they were currently sitting in.
A long brown table took up most of the space in the room. The top shiny, as if it had just been polished. Twelve black chairs circled it. On the walls were screens and projection charts. Neither bothered to look at any of it. They weren’t there for that.
“Karen, Jonah, where’s Mary?” Christian asked as he walked through the door. Unlike the other two, he was wearing a suit, though if it was examined closely, the fraying around the edges would give away it’s age and use. He had spent many long hours mending it so that only the most discerning eye would notice what he hoped to hide.
“Don’t know,” Karen said, pulling out her own phone, though it hadn’t gone off.
“Do you really think that now is the time to be doing that?”
She glanced up at him, a single brow raised, “I’m sorry, was I interrupting you?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, Christian, I don’t. Why don’t you explain it to me?”
“Are you two fighting again?” Mary’s softly accented voice sounded, cutting off the fight that was about to erupt. “Let’s get down to the task at hand rather than getting on each other’s nerves.”
Jonah still hadn’t looked up from his phone, and when Mary walked past she pulled it out of his hands, earning her a glare.
“You can get it back when we’re done here.”
“You sound like my teacher,” He complained. At eighteen, he had just finished high school, and hadn’t yet started college.
Mary just smiled at him, “I am a teacher. Now, let’s get down to business. Whose it going to be?”
The other three went quiet, each of them leaning back in their chairs and avoiding her gaze.
“I don’t want to do this anymore than you, but we don’t have a choice. So, come on, who is it going to be?”
“Why don’t you decide?” Karen asked her. She had her hands in fists and her head was leaning against the back of the chair. “I don’t want to do this.”
“Karen…” Mary began.
“No, Mary, if she doesn’t want to decide, that’s fine.” Christian cut in. “We’ll decide. But she won’t have any input.”
Karen glared at him, but sat forward in her chair and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. “Here.”
"Thank you,” Karen said, leaning across the table to grab it and spread it out. One the page four names were written.
Mark Haverty
Sarah DeCoure
Vanessa Melis
Arthur True
“So, which is it going to be?”
“Why does it have to be any?” Jonah complained.
“You know why,” Christian told him, “We’ve been over this. Now we’re just wasting time.”
“I vote for Mark,” Karen put in.
“So quickly, when you didn’t even want to participate.” Mary said with a small smile.
“Just put down my vote.”
A single mark was made beside his name, and Mary looked expectantly at Jonah.
He was pale as he leaned forward. “Vanessa,” He said softly, ignoring the gasp from the other side of the table.
Mary put a mark beside Vanessa’s name, then looked at Christian.
“Mark.”
“No!” Jonah jumped up from the table. “Not Mark! He’s my brother, you can’t do this.”
“Jonah,” Mary said softly, “You know that this isn’t personal.”
“But…"
“It’s the way it has to be. I’m sorry.”
Her pencil moved back to the paper and made another mark, then a third.
A tear ran down Jonah’s face, and he grabbed his phone from her grasp before taking off out of the room.
Mary sighed, “I feel sorry for him.”
“Of course you do,” Christian said as he stood from his seat, “We’re killing his brother.”
She nodded, folded up the paper and put it in the pocket of her black slacks. Smoothing down her bright red hair she started out of the room, but paused just before she left and looked over at Karen.
“You’ll let him know, I trust?”
Karen looked slowly up at the other girl and nodded, then stood from her chair and left the room. Their gruesome task was finally over.
Both were dressed in jeans. Jonah had matched his with a white tshirt that depicted a fist and the words ‘Nerds Unite!’ on it. Karen had a deep green sweater that stated the name of her college, and her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Their style was in sharp contrast to the conference room they were currently sitting in.
A long brown table took up most of the space in the room. The top shiny, as if it had just been polished. Twelve black chairs circled it. On the walls were screens and projection charts. Neither bothered to look at any of it. They weren’t there for that.
“Karen, Jonah, where’s Mary?” Christian asked as he walked through the door. Unlike the other two, he was wearing a suit, though if it was examined closely, the fraying around the edges would give away it’s age and use. He had spent many long hours mending it so that only the most discerning eye would notice what he hoped to hide.
“Don’t know,” Karen said, pulling out her own phone, though it hadn’t gone off.
“Do you really think that now is the time to be doing that?”
She glanced up at him, a single brow raised, “I’m sorry, was I interrupting you?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, Christian, I don’t. Why don’t you explain it to me?”
“Are you two fighting again?” Mary’s softly accented voice sounded, cutting off the fight that was about to erupt. “Let’s get down to the task at hand rather than getting on each other’s nerves.”
Jonah still hadn’t looked up from his phone, and when Mary walked past she pulled it out of his hands, earning her a glare.
“You can get it back when we’re done here.”
“You sound like my teacher,” He complained. At eighteen, he had just finished high school, and hadn’t yet started college.
Mary just smiled at him, “I am a teacher. Now, let’s get down to business. Whose it going to be?”
The other three went quiet, each of them leaning back in their chairs and avoiding her gaze.
“I don’t want to do this anymore than you, but we don’t have a choice. So, come on, who is it going to be?”
“Why don’t you decide?” Karen asked her. She had her hands in fists and her head was leaning against the back of the chair. “I don’t want to do this.”
“Karen…” Mary began.
“No, Mary, if she doesn’t want to decide, that’s fine.” Christian cut in. “We’ll decide. But she won’t have any input.”
Karen glared at him, but sat forward in her chair and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. “Here.”
"Thank you,” Karen said, leaning across the table to grab it and spread it out. One the page four names were written.
Mark Haverty
Sarah DeCoure
Vanessa Melis
Arthur True
“So, which is it going to be?”
“Why does it have to be any?” Jonah complained.
“You know why,” Christian told him, “We’ve been over this. Now we’re just wasting time.”
“I vote for Mark,” Karen put in.
“So quickly, when you didn’t even want to participate.” Mary said with a small smile.
“Just put down my vote.”
A single mark was made beside his name, and Mary looked expectantly at Jonah.
He was pale as he leaned forward. “Vanessa,” He said softly, ignoring the gasp from the other side of the table.
Mary put a mark beside Vanessa’s name, then looked at Christian.
“Mark.”
“No!” Jonah jumped up from the table. “Not Mark! He’s my brother, you can’t do this.”
“Jonah,” Mary said softly, “You know that this isn’t personal.”
“But…"
“It’s the way it has to be. I’m sorry.”
Her pencil moved back to the paper and made another mark, then a third.
A tear ran down Jonah’s face, and he grabbed his phone from her grasp before taking off out of the room.
Mary sighed, “I feel sorry for him.”
“Of course you do,” Christian said as he stood from his seat, “We’re killing his brother.”
She nodded, folded up the paper and put it in the pocket of her black slacks. Smoothing down her bright red hair she started out of the room, but paused just before she left and looked over at Karen.
“You’ll let him know, I trust?”
Karen looked slowly up at the other girl and nodded, then stood from her chair and left the room. Their gruesome task was finally over.
My Thoughts: I've never done this before, but I thought I would add in this section from now on. This assignment was interesting. I've always enjoyed torturing my characters (who doesn't) but having them sit down and discuss who should be killed? That was new. Definitely a great exercise. I loved creating these characters, and not letting you -- the reader -- into the heads of these ordinary people who are making such a gruesome decision. The POV isn't one I would enjoy writing from too often, as I really do like getting in the middle of their thoughts, but it was an interesting change from the norm.
As always I would love to know what you thought of my exercise. And I would love to see anything that you might have come up with for it. Post it in the comments section below!
All exercises are taken from The 3 A.M. Epiphany by Brian Kiteley
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