Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: ARTIFICIAL (08/11/16)
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TITLE: The Writer | Previous Challenge Entry
By Gary Ritter
08/16/16 -
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Jimmy’s jaw sagged as his teacher droned on. He stifled a yawn. The old man loved his subject; for some of Jimmy’s classmates his enthusiasm lit a creative spark. All Jimmy wanted was to head out to Friday’s baseball practice.
“Any questions on the assignment?” Mr. Harrup paused to glance around the room. “All right then, if everyone is set, we’ll—“
In a panic for his inattention, Jimmy’s hand shot up. “Mr. Harrup, sir, um, I must have heard a loud whistling in my ear when you said what we’re supposed to do. Can you repeat that?”
“A loud whistling.” The teacher gave Jimmy a knowing look. “Very well. I’d like each of you to write a short story at least two pages long. It’s due Monday. If you have other questions, talk to Annette. She was awake when I gave greater detail.”
Busted! Jimmy groaned. The three o’clock bell rang. He gathered his books, and with the sluggishness of an interrupted nap, made his way out of the classroom.
A hard practice made Jimmy forget the assignment, but when he woke Saturday at noon, it came flooding back. What could he possibly write? He had no creative ability whatsoever. On the verge of getting a D, if he flunked this assignment, he might get an F for the year. Not good.
Jimmy pulled himself together for lunch and grabbed one of his favorite comic books. Munching on a baloney sandwich, he shook his head. These comic book writers were good. If only…
He raised his head and slyly looked around. Nobody else was in the kitchen. With a stealthy move he slipped the comic under his shirt. Leaving his empty plate for his mom—she’d understand—he took a hesitant step, then sprinted for his room.
He finished the science fiction comic, which he’d already read three times, and began picturing how he could do this. He’d have to cut some things that could only be shown in pictures. Of course there was way too much dialog. Naturally he’d have to condense the story to keep his version to Mr. Harrup’s specifications.
Going through all this planning, Jimmy felt rather proud of himself. It was a lot of work copying somebody else’s creation to make it his own, and he hadn’t even started writing yet. He turned the pages on his yellow pad, sharpened his pencil, and started in on his handiwork. His tongue stuck to the side between his teeth, he spent the next three hours in serious concentration. When he finally looked up, he’d written four pages.
Reading it over Jimmy thought it sounded pretty good, but four pages—given his record in English class—might make his teacher suspicious. He blew out a gust of air, and began crossing out stuff he thought could be eliminated. After another hour of that, he figured he better rewrite it to neaten it up.
“Jimmy, time for dinner.”
He finished the last sentence and saw that it was almost six. Unbelievable. He’d spent all afternoon on an English assignment. And he hated the class.
When he turned the story in on Monday, Jimmy smirked at Mr. Harrup, who expressed surprise at the presentation quality of the hand-in. Two days later the old man returned the graded stories. The A+ at the top of the page made Jimmy sit a little straighter.
“Class, you did fine, but one student wrote a magnificent story. Jimmy, you have the making of an authentic writer. I’ve never seen anything do so well at this grade level. You received the best grade of everyone, and it’s well deserved. I applaud you.”
Jimmy felt terrific until he woke up in the middle of the night, sweating profusely at the thought that his teacher might read the original comic. If he did, Jimmy would be exposed for the fraud he was—not a real writer but fake, artificial. What would he do for the next such assignment? Could he cheat again and not get caught? He’d put himself in a box and didn’t know how to escape.
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Good job creating uncertainty in this readers mind...and congratulations on your EC placing.