Hi all!

Alright, so today’s post is a bit of a special one, because the friend with whom I do my ‘writing prompt exercises’ has recently joined the blogosphere and so would like to welcome him! Woohoo – do check out his awesome blog here 🙂 I am sure he will find the blogging community as supportive and inspiring as I have done so far!

Our most recent writing prompt exercise was ‘he led me down an alley…’ – yes, yes, a bit dodgy I know 😛 You can view my friend’s version here and below is mine – enjoy! Very light-hearted one this week, hope it makes you giggle as much as I did whilst writing it…

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‘He led me down a dark alley, and then ripped all my clothes off!’ Jane snaps, and my head jerks up in shock, my elbow sliding off the table.

‘What?!’ I say, in what I hope is a suitably aghast tone. I have no idea what preceded this sentence. I tuned out a long time ago. Jane talks a lot – she is a lovely girl, but if I didn’t tune out now and then I would go insane. I am fairly certain the sentence was intended simply to focus my attention but just in case, I add, ‘That’s horrific!’

There is a pause whilst Jane glares at me over our cappuccinos and I meet her gaze with as much integrity as I am able to muster. Oh no, it’s not enough, is it? Better just come clean. ‘Er, who did?’

‘Oh my God…’ Jane is also an expert in eye rolling and exhibits her talent in a particularly effective way in response. ‘Nobody ripped any of my clothes off, obviously. But I was talking about Prof Leyton. He seriously picks on me for no reason whatsoever, you know. It isn’t fair. You know yesterday, he asked a question to the group, and at least three people put their hands up – including that total brown noser Tom – and he picked on me, despite my hand being firmly down, and then ridiculed me!’

I perk up at the sound of Tom’s name. ‘Tom was there?’

Jane looks at me and narrows her eyes. Oh, gosh, the glare is even more intense now. ‘Seriously?’

I ignore this, and say, ‘What was he wearing? Was he in a shirt? I love that he wears shirts, not t shirts. They suit him. Did you talk to him?’

Jane’s glare relaxes and she laughs. She finally picks up her neglected drink and takes a sip before leaning back in her chair. ‘Right, I can see you are too distracted to help me in my current plight. Although I don’t see how Tom Davies can be so distracting. He is such a show off, Rina! But to answer your first question, yes. The pale blue one. And no, we did not talk.’

I sigh. Tom Davies isn’t a show off, he is simply confident. I love that he knows how to speak so confidently. I’d like him to lead me down a dark alley. I bet he’d really know how to dominate in the bedroom –

‘Hey! Rina, you’re practically drooling. Seriously, I haven’t seen you this obsessed since you were about fourteen, and you stalked – ‘

‘Alright, alright!’ I interrupt, coming hastily back to the real world again and stopping Jane from telling the entire café about my teenage misdemeanors. She is not only a talker, she is a loud one. I suppose it’s my own fault, really – I shouldn’t have started daydreaming. ‘Never mind that now. Look, if you’re genuinely feeling a bit victimised by Prof Leyton then why not tell your supervisor?’

Jane blinks at me, a little startled at my sudden return to her – how did she phrase it? – plight. Then she tilts her head, considering. ‘Actually, that makes a lot of sense. I will speak to her!’

It’s not that Jane isn’t bright, she is. We aren’t exactly doing an easy course. It’s just that sometimes, common sense evades her entirely. This is why she has me, though.

Speaking of which…’Right, so now I’ve solved that for you – will you please speak to Tom in your next small group teaching? I need you to be able to introduce me…’

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Now I had a bit of feedback from a friend who pointed out that at times I try to do ‘too much’ in these exercises and she’s left thinking – was that a short story? An excerpt? WHAT WAS IT? Sooo just to clarify…I never go into it with an aim, but I got what she meant and will try to define the pieces a bit more so they can be commented upon / critiqued accordingly.

So, I think the above would best be described as an excerpt…from a chick lit novel! Love me a good chick lit novel…

Comments and suggestions etc always appreciated 🙂

Thanks for stopping by!

Ro x