the private detective and the blond haired brown eyed waitress

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The private detective and the blonde hair brown eyed waitress by Matthew George

Private detective Craig King is on his way to his favorite diner for supper when he hits a traffic jam. After an hour and a half of sitting in this bumper to bumper traffic jam Craig arrives at the diner. After parking his car in his usual parking place he shuts down the car’s engine, gets out of the car and walks inside the diner.

Once he was seated at the table his favorite waitress and good friend Miss Ashley Russell walks over to his table and she says to him. “Craig what would you like for supper”? Craig clears his throat and he says to her. “Ashley I will have my usual “A bacon cheeseburger French fries and a cup of black coffee”.

Ashley wrote down Craig’s supper order down then she carried it to the kitchen. A short time later Ashley brought Craig’s supper to his table, after saying grace Craig ate his supper slowly savoring every single bite of the meal,

once he was done eating Ashley brought Craig his bill after looking it over Craig brought It over to the cash register and he paid for his supper.
He was about to leave the diner and go home when he remembered that he had a question to ask Ashley.

So he returned to the register and he said “Ashley would you like to go to dinner and a movie with me on Saturday night?” Ashley thought for a few moments and she replied “Craig I would love to go to dinner and movie with you on Saturday night.”

Then she wrote out her address and phone number on piece of paper and handed it to Craig. He put it in his wallet and walked out of the diner got into his car and he drove home. Once Craig was at home he got out of his vehicle and went inside of his house.

Once he was safely inside of his house he went to his bedroom and he removed the gun belt that held his revolver a S&W Model 36 with a 2 inch barrel once gun belt was off he laid it on the bed then he removed the weapon from the holster unloaded it and locked it up.

Once that was done Craig changed into his workout clothes and he exercised for an hour. Once he was done exercising Craig showered and he shaved thoroughly. After showering and shaving Craig put on his night clothes and he went to bed. The next morning he woke up and he spent the entire weekend resting.

After enjoying the weekend Craig was back at work on Monday. After a very long and tiring work week it was time for Craig to get ready for his date with

Ashley on Saturday Morning Craig got up early ate a good breakfast then he cleaned the interior of his car very thoroughly then he washed and he waxed the exterior of his car until it shined like a brand new penny.

Once the inside and the outside of his car was completely cleaned up Craig went inside and he laid out his date clothes then he showered, shaved, brushed his teeth, then he put on some pleasant smelling aftershave and lastly put on his date clothes. After tying his neck tie Craig took a final look at himself in the mirror.

Then he turned off the lights inside his house, walked out to his car, got into it, put on his seat belt, started it up and then he drove over to Ashley’s house. After a short drive he arrived at her house, got out of his vehicle, walked up to her front door then he knocked politely.
After patiently waiting for several minutes Ashley walked out of her front

door wearing a very beautiful blue dress her beautiful blonde hair tied back into a simple yet lovely pony tail. After Ashley locked up her house the young couple walked off of her porch and out to Craig’s car.

He opened the passenger side door for her and she got into the passenger seat and put on her seatbelt. Once Ashley had her seatbelt on Craig closed the passenger door then he walked around the car to the driver side.

He opened the driver side door, got into the seat, put on his seat belt, and then he closed the door, put the key in the ignition, started up the car and drove the restaurant for the dinner part of their date.

After a short uneventful drive they arrived at the restaurant. Craig parked his car in a nearby parking spot, then he shut down the car’s engine and took off his seatbelt, then he walked around to the passenger side of the car and

opens the passenger side door for his date Ashley. Once they were inside the restaurant a friendly hostess escorted the young couple to their table.

Once they were at the table Craig pulled Ashley’s chair out for her then she sat down. Then Craig pulled his own chair out and sat down. After the young couple was seated comfortably, the hostess gave them their menu’s and left the table. A short time later the hostess returned ready to take their dinner order.

Craig and Ashley gave their order to the hostess who wrote it down then took it the kitchen so that it could be cooked for them. While they waited for their meal they talked and they talked and they talked some more, and before they knew it their dinner arrived at the table.

After they had said Grace they ate the beautiful dinner that was on the table in front of them.
When they were done eating Craig paid the dinner bill and the couple left the restaurant got back into Craig’s car and headed to the movie theatre. Once they were at the theatre Craig parked his car, shut down the engine then

Craig and his date Ashley got out of the vehicle and walked into the movie theatre, found the movie they wanted to see, got the tickets and went into the theatre were their movie was going to be shown.

Two hours later when the movie was over they got up out of their seats left the theatre walked into the lobby then they walked out the front door. They only made it a few steps outside when it began to rain heavily.

In an effort to keep Ashley from getting soaking wet Craig boldly picked Ashley up with very strong arms and carried her to his car. Once they were inside of the vehicle they put on their seat belts and Craig proceeded to Drive Ashley home.

As Craig is trying his best to get Ashley home safely the rain picked up quite a bit, it got so bad that he has to pull over onto the shoulder of the road because he is not able to see the road due to the heavy rain fall. After a very long rain soaked drive Craig got Ashley home, he picked her up and carried her to the front door of her house.

Once she has the front door she unlocked it and she invited him inside to wait out the storm. Ashley gave Craig a tour of her beautiful home. As she showed him around the house Craig commented on how beautiful the house was decorated. Ashley thanked Craig for his compliments.

After the tour was over with they returned to Ashley’s kitchen to wait for the storm to subside. Several hours later the storm finally subsided Craig kissed Ashley good night and thanked her for a nice evening. Then he left her house got into his car and he drove straight home. Once he finally got into his drive way he turned off his car’s engine unhooked his seatbelt, and pulled out his

cellphone called Ashley and let her know that he got home safely.
Then Craig got out of his car, locked it up then he went inside the house and straight to his bedroom. He removed his wet date clothes put on his night clothes and he went straight to bed.

On Sunday morning Craig got up got dressed and he went to church. Over the next 2 years Craig and Ashley continued to date. Then one day Craig was at his desk filling out a report for one of his client’s when he had and epiphany “Holy Cow! If I don’t ask Ashley to marry me I will lose her to another man!”

So he finished writing out his report then he put it away, grabbed his car keys, walked out of his office, got into his car and he drove to the bank. When he got to the bank he parked his car in a parking place, shut down the engine, got out of the vehicle and walked inside the bank.

After waiting several minutes he got to the bank teller window and he withdrew his savings 2 thousand dollars. Then he put the bank envelope that had the money in it inside his shirt pocket and walked out of the bank. Once Craig was out of the bank he got back into his car and he drove to Wal-Mart to purchase an engagement ring for Ashley.

Craig looked and he looked at all of the engagement rings that were on display and he was about to give up and go home. When he saw an ordinary gold ring with a medium size diamond on it Craig examined the ring very thoroughly.

Once he was done examining the ring he paid for it put it in his shirt pocket left the store and he went home. Once he was home Craig locked the ring up in his gun cabinet.

One week before their 2nd dating anniversary Craig called the restaurant where He and Ashley had their first date. He reserved the entire restaurant for their anniversary and he also asked the owner if they would be willing to decorate the dining room in honor of their anniversary. The restaurant owner said that everything would be taken care of.

Then Craig hung up the phone. The day of their 2nd dating anniversary Craig took the day off he cleaned his car front bumper to bumper he also cleaned the interior to within an inch of its life. By the time he was done with the car cleaning Craig had to get ready for his date with Ashley.

So he walked into his house, went to the bathroom stripped off his dirty clothes, showered, shaved and brushed his teeth. Once he was done with these tasks Craig put on his suit and dress shoes then he got the ring out of his gun cabinet put it into his jacket pocket, grabbed his car keys and headed out the door.

After making sure that his front door was locked Craig got into his car and drove to Ashley’s house to pick her up. Once he was at her house, he got out of his car and walked to her front door and once he was at her front door he rang the doorbell.

While he was waiting Craig straightened his necktie one more time. 10 minutes later Ashley came out of her Front door wearing the exact same dress that she wore on their first date. After some small talk the young couple got into Craig’s car and he drove the restaurant for their anniversary date.

After parking his car Craig got out of the driver’s seat walked around the car, opened the passenger side door and Ashley got out of her seat and they walked inside. The couple was about to enter the dining room when suddenly Craig looked at Ashley and he said to her.

“Ashley please closes your eyes I have a surprise for you in the restaurant dining room.” So Ashley closed her lovely brown eyes and Craig carefully assisted her into the dining room.
Once they were in the dining room Ashley opened her eyes and she nearly fainted.

She looked at all of the beautiful decorations and they she looked at Craig and she said to him “Craig what did you do?”
Craig looked at Ashley and he said to her

“Ashley I talked to owner of the restaurant and asked him if we could have the entire restaurant to ourselves and I also asked him if he would be willing to decorate the dining room in honor of our anniversary."

And he made sure that my requests were taken care of. So for tonight only we have the entire restaurant to ourselves”.


After Ashley was done looking at all of the beautiful decorations they were seated at the table that Craig had reserved, then they were handed menu’s so they could pick out what they wanted to eat. After placing their order the waiter wrote it down and took it to the kitchen.

A little while late there dinner order was brought to their table and after saying grace they ate their meal.

Halfway through the meal Ashley got up and went to the ladies room. While she was gone Craig out the engagement ring out of his jacket pocket and placed it on the table.

After she got back to the table she sat down in her seat and then Craig started to give the little speech that he had put together.


“Ashley we have been dating for a long time and during this time I have fallen in love with you, and I have a very important question that I need to ask you Miss Ashley Russell will you marry me”? Ashley


was very surprised by Craig’s marriage proposal she was so surprised that she was unable to speak so she took a drink from her water glass then he began to speak. “Craig my answer is yes I will marry you”. Then she grabbed the ring off of the table and put it on her ring finger then she hugged and kissed Craig passionately.
The End





Epilogue after a brief planning period Craig and Ashley got married, shortly after their first wedding anniversary Ashley became pregnant with triplets all girls. Shortly after their 69th wedding anniversary Ashley died. 3 years and 19 days later Craig died.



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The private detective and the blonde hair brown eyed waitress by Matthew George

Private detective Craig King is on his way to his favorite diner for supper when he hits a traffic jam. After an hour and a half of sitting in this bumper to bumper traffic jam Craig arrives at the diner. After parking his car in his usual parking place he shuts down the car’s engine, gets out of the car and walks inside the diner.

Once he was seated at the table his favorite waitress and good friend Miss Ashley Russell walks over to his table and she says to him. “Craig what would you like for supper”? Craig clears his throat and he says to her. “Ashley I will have my usual “A bacon cheeseburger French fries and a cup of black coffee”.

Ashley wrote down Craig’s supper order down then she carried it to the kitchen. A short time later Ashley brought Craig’s supper to his table, after saying grace Craig ate his supper slowly savoring every single bite of the meal,

once he was done eating Ashley brought Craig his bill after looking it over Craig brought It over to the cash register and he paid for his supper.
He was about to leave the diner and go home when he remembered that he had a question to ask Ashley.

So he returned to the register and he said “Ashley would you like to go to dinner and a movie with me on Saturday night?” Ashley thought for a few moments and she replied “Craig I would love to go to dinner and movie with you on Saturday night.”

Then she wrote out her address and phone number on piece of paper and handed it to Craig. He put it in his wallet and walked out of the diner got into his car and he drove home. Once Craig was at home he got out of his vehicle and went inside of his house.

Once he was safely inside of his house he went to his bedroom and he removed the gun belt that held his revolver a S&W Model 36 with a 2 inch barrel once gun belt was off he laid it on the bed then he removed the weapon from the holster unloaded it and locked it up.

Once that was done Craig changed into his workout clothes and he exercised for an hour. Once he was done exercising Craig showered and he shaved thoroughly. After showering and shaving Craig put on his night clothes and he went to bed. The next morning he woke up and he spent the entire weekend resting.

After enjoying the weekend Craig was back at work on Monday. After a very long and tiring work week it was time for Craig to get ready for his date with

Ashley on Saturday Morning Craig got up early ate a good breakfast then he cleaned the interior of his car very thoroughly then he washed and he waxed the exterior of his car until it shined like a brand new penny.

Once the inside and the outside of his car was completely cleaned up Craig went inside and he laid out his date clothes then he showered, shaved, brushed his teeth, then he put on some pleasant smelling aftershave and lastly put on his date clothes. After tying his neck tie Craig took a final look at himself in the mirror.

Then he turned off the lights inside his house, walked out to his car, got into it, put on his seat belt, started it up and then he drove over to Ashley’s house. After a short drive he arrived at her house, got out of his vehicle, walked up to her front door then he knocked politely.
After patiently waiting for several minutes Ashley walked out of her front

door wearing a very beautiful blue dress her beautiful blonde hair tied back into a simple yet lovely pony tail. After Ashley locked up her house the young couple walked off of her porch and out to Craig’s car.

He opened the passenger side door for her and she got into the passenger seat and put on her seatbelt. Once Ashley had her seatbelt on Craig closed the passenger door then he walked around the car to the driver side.

He opened the driver side door, got into the seat, put on his seat belt, and then he closed the door, put the key in the ignition, started up the car and drove the restaurant for the dinner part of their date.

After a short uneventful drive they arrived at the restaurant. Craig parked his car in a nearby parking spot, then he shut down the car’s engine and took off his seatbelt, then he walked around to the passenger side of the car and

opens the passenger side door for his date Ashley. Once they were inside the restaurant a friendly hostess escorted the young couple to their table.

Once they were at the table Craig pulled Ashley’s chair out for her then she sat down. Then Craig pulled his own chair out and sat down. After the young couple was seated comfortably, the hostess gave them their menu’s and left the table. A short time later the hostess returned ready to take their dinner order.

Craig and Ashley gave their order to the hostess who wrote it down then took it the kitchen so that it could be cooked for them. While they waited for their meal they talked and they talked and they talked some more, and before they knew it their dinner arrived at the table.

After they had said Grace they ate the beautiful dinner that was on the table in front of them.
When they were done eating Craig paid the dinner bill and the couple left the restaurant got back into Craig’s car and headed to the movie theatre. Once they were at the theatre Craig parked his car, shut down the engine then

Craig and his date Ashley got out of the vehicle and walked into the movie theatre, found the movie they wanted to see, got the tickets and went into the theatre were their movie was going to be shown.

Two hours later when the movie was over they got up out of their seats left the theatre walked into the lobby then they walked out the front door. They only made it a few steps outside when it began to rain heavily.

In an effort to keep Ashley from getting soaking wet Craig boldly picked Ashley up with very strong arms and carried her to his car. Once they were inside of the vehicle they put on their seat belts and Craig proceeded to Drive Ashley home.

As Craig is trying his best to get Ashley home safely the rain picked up quite a bit, it got so bad that he has to pull over onto the shoulder of the road because he is not able to see the road due to the heavy rain fall. After a very long rain soaked drive Craig got Ashley home, he picked her up and carried her to the front door of her house.

Once she has the front door she unlocked it and she invited him inside to wait out the storm. Ashley gave Craig a tour of her beautiful home. As she showed him around the house Craig commented on how beautiful the house was decorated. Ashley thanked Craig for his compliments.

After the tour was over with they returned to Ashley’s kitchen to wait for the storm to subside. Several hours later the storm finally subsided Craig kissed Ashley good night and thanked her for a nice evening. Then he left her house got into his car and he drove straight home. Once he finally got into his drive way he turned off his car’s engine unhooked his seatbelt, and pulled out his

cellphone called Ashley and let her know that he got home safely.
Then Craig got out of his car, locked it up then he went inside the house and straight to his bedroom. He removed his wet date clothes put on his night clothes and he went straight to bed.

On Sunday morning Craig got up got dressed and he went to church. Over the next 2 years Craig and Ashley continued to date. Then one day Craig was at his desk filling out a report for one of his client’s when he had and epiphany “Holy Cow! If I don’t ask Ashley to marry me I will lose her to another man!”

So he finished writing out his report then he put it away, grabbed his car keys, walked out of his office, got into his car and he drove to the bank. When he got to the bank he parked his car in a parking place, shut down the engine, got out of the vehicle and walked inside the bank.

After waiting several minutes he got to the bank teller window and he withdrew his savings 2 thousand dollars. Then he put the bank envelope that had the money in it inside his shirt pocket and walked out of the bank. Once Craig was out of the bank he got back into his car and he drove to Wal-Mart to purchase an engagement ring for Ashley.

Craig looked and he looked at all of the engagement rings that were on display and he was about to give up and go home. When he saw an ordinary gold ring with a medium size diamond on it Craig examined the ring very thoroughly.

Once he was done examining the ring he paid for it put it in his shirt pocket left the store and he went home. Once he was home Craig locked the ring up in his gun cabinet.

One week before their 2nd dating anniversary Craig called the restaurant where He and Ashley had their first date. He reserved the entire restaurant for their anniversary and he also asked the owner if they would be willing to decorate the dining room in honor of their anniversary. The restaurant owner said that everything would be taken care of.

Then Craig hung up the phone. The day of their 2nd dating anniversary Craig took the day off he cleaned his car front bumper to bumper he also cleaned the interior to within an inch of its life. By the time he was done with the car cleaning Craig had to get ready for his date with Ashley.

So he walked into his house, went to the bathroom stripped off his dirty clothes, showered, shaved and brushed his teeth. Once he was done with these tasks Craig put on his suit and dress shoes then he got the ring out of his gun cabinet put it into his jacket pocket, grabbed his car keys and headed out the door.

After making sure that his front door was locked Craig got into his car and drove to Ashley’s house to pick her up. Once he was at her house, he got out of his car and walked to her front door and once he was at her front door he rang the doorbell.

While he was waiting Craig straightened his necktie one more time. 10 minutes later Ashley came out of her Front door wearing the exact same dress that she wore on their first date. After some small talk the young couple got into Craig’s car and he drove the restaurant for their anniversary date.

After parking his car Craig got out of the driver’s seat walked around the car, opened the passenger side door and Ashley got out of her seat and they walked inside. The couple was about to enter the dining room when suddenly Craig looked at Ashley and he said to her.

“Ashley please closes your eyes I have a surprise for you in the restaurant dining room.” So Ashley closed her lovely brown eyes and Craig carefully assisted her into the dining room.
Once they were in the dining room Ashley opened her eyes and she nearly fainted.

She looked at all of the beautiful decorations and they she looked at Craig and she said to him “Craig what did you do?”
Craig looked at Ashley and he said to her

“Ashley I talked to owner of the restaurant and asked him if we could have the entire restaurant to ourselves and I also asked him if he would be willing to decorate the dining room in honor of our anniversary."

And he made sure that my requests were taken care of. So for tonight only we have the entire restaurant to ourselves”.


After Ashley was done looking at all of the beautiful decorations they were seated at the table that Craig had reserved, then they were handed menu’s so they could pick out what they wanted to eat. After placing their order the waiter wrote it down and took it to the kitchen.

A little while late there dinner order was brought to their table and after saying grace they ate their meal.

Halfway through the meal Ashley got up and went to the ladies room. While she was gone Craig out the engagement ring out of his jacket pocket and placed it on the table.

After she got back to the table she sat down in her seat and then Craig started to give the little speech that he had put together.


“Ashley we have been dating for a long time and during this time I have fallen in love with you, and I have a very important question that I need to ask you Miss Ashley Russell will you marry me”? Ashley


was very surprised by Craig’s marriage proposal she was so surprised that she was unable to speak so she took a drink from her water glass then he began to speak. “Craig my answer is yes I will marry you”. Then she grabbed the ring off of the table and put it on her ring finger then she hugged and kissed Craig passionately.
The End





Epilogue after a brief planning period Craig and Ashley got married, shortly after their first wedding anniversary Ashley became pregnant with triplets all girls. Shortly after their 69th wedding anniversary Ashley died. 3 years and 19 days later Craig died.



Bibliography
S&W Forum
Watchmanjimg
HAWKEYE10
Dregg
Landric
Combat Driver
CWO USN
Jpwhel
18DAI
Iggy
Jimmyj
ColdBlueSteel
TAROMAN
THE Big D
WILDPIG
One Eye Joe
Model520Fan
DRYHEAT
Pj151
Iggy
Tmm0910
Jimmyj
Iggy
S. Kelly
Tom turner
Model70hunter
Model70hunter
Dave .380
RussellD
Wogentry
C21yankee
CT Smith Fan
Marshwheeling
TAROMAN
P&R Fan
AZ Desertrat
Detective Special
Bob Smalser
Ken L
Surjimmy
Combat Diver
KEN L
Mc5aw
Serious lee



UMMM, what was the point of all this? :confused:
 
Nah...I'll give Matt points for keeping the story in the third person.

It's tough trying to write a short story. Story might need a little polishing here and there, and maybe some images to dress it up a bit. but....

I'll give him a like.


WuzzFuzz
 
Nah...I'll give Matt points for keeping the story in the third person.

It's tough trying to write a short story. Story might need a little polishing here and there, and maybe some images to dress it up a bit. but....

I'll give him a like.


WuzzFuzz



It was pretty slow, because of all the repetition such as pertaining to seat belts, etc.
 
I was unclear what year it was. Though Walmart has been around a while, it has earned the status of ubiquity only fairly recently.

It is generally considered tacky to buy a woman an engagement ring at Walmart. I did. But I asked my wife to marry me after talking to her four days, never having met her in person, and via a txt message on a hundred dollar bet. I never got that C note. I am still married to the same woman and we have five (!) children. Shrug. But in general, and particularly in years past the local jewelers was prefered.

In years past, and even now, 2k is likely a higher priced ring than generally found at Walmart. Years ago that would be a huge amount to spend.

Classic literary PIs are generally not portrayed as church going and grace saying fellows, who date a nice girl for two years. They express their feelings with their fists, smoke unfiltered cigarettes and drink whiskey for breakfast. There is some truth to that stereotype at times.

What did he order for condiments on his cheeseburger? What movie did they see? How did he feel about it? Could these details be worked into the story.

Why was the guy a PI, had he been fired from the police? Why was his future wife waiting tables? Perhaps she came to town to be a movie star, but ended up in stag films and hooked on smack, never being able to go back to Minnesota again, but now found Jesus after a year in county and was trying to go straight.

Our hero could have been fired for his chronic alcoholism, corruption, and anger management issues related to PTSD incurred in the Pacific theater in WW2.

Maybe he carried a second small auto in those pre GCA 68 times to use as a drop piece.

Perhaps the waitress brought him a burger with mayo on it and he slugged her, giving her a black eye.

Then it somehow becomes a story of redemption. Or maybe not, maybe she likes the abuse or needs to fix people because she can't fix herself. Maybe he gets made into Frankfurters by the mob after digging too deep into the JFK assassination....

Conflict is the key.
 
It was pretty slow, because of all the repetition such as pertaining to seat belts, etc.

That's why I say it's needs some polishing here and there...The use of imagery, sure it needs some polishing here and there..

I do know, trying to write a story using poetry, or writing in a short story form is harder than trying to write a novel and filling in all the spaces.

But..did Matt's writing tell you a story? No matter whether it was a good story or not.


WuzzFuzz
 
Yes, keep at it. Your local college likely offers a course on creative writing that may help with certain factors. Some people develop a certain style after such, like Hemingway and his short declarative sentences. He reportedly read once that such were important, and embraced it.

Generally happy endings ought follow a conflict of some sort that has to be overcome. Thus the reader invests in the character and their travails.

Stories, like life, rarely just go from point A to point B, things happen in between both interternally and externally.
 
OK, the style needs some some work but.......

How many of us have exotic romances? I'll bet 99% of us have similar stories. My wife has been reading Romance novels that aren't about mysterious princes with dark looks and flashing teeth living in a castle on a cliff above the ocean, but everyday people. I don't do romance novels but if I did I'd much rather read the latter. Does anybody remember the song, "The Three Bells" by the Browns? Here are the lyrics:

[Originally a French tune written in 1945]
[Original French words by Bert Reisfeld]
[Music by Jean Villard]
[English words added by Dick Manning]

There's a village hidden deep in the valley
Among the pine trees half forlorn
And there on a sunny morning
Little Jimmy Brown was born

All the chapel bells were ringing
In the little valley town
And the songs that they were singing
Were for baby Jimmy Brown
Then the little congregation
Prayed for guidance from above
Lead us not into temptation,
Bless this hour of meditation
Guide him with eternal love

There's a village hidden deep in the valley
Beneath the mountains high above
And there, twenty years thereafter
Jimmy was to meet his love

All the chapel bells were ringing,
Was a great day in his life
Cause the songs that they were singing
Were for Jimmy and his wife
Then the little congregation
Prayed for guidance from above
Lead us not into temptation,
Bless oh Lord this celebration
May their lives be filled with love

From the village hidden deep in the valley
One rainy morning dark and gray
A soul winged its way to heaven
Jimmy Brown had passed away

Just a lonely bell was ringing
In the little valley town
Twas farewell that it was singing
To our good old Jimmy Brown
And the little congregation
Prayed for guidance from above
Lead us not into temptation,
May his soul find the salvation
Of thy great eternal love"

Sorry, I couldn't find out who owns the rights, it was originally a French song, but it's been covered many times.

Anyway, if you take out the details I think that this pretty much sums up many of our lives.
 
Great stuff but--you mis-led me because of the title. I was coming into this thinking this was an installment of a story involving Bogie and Bacall. Not disappointed but--no new Sam Spade stuff. :-(
 
Mr.King is a PI. I got that. He could have been a farm hand. Same story.

The story I got from it is he's a
renaissance man in a world that has forgotten tradition and honor.

Nice story MG
 
"It was a dark night in a city that knows how to keep it's secrets. I was working late-night on the 12th floor of the Acme Building......"
 
I've tried my hand at writing fiction, and I do realize that it's not a simple task...well, at least not for me. But, as I read this little story, I felt more as if I were reading an instruction manual as opposed to a literary work. It is very heavy on unimportant, trivial detail (he turned the key in the ignition, he parked the car in the parking space, he turned off the motor, he opened the door, he/she unfastened their seat belts) which adds absolutely nothing to the story except unnecessary bulk. And, "After parking his car in his usual parking place..."? His "usual" parking place? Aside from your own property, who has a "usual" parking place, at any retail establishment? But where we would like to hear details, there are none. What did he do on his enjoyable weekend? Did they talk about anything on their drive to the restaurant? What did they talk about in the restaurant? Why is he a PI? Is he on a case right now? There are tons of things that we don't know about, that might make the story more interesting.

Also, it seems filled with very specific details that, at least to my ear, sound forced and not entirely believable. He showered and shaved, and then went to bed? Not only did he shave, but he shaved "thoroughly"! Why was that piece of info necessary? Did it differ in some way from his normal routine? I understand some people bathe before going to bed...but shaving? And on a Friday night before the weekend? What possible purpose is served by that? If he had a good reason for such unusual behavior...include it in the story. It might have injected a little color into an otherwise very black-and-white narrative. And, I agree with the objection to shopping for an engagement ring at Wal-Mart. Not cool.

I would say a bit of work on conversation between the main characters would be in order. Merely saying that they had an enjoyable conversation is very bland, and does nothing to endear them to us, or cause us to care in the slightest what happens to them. If they had been in a car accident during the rain storm, and had both died...would we have really cared? We knew nothing about them, aside from how they made a living.

And, as far as conversation...“Ashley would you like to go to dinner and a movie with me on Saturday night?” Ashley thought for a few moments and she replied “Craig I would love to go to dinner and movie with you on Saturday night.” This does not seem to describe a normal exchange. This just isn't how people talk. The only way, to my mind, that this would play out with this precise wording would be something like this: Craig nervously asked, "Ashley, uhhh...would you like to go to dinner" he hesitated, then continued, "...and a movie", another pause, then, "with me...on Saturday night?" Ashley waited a moment, to see if there was more. When there wasn't, she replied in a teasing but friendly voice, mimicking his cadence perfectly, "Craig, I would love to go to dinner...and a movie...with you...on Saturday night!” She smiled at him, and they both laughed. It's just my opinion, but I don't routinely hear people repeating the entire question when they answer, unless there is some specific reason, such as for extreme clarity, for legal reasons, or if someone is mocking someone, etc.

So, if you're wanting to write technical specifications for commercial use...you're on the right track. Precise, detailed, specific, everything neatly in its place. But, if you're looking to write fiction, something that grabs the readers attention, makes us care about the central characters, keeps us wondering where in the heck this is going, and it all occurs in a real world that is messy, cluttered, and not everything happens with boring regularity...well, keep trying!

Tim
 
MG,

Sometime back you wrote a story and one poster suggested that you should write about things you know about.

It was good advice. The little details only add to the story.

You know about love. Let that be your guide and let the rest of us wonder through your story.

Try to be accurate but don't go over board. Those details are only to make the story and time frame more believable.
 
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