Writing Exercise!
I found this writing exercise on this website, I think it's a good one and I am going to attempt it below.
On vacation, at a lake (or at the beach, or in the mountains-- anywhere not urban) someone has an encounter with a wild animal: this might be a bat in the house or a fishing eagle or a water snake or sea gull. Describe the encounter and what happens next. For memory writing, this might be an actual incident; in fiction, it could be a story someone tells or an event that explores a character's personality.
The water was cold, but I had been floating around and swimming in the lake for the better part of the afternoon with my best friend Beth. I signed in contentment looking up at the sky. Dusk was coming and that meant we needed to head back to camp to help get dinner ready.
This was my favorite time of the year, my parents took off two whole weeks, and we spent 7 uninterrupted days at our lakeside campground. We owned the property, and it was only about three hours form our house,but there was no phone, no Internet, no cable, no electricity at all really. I always got to choose a friend to take with me, since I didn't have any brothers and sisters to keep me occupied, and I always took Beth.
Mom had one of those Ranch style triangles by the front door of the cabin and rang it to let us know when she needed us. You could see the lake from the front door, but it was a little ways off. I flopped back into the water, dragging my inner-tube behind me as I swam for shore. Beth was already collecting our towels and the other things we had brought out with us for the afternoon.
Beth had fiery red hair and very pale skin which sun burned easily, she had retreated to the shade about an hour before hand, and was reading before my mother rang the bell. She had everything packed up into the duffel bag before I made it to land. All I had to do was swing the inner-tube over my shoulder and slip into my flip-flops.
Mom was getting the fire ready and I was gathering hot-dogs and buns and condiments while Beth got all the plates and started to set the table. My Dad had gone to the store to get more ice and drinks since we were out of just about everything. Being outside pretty much all day made one surprisingly thirsty!
My mother got the fire going and we started to roast hot dogs for dinner. Dad got back just in time with the drinks. We ate until we couldn't eat another bite and then ate some more. I think the four of us finished off nearly two whole packages of hot dogs before we gave in. We sat at the table by the fire playing cards and telling stories. The fire started to die down and Dad went to get some more wood.
"Girls, we're out of wood, can you go gather some? Mom and I thought we could make s'mores!" my father called from where the woodpile should be.
"Sure!" Beth called as we jumped up, excited about the s'mores. She got the flashlight and ran ahead following the path and I was able to follow behind using the glow of the light on the path to guide me. I started to fall behind as I stumbled on roots and rocks I couldn't see because Beth was holding the flashlight.
Laughing and out of breath I called out, "Beth! Wait up!" she didn't stop, but I heard her laughing as she started to turn around.
That's when I ran into something.
It knocked me back a little, but I managed to keep my balance. I took a tentative step forward and reached out gingerly with my finger tips, I still had no idea what might be in the middle of the path, but I did know that it hadn't been there when Beth ran by just a few minutes ahead of me. So, whatever I had hot, was mobile. And I was in the middle of the woods, in the white mountains.
I remember my hear beating so fast and l loud that I just knew Beth could hear it on the path ahead of me. My hands go closer and closer to where I had been, and when they finally touched the obstacle in the path, it was furry.
My heart did a little flip-floppy leap and I had to swallow a squeal left my head be torn asunder from the rest of my body by the animal I had just run into. without saying a word I backed up again and Beth swung the flashlight around, to find a massive bull moose standing int he middle of the path.
I had run, bodily, into a Moose! For those of you who are uninitiated, Moose, are not nice. They are mean and attack people pretty regularly. This was not cool. I backed away and made my way around the Moose, giving him a wide berth and once I was clear I ran to Beth and made her stay right beside me while we got the wood, and cautiously made our way back to the camp.
I did not have any s'mores.
Mom was getting the fire ready and I was gathering hot-dogs and buns and condiments while Beth got all the plates and started to set the table. My Dad had gone to the store to get more ice and drinks since we were out of just about everything. Being outside pretty much all day made one surprisingly thirsty!
My mother got the fire going and we started to roast hot dogs for dinner. Dad got back just in time with the drinks. We ate until we couldn't eat another bite and then ate some more. I think the four of us finished off nearly two whole packages of hot dogs before we gave in. We sat at the table by the fire playing cards and telling stories. The fire started to die down and Dad went to get some more wood.
"Girls, we're out of wood, can you go gather some? Mom and I thought we could make s'mores!" my father called from where the woodpile should be.
"Sure!" Beth called as we jumped up, excited about the s'mores. She got the flashlight and ran ahead following the path and I was able to follow behind using the glow of the light on the path to guide me. I started to fall behind as I stumbled on roots and rocks I couldn't see because Beth was holding the flashlight.
Laughing and out of breath I called out, "Beth! Wait up!" she didn't stop, but I heard her laughing as she started to turn around.
That's when I ran into something.
It knocked me back a little, but I managed to keep my balance. I took a tentative step forward and reached out gingerly with my finger tips, I still had no idea what might be in the middle of the path, but I did know that it hadn't been there when Beth ran by just a few minutes ahead of me. So, whatever I had hot, was mobile. And I was in the middle of the woods, in the white mountains.
I remember my hear beating so fast and l loud that I just knew Beth could hear it on the path ahead of me. My hands go closer and closer to where I had been, and when they finally touched the obstacle in the path, it was furry.
My heart did a little flip-floppy leap and I had to swallow a squeal left my head be torn asunder from the rest of my body by the animal I had just run into. without saying a word I backed up again and Beth swung the flashlight around, to find a massive bull moose standing int he middle of the path.
I had run, bodily, into a Moose! For those of you who are uninitiated, Moose, are not nice. They are mean and attack people pretty regularly. This was not cool. I backed away and made my way around the Moose, giving him a wide berth and once I was clear I ran to Beth and made her stay right beside me while we got the wood, and cautiously made our way back to the camp.
I did not have any s'mores.
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