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Sunday, February 17, 2008

Short Story;the ending

"I won't leave without Oscar!"

"Then you will never leave," I heard my abductor say. Then there was the sound of a pistol being cocked and realizing what was happening I jumped up to go to where Oscar was bound. Too late! The sound of the pistol firing completely took my will away. In the background I heard Albert shout.

"You fool!"

The next thing I knew Elsie was throwing me out of the way as the pistol was being turned toward me. There was the horrid sound of the pistols firing yet again, but I felt nothing.

Then there was another shot, and I saw my abductor falling. Struggling to my feet I saw that Elsie was lying next to where she had pushed me down.

"Ruth, I am so sorry. Please forgive me, you were my friend."

"Don't worry. You will always be my friend. We just had a difference of opinion. You will soon be better and we will laugh about this."

"Somehow I don't think so. Just bury me out away from everyone. They didn't think much f me so I don't think I would be happy near all of them."

Tears were streaming down my face as I held my friend. She smiled and then was gone.

Looking around I saw that I was the only one still alive. Gathering myself I went out and rode back to town.

I honored Elsie's wish and buried her out away from everything. I even left the name off of the headstone. I think she would approve. I stayed in Silver Cliff until the town started dying away after the railroad only came as far as WestCliff. I found out that Albert was trying to take over one of the mines and Oscar had found out about it. So much for so little.

Comment: This is how I put together a short story. The only difference is I usually get this first draft (which this is) done in a day or so. When I found I would be telling the story of Elsie and Ruth I looked up the time tables of Silver Cliff and Chicago. The Chicago Fire was 1871 and Silver Cliff came into being around 1879. I also read a bit about the Wet Mountain Valley and the town of Silver Cliff. There was a picture of an unmarked grave out away from everything. When I saw that picture I pretty much knew how the story would end, just not how I would get there.

Over the next couple of weeks I will just let this first draft percolate then I will start in on the rewrites, fixing dialogue, adding informations etc. I thank all of you for following along on this journey. I will let you know when the second draft is done if anyone would like to see it.

Thanks again and I hope this may help some of you write your own first draft. Unlike film the first draft can be fixed in post.

3 comments:

Gayle Gresham said...

Thanks, Doris! It was fun to see your process of writing a short story. Your explanations were helpful.

Arletta Dawdy said...

Doris,
Thanks for putting yourself "out there" by sharing your process. It will be fun to see where you go next with the story as you undertake the re-write.
Arletta

Donna D said...

This was fun and educational. Thanks! It's great to see inside the writing process.