The Unicorn Challenge.
A magical new weekly writing opportunity from her – Jenne Gray – and me.
Visit her blog every Friday to see the photo prompt, and post your amazing story in her comments section.
Or on your own blog, and stick the link down in her comments.
The rules are:
Maximum of 250 words.
Based on photo prompt.
That’s it.
To hear me read my story, just click here:
Long John
‘Bit of a funny name, isn’t it?’
‘I suppose…’
‘I mean, he’s quite short, isn’t he, only about five foot eight or nine.’
‘Oh that. Yeah, I suppose…’
‘Why, what did you think I meant?’
‘John.’
‘John isn’t funny!’
‘It is a bit when your name’s Percival.’
‘Percival?’
‘Well, Percy for short, as you’ve already indicated…’
‘So why’s he called Long John? Is it because of his underwear?’
‘I couldn’t possibly comment on that. In fact, I’m not even going to think about it ever again.’
{Shudder}
‘Hang on, how many legs has he got?’
‘Pretty much standard complement, I’d say. Well within the bounds of the national average.’
‘You mean two?’
‘I’ve never actually, y’know, counted them, but that’d be my assessment, yeah.’
‘Okay, so back to my question. Why?’
‘RLS, I’d say.’
‘RLS?’
{Sigh}
‘Robert Louis Stevenson.’
‘Ah, the guy who wrote Jekyll and Hyde.’
‘Correct.’
‘And Kidnapped?’
‘Indeed.’
‘What’s that got to do with Long John?’
‘He also wrote Treasure Island.’
‘Ah, I see! No, I don’t. Does he only have one eye?’
‘I believe Stevenson’s Long John had twice that many.’
‘Hmm. Ah, he has a parrot!’
‘No, a German Shepherd. Which almost never sits on his shoulder and squawks “Pieces of Eight, Pieces of Eight.”’
‘Okay, I give up. Do you actually know why Percy’s called Long John?’
‘Of course.’
‘Would you be so kind as to share that information?’
‘Certainly. It’s really very simple.’
‘Well?’
‘He’s a pirate.’
excellent story!
the best of dialogue-writing on display here, yo.
A conversation verbatim. No tags, minimal description just two voices*
cool
(well-done!)
*that grail of all who would write stories… a voice that is recognizable on the basis of the words attributed to it.
Glad it worked for you, Clark.
Love the music. You set the stage. What fun dialogue between two mates. It’s amazing how a brilliant author can create a character that everyone recognizes even if they haven’t read the book.
And RLS was as good as any, ever.
Thank you for your kind words, Brenda.
Most amusing dear boy! So that’s why he’s called Long John, I’ve aways wanted to know!
Behave yourself!
Aha! Excellent😉
Thanks, Chris
Even when it’s nonsense, it’s clever and delightful!
And you even manage a plug for that other great Scottish writer, RLS.
I think you deserve a pirate’s bandana.
Shiver me timbers!
Always a pleasure to come here and enjoy your animated stories.
Always a pleasure to welcome you here.
Thank you for your kind words.
Neat!
Thanks, Di