Prompt #33 — Write Like Lou Amyx

Amyx’s piece (view here) departs from the typical travelogue in that it focuses more on the speaker’s haphazard traveling companions than the destination. Although the speaker experiences some typical things—purchasing keepsakes, hearing stories about the area—most of the piece’s drama comes from the personal interactions with Graciela. For example, rather than take in the sights, the speaker searches for dentures.

PROMPT

Write a story in which the characters plan to experience a specific thing—see a play, attend a concert, visit a tourist destination, etc—but miss it because of their own personal drama. In Amyx’s piece, it’s lost teeth, but consider what might distract your characters most effectively. Perhaps it’s a lost object, but it could also be an encounter with someone unexpected, a fight, even a broken high heel that stymies his or her commute. Think of how to use detail and description to evoke the importance of the thing they intended to do; don’t just rely on dialogue to reveal to readers why it was significant.