Opening example (please read author guidance for instructions):

The old man crumpled the paper in his hands until it was as wrinkled as they were.

She would do something like that.  She would leave in the night, taking her baby with her and only giving him this note as explanation.  She could not even say goodbye to him, face to face, give him a hug.  She took after her mother.    

He uncrumpled the paper and stuck it to the fridge.  The magnet made a snapping noise with the force of the gesture.  He put on some coffee and got out the cereal.

Breakfast without his granddaughter and great granddaughter was, to say the least, quiet.  There was no cheerful, ‘Morning Pops’ from smiling lips as she pushed her straight, short brown hair out of her eyes to peer into the fridge and shifted the baby higher on her hip.  The baby, Maddy, usually started a screaming fit before her Mamma had finished heating the milk up.  Somehow, the young mother was never fast enough for the impatient baby.  He had offered to heat it up, multiple times, but she was too strong willed and always refused.

The old man poured a bit of cold milk onto his corn flakes and granola and put the carton back in the fridge.  The baby bottles were gone and the fridge door looked bare without them.

He sat down on one of the tall stools by the counter.  He found himself, a few minutes later, stirring his cereal thoughtlessly and staring at the little burnt spot on the counter where she had accidentally dropped a match trying to light the gas burner on the stove.  He sat there until the cereal got soggy and was no longer appetizing.  He finally got up and dumped it into the garbarator, or waste disposal unit, as his American wife had always insisted it was called.  He was putting the bowl in the dishwasher when his phone rang.

“Pops?”

“Carrie!  Are you alright?  Why did you leave?”

There was silence on the other end, then quiet sobbing.

“Carrie, please… is everything ok?”

“The—” sniff “car, broke down.  Pops, it just stopped working… I was driving.  It’s pretty badly banged up…”

“Carrie, are you hurt? Where are you?”

“No, I’m OK.  Just a bit shaken up.”

“And Maggy?”

“She’s alright.”  A sudden scream in the background confirmed this.

“I’ll come right away.  Where are you?”

“On Hilbridge Street, near Dumphrey.  I was going to call a tow truck but couldn’t find a number.  You don’t need to come Pops.  If you could just make the call for me.”

“Don’t be silly Carrie, of course I’ll come too.”

“But,” another sniff, “but I just left.  Aren’t you angry with me?”

“Carrie, I love you.  Always have, always will.”  His old voice shook more than it usually did.  “No matter what you do.”

RATE THIS BRANCH!

Author guidance for This exercise

Since this challenging other authors business seems to be working so well, I thought I’d start another one. But this one is for short stories or scenes. Or, for the sake of a better title, story fragments.

They can be as conclusive or inconclusive as you like. It might be a complete short story in itself, or feel more like an important page torn out of a novel. It’s up to you! Oh, and you can write in any genera.

Basically, you title the branches following yours, first with the name of the author you want to write them, then the first sentence of the story fragment they are going to write.

ADDED NOTE: Look, if you have to write 2 sentences, go ahead and make it two sentences... I'm getting tired of comma splices. *grin*

ANOTHER NOTE: I just did some spring cleaning and got rid of all the stories that have been done from my list of challenges. Hope that helps.

Please try to make your sentence interesting… but I guess I shouldn’t be stating the obvious. Like in the poetry battle, I encourage you to include one branch that is for anyone to write… but it is not necessary.

-FogCat-

Challenges:
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19857
Kevichella
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19885
Savetheunicorns
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19890
Miki-deMillion
Moonwalker
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19941
Wyattaapr
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19949
Uselessness
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19913
anyone - I love protagonize..
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19856
The Mist
_______________________________
http://protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19984
BARomero
Raindance
_______________________________
http://protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20044
Tasha Noble
olius_brightwell
_______________________________
http://protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19964
Uselessness
anyone - America is useless.
_______________________________
http://protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20067
theinbetweenspace
Ridculy_Calvert
_______________________________
http://protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19959
Redhat
anyone - And so the nasal, So-Cal Blonde's voice intoned from behind me: "Jake Gyllenhaal. He really looks great. He's ripped... and then there's Matthew McConaughey..."
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20045
anyone - I floated and flew jubilantly in the sky; the breath of autumn whispering to me with every whipping twist and turn. -LairdTom

anyone - Isn’t the prospect of self discovery so grand and teeming with intricate possibilities?
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20075
anyone - "But it just tastes so wonderful," she said, obviously confused at my disgust.

anyone - I used to love looking at roses, but after that day I just cannot bear them.
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20005
jacobite30
slightlyodd
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19985
Eloosive
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20006
anyone - "It's not a tree it's, like, my soul."
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20186
anyone - I'd never killed anyone before, so I wasn't prepared for the force of emotion that came over me as he dropped to the ground. - done by bluejay

anyone - "Well, promises are meant to be broken," she said with a smile that did not quite reach her eyes. -SaveTheUnicorns
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19948
anyone - "What do you mean, you don't like the name JohnPaul George Ringo De Luca?"
THX0477 -done
ElshaHawk
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20284
Jait
Olius Brightwel
anyone - Frankly, I still don't understand where she found a badger this time of night, let alone how she coaxed it into a Teletubbies costume.
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20181
TheRiverTalker
CheshireGrin
anyone - "The key could not be used..."
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19995
DarkliquidTomu86
anyone - He was faced with a choice: get on the train back to Darwin, or jump in front of it. It wasn't that hard a decision to make. He jumped.
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19977
anyone - But at least now I knew that no tear had been shed in vain to reveal a promising rainbow.

anyone - I'm just your typical teenage girl who believes that unicorns are real. -done by Rewrite
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20285
ChackaTreatmentFOOL
anyone - "I wouldn't be so angry if you had gotten here quicker!"
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20330
DriudX
anyone
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20188
Moonwalker
anyone - Spring had come, at last, to pluto.
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20079
Seldom
Anyone - What do you think it will like better. Cat food, or dog food?
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19891
anyone - Mike stood proudly in the doorway - he knew he made that tutu look good.

anyone - I woke up in a muddy field, wondering how I got there.
_______________________________
http://protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20383
anyone - The wind rippled over the sill surface of the ocean and the scene faded.

anyone - And so I stayed up all night because I was afraid of what would happen if I fell asleep.
_______________________________
http://protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20187
anyone - I wasn't sure how to react - I'd never been robbed by a mime before.

anyone - Martin the monkey ate his banana and plotted the zookeepers demise.
_______________________________
http://protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20498
thebetweenspace
_______________________________
http://protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20588
anyone - of silence and other words

anyone - run kid run
_______________________________
http://protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20004
anyone - "They're everywhere," he whispered in awed admiration.' -done by fencepostsflying

anyone - Greatness doesn't come to those who wait, you have to take it for yourself.
_______________________________
http://protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19887
anyone - She bent over his ear whispered is it dead yet?

anyone - It happened in Vegas and wouldn't stay there.
_______________________________
http://protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20514
anyone - But I was told that I didn't need a Visa!

anyone - Let's pretend we're dead... No, lets make a lot of noise.. No, don't run! Wait for me!

anyone - You're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't.
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20499
anyone - She picked it up and shook it but the sound wouldn't go away.

anyone - He crossed the road just as a car came whistling around the corner.
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/19945
anyone - This wasn't the first time he'd accidentally walked into the women's bathroom.

anyone - Jack was the three-time limbo champion of Honolulu.
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20586
anyone - "Scream because it makes me smile."

anyone - "You call that a corpse!"

anyone - "Bring you your dead, it's lunch time!"
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20818
anyone - The trees swayed in the distance.

anyone - My cat rolled on his side and closed his eyes.

pensandfeathers
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20190
anyone - in spite of its odd beginning, the weekend with my parents went quite well.
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20052
anyone - Damned if you do, decapitated if you don't.

anyone - I'm not sorry.
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20625
anyone - "take a deep breath," Sandra stated.

anyone - She never expected what was going to happen next.
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20198
anyone - The truth is, I love and care about my teachers more than my friends.

anyone - What Elssie came, my whole life changed for forever.
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20304
anyone - "How far does the blanket of the sky outstreach, and how long does the earth keep turning?" the boy asked me.

anyone - "Well, I hate to break it to you, but we don't live in a handicap-accessible world," the man said icily.

anyone - "Have fun in the insane asylum, you crazy little lunatic!" the mean boys shouted after me.
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20132
anyone - People see what they want.

anyone - Everyday I wrote in that room, the cat's noises in the alley [were] my only company.
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20396
anyone - Oh goodness me, here has the time gone!

anyone - Sarah was drowning in a sea of read balloons. With a gasp of air, she started herself awake.
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20359
anyone - if you're not going to eat that would you mind passing it over here?
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20735
Tasha Noble
Ireneintheworld
anyone - "Setting fire to the curtains had not been Melvin's original goal."
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/21132
Emmyful
kwatz -done
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/21724
anyone - He had seven bullets in his back, knife wounds all over and a hatchet in his head. He was dead.
nickb
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20074
AnaCristina
CheshireGrin
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20134
anyone - I soon found I had entered the wrong taxi.

anyone - The surface of the lake began to bubbled and froth.
_______________________________
http://protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/21722
anyone - Quick, pass me that flowerpot, I feel sick.

anyone - I wouldn't do that if I were you, young man. You'll go blind.
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/21939
anyone - People over fifty shouldn't browse craigslist.

anyone - A cat jumped on my lap, which wouldn't have been unusual except I was flying a plane at the time.
_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20131
anyone - If THIS was what was in store from me, there was no way I was sticking around.

anyone - Callum cried himself to sleep that night, and every night following, for almost two weeks.

anyone - She wouldn't stop screaming and I couldn't understand why.

_______________________________
http://www.protagonize.com/story/story-fragment-challenge/20197
anyone - I saw this on TV once.

anyone - For a B movie actor, Brad thought very highly of himself.
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updated Jul 28 '09 by FogCat