My Response:
Image #1: A girl, no older than fifteen, dances on the edge of a roof. She seems happy enough, though she doesn’t have any headphones in. Around her rain is pouring down, sticking her dirty blonde hair to her head, and making her makeup run. Her dress would whirl every time she turns, but the water holds it down, so that it only moves awkwardly against her legs. Barefoot, though even that seems to elude her as she dances.
Image #2: A pool of blood in the streets. Dirt is mixed with it, and a few footprints can me seen on the outer edges. People are milled about, some of them with their arms crossed over their stomachs. Others appear more curious, trying to see around the crowd. Crime tape has been set up, and cops are taking statements. A boy, fifteen, stands on the edge of the crowd looking dazed.
“Elena!” I breathed as I stepped out on the roof.
There she was, just like I knew she would be. The rain was pressing her dirty blonde hair to her head as it tumbled from the sky. A flash of lightning brightened the roof for a second, showing me Elena at her finest.
Dancing across the edge of the roof in a way that reminded me of freedom and abandon. I had never been able to mimic her movements. To just let the music take me away. Of course, the fact that she wasn’t wearing headphones didn’t phase me for a second. And her lack of shoes was the least of my worries. This certainly wasn’t the first time I had found her up here.
“Elena, you need to come inside. Mom wants you.”
I cringed when heavy thunder rolled across the sky above our heads. I hated this weather. Always had. Mom said I used to hide under the table the second it started to rain. Sometimes I wished I still could.
Elena, though, barely looked at me. She was too caught up in it. In the dance that she was creating from music that only she could hear.
Mom would kill me if I left her out here for too long, though.
Marching over to her, I grabbed her wrist, and spun her to look at me. Her skirt twirled with her, sending droplets of water dancing across my green tshirt that was already wet from the rain.
“Corey, come on.” She said, a smile on her face, “Dance with me.”
Like that was the first time she’d said that to me.
“No, mom wants you.”
She sighed, and turned back to the edge behind her. Her hips swaying was the only indication that she was still listening to the music.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“You’re the only one who can hear it.”
“No, you can hear it too. If you listen. You could always hear it.”
Anger and frustration welled in my chest. She always said things like that. Why didn’t she realize that I didn’t hear anything. That I didn’t want to hear anything! That she was the weird one, and I was perfectly happy being normal?
Why couldn’t she be normal like me?
“Elena, come on!” I grabbed her wrist and tugged her toward the door.
“No!” She shrieked, yanking her hand out of mine. I tried to tell warn her. To grab her hand again as I watched her foot step back into nothing.
My breath rushed out of my as I stared at the spot where my sister had been only moments before, not knowing what to do.
Below me a scream sounded, covered by the sound of yet another clap of thunder above me. I didn’t hear any of it, though. I couldn’t hear anything over the sound of my blood rushing through my head.
Turning I ran to the door, frantic to get down to the street.
By the time I got there, a crowd had already formed around what I knew was my sister. I didn’t want to look, but I knew I had to.
“Hey, kid. Don’t look, that’s no sight for you.” I heard someone say as a hand landed on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off and pushed through the remaining crowd. The sight, though, was too much for me, and my eyes rolled up into my head.
When I woke up again, a cop was standing next to me. Seeing me awake, he started asking me questions. I couldn’t answer, though. The crowd had thinned out, and I could see where my sister had fallen. All that was left, though, was a pool of blood. Footprints lined the outside, and bright yellow tape had been set up around it while cameras flashed and people cops talked to the people all around.
Pushing away from the cop, I made my way to the edge, still staring at all that was left of my sister. How had this happened?
My Thoughts: This one was interesting. I'll admit, I spent a lot of time on the images. I'm a planner by nature, so thinking of the images first then the story wasn't easy for me. I kept coming up with two that could work as a story. I'm not sure I succeeded in making them completely independent of each other, but it had gotten to the point where I'd cycled through so many images I was afraid I was never going to write the thing. Anyway, as always it ended up rather dark (I'm not sure I know how to do a happy-go-lucky type story) but I enjoyed writing it. And adding in the description that was so necessary with this exercise.
As always, I would love to hear what you think of my response. And I would also love to see what you came up with for it. Post in the comments section below!!
All exercises are taken from The 3 A.M. Epiphany by Brian Kiteley
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