Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
This is the Wakefield Doctrine’s contribution to the Six Sentence Story bloghop.
Hosted each week by Denise, all we’re asked to do is write a story of six (and only six) sentences.
The last time we saw the tall, thin man and the Sophomore… (click here)
(Hey, shoutout to Rockstar Girl. Her Six this week was a masterful display of the use of anaphora. Far be it from us to resist the temptation, lol. ‘a course, we don’t quite employ this excellent rhetorical device with the simple grace as did she.)
Prompt word:
TASK
For the first time since entering the Manager’s office, the Sophomore’s confidence began to fray, shuddery as the moment after a near-miss between an inattentive driver and a freight train at a crossing so familiar it neglected to blow it’s cursory warning.
For the first time since a searing night with a woman whose name he’d scratched from his conscious memory like the prisoner in solitary confinement marking time with bloody finger nails, the tall, thin man felt vulnerable.
One of the two thought, ‘Maybe I need to give up this time-traveler thing, the security that nothing imagined can cause harm to others, might not be so ironclad’.
One of the two fought to repress the thought, ‘This is bullshit, why get caught up in this; emotion and reason are like… oil and sugar, or some-fricken-thing.”
The task before the two individuals differed only in terms of their respective resolve to draw aside the veil and pay a price that can only be self-inflicted.
“You know what I think…” the Sophomore leaned into his words, the better to surmount the wall he believed was there;
“I think you know better…”, the tall, thin man let his words settle on the surface of the desk that separated the two men.
About clarkscottroger
I like how the sophomore didn’t even get to make his point before the tall thin man critiqued it. Perhaps evidence of time travel.
this element/storyline is becoming more pronounced with each Six of this interaction. Basically, the question (might be) allowing for time travel is the person you were the person you are?
Or is it simply the person you were is the base to the person you are.
to your point, ever see (any) photos of people either you know or are famous when they were, like, five years old… that future echo is totally there
The subtly building tension, the parallels, the way so little is said in the final two lines of dialogue, yet so much is said… Fantastically written!
this series (of interactions between the two) started as one thing, evolving into something more. (Originally my focus was on the tall, thin man. I got to thinking, ‘wait, is there something to this guy that he’s not telling us?’ lol now, my problem is keeping up!)
This worked well as a stand-a-lone, and now having read the previous parts that culminated in this part, I appreciate it in new ways. Definitely looking forward to the next part!
As Denise prefaced at her Six, some story-ettes grow into an entity that not only has a mind of its own but legs too, so that it can walk towards the direction it wishes.
Like this one.
Really love the Café… where else in the ‘sphere can you find two linked but distinct narratives of violence?
One of in-your-face-don’t-you-look-away (‘What ain’t no country I know) and the other, all, ‘Seventh Seal‘. yet if someone were to happen upon the Bistro and stop in for a rest.
Thank god for… two words: Mimi and Chris are there to welcome them and possibly convince the occasional stranger that we’re just a normal, supportive safe place in the blogosphere… ‘course, if’n they’re hungry they can cross their fingers and ask if Tom happens to be working.
I really like the way this is going!
yeah, I do too… having no idea (Sunday 11:37am) what will happen next! classic seat-of-the-pants writing lol
Nicely done! The “one of the two.. “, effective and the last 2 sentences, way cool.
(Do they both know? Or only one knows?)