Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
This is the Six Sentence Story bloghop. Hosted by Denise, it is simplicity itself. Take the prompt word of the week and fashion a story exactly six sentences in total length.
Pretty simple, isn’t it?
(This week’s post is as much homework/practice as it is story-telling. The story-world is that of Home and Heart, a Sister Margaret Ryan story and the first character, the antagonist in that WIP)
Howl
The CEO of the Bernebau Company was described in an (un-authorized) bio, as presenting, ‘as noble a bearing as any fallen angel in the Old Testament’; fit and trim, with a broad forehead lined only enough to remind the other person that looks weren’t everything, he wielded a smile at once charming, with an option on sardonic.
It is said the eyes are the windows to the soul; Cyrus St. Loreto’s eyes offered a view of a primordial veldt where life, struggling to gain a foothold, constantly succumbed to its own insatiable hunger.
As he approached the lobby of his building, the doorman stepped forward, reaching for the brass handle.
Peter Fishman wore his uniform with a stoicism reserved for those pre-occupied with finding the silver lining in a life of repentance; his thirty year love affair with the bottle erased an academic career, removed a loving family and left him with a pulse and a mind that woke up each morning hoping it was still dreaming.
Finding himself staring into Cyrus St Loreto’s eyes, his mind offered a distant voice from a life left behind, “I saw the best minds of my generation…” even as the image of smoke and coffee houses pulled at his mind, another elbowed it aside, a younger, more joyfully cynical voice, “You hear him howling around your kitchen door, You better not let him in.”
The former dean of philosophy and comparative religion waited until the man was at the elevator before making the sign of the cross; the flush of self-consciousness at his effort to ward off evil was replaced by a quiet certainty, as a part of himself he would have sworn was dead, whispered that everything would work out for the best.
About clarkscottroger
Great minds. Also, we’re too twisted for color TV. Good six. You always bring it.
…plus Warren Zevon. lol
thanks, man
Everything would work out for the best … is something I often say to myself when troubled, or something will turn around, Excellent Six!
Thanks, Susan
Quite an interesting perspective through the eyes of a former academic. The simpler life suits him better. Great concocted Six.
It (these Six Sentences Story(s)) serve well as practice as I try to improve my writing… especially challenging (in this form) is to create (and establish) characters in a relatively limited space. Thank god for semi-colons!
I so enjoyed this line:
Peter Fishman wore his uniform with a stoicism reserved for those pre-occupied with finding the silver lining in a life of repentance; his thirty year love affair with the bottle erased an academic career, removed a loving family and left him with a pulse and a mind that woke up each morning hoping it was still dreaming.
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I loved that line.
“as a part of himself he would have sworn was dead, whispered that everything would work out for the best.” Great hopeful ending for Peter Fishman.
the uniforms!! I had to cut back on the description of (a) doorman’s uniform.. but, though surely they are less….er grand they can’t help but make a person appreciate how different the past is from the future.
Oh my. That was quite an intense interaction. An intriguing take, that Six.
…thank you.
I have to confess that the first thing that came to mind when I saw the prompt word was the Ginsberg poem. Odd given that I’m not that into poetry and he was just a bit before my time… but for reasons best left un-examined it popped into my head. Soon followed by Warren Zevon and while that alone might have been fun, I decided that wolves and howling go together and of the characters in my WIP, Cyrus St Loreto is surely the closest to being akin. He (Cyrus) is really a fun character. Mr. Fishman is new to me. But since I needed a context for a character to encounter Mr. St Loreto, a decidedly private person, doorman came to mind. Immediately followed by the ridiculous uniforms… and the rest (his background) was inevitable.
Ha! I too had to shake off Ginsberg’s Howl. Had thought to go with howl, yowl, yelp and yop, but then, like you, went with a favorite character instead.
Liked the doorman in yours.
Now if I can get rid of this plot-block* I’ve started to encounter, my characters will have something to do!
* I trust there is such a thing, where I know the characters, I know overall what should happen, I just can’t yet see the path they take to get to the end.
Oh, that’s a real problem. I’m just dealing with it one prompt at a time.
So many images! Let’s hope it does work out for him and get better.
somehow I think it will
But will “everything work out for the best” Peter Fishman? I wonder.
You have to work on more chapters to Home and Heart! I’m missing all the intrigue and Sister Margaret and well, everyone :D
But with a slight change the paths of life run parallel, but separate and these guys are of the same cloth. Love how you wove this great six!
thanks, Lisa!
Oh my. Great contrasting characters. Looks like an exercise for a book, if I read your introduction correctly. Can’t wait for the book.
yeah, the fun (for me) in writing has always been the characters. when a certain point is reached, in my knowing them, they start to tell me the story. Almost there with Cyrus.
This was so brilliant.. a good lesson in how to write better character and a wonderful story in just 6 sentences !
Thank you Pratibha