Welcome to the Romantic Friday Writing Challenge, started and hosted by L'Aussie Denise and Francine Howarth, where participants share their own 300-400-word text on a given theme. This week's theme for Friday, 7th October, Challenge No. 22, is 'Rock Candy'.
Here is my text, a short, short story, written directly for REWers:
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'Did you know that Sir Lawrence Olivier lived here?' said Charlotte trying to impress her friend from home. They had planned this English-language study-trip since Christmas.
'Yes, and ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest here in 1974,' replied Jenny, looking at a map of East Sussex.
'What'll we do if we meet some nice boys?' asked Charlotte, as she sipped some tea and fingered the stick of rock-candy with the words 'Brighton Rock' embedded in it.
'We'll just stick together. I mean, we can't be too careful. Here we are, two young Swedish girls trying to learn English,' replied Jenny, as she spread lemon curds on some toast. 'We should have a "plan B", though. If, for any reason, we do get separated, let's meet at the ferris-wheel at nine-thirty this evening. If one of us doesn't show up by a quarter to ten, the other one can get help.'
'Alright, if you think we should do it that way', replied Charlotte as she read a list of tourist attractions.
'Oh look at those cute boys walking toward us, now maybe we can put our knowledge of English to good use. Let's try to be English.'
'Hello, what a wonderful view of the sea you have from here!' said a blond and summer-clad young man as he approached their table. 'My name is Max and this is John.'
'How do you do, Max and John', said Jenny shaking their hands. Charlotte shook their hands but said almost nothing.
'Please join us,' said Jenny.
Max and John, sat down at their table and ordered tea.
Glancing at the guide-book first, Charlotte said, 'The writer Graham Green worked here; and Rudyard Kipling lived near here.'
'Yes, that's true. And George Everest,' repied Max smiling at Jenny.
'George who?' asked Charlotte, eyeing the guide-book.
'Mount Everest was named after him,' whispered John, trying to be helpful. '
'Oh,' said Charlotte, smiling at him.
Max asked, 'Where are you from? Are you students here?'
'Yes', said Charlotte, we're from Swe-'
'Swinton,' Jenny added quickly, to keep their cover.'
'Oh, then you are real English girls!
'Yes, of course we're English', lied Jenny, 'Don't we sound English?'
'Of course', lied Max and smiled. His real name was Sven.
'We're from Sweden, from Gothenburg!' confessed John, laughing.
Wordcount: 398 FCA
Full Critique Acceptable. Write what you like, constructive criticism is always welcome.
I have never been to places like Brighton and have had to rely upon information and images from Wikipedia. (But I'd loved to go some time!)
Best wishes,
Anna
First Commenter:
Ruth Madison
of
Ruth Madison
To read other texts for Romantic Friday Writers please visit this site or click on the image below:
Here is my text, a short, short story, written directly for REWers:
------
'Did you know that Sir Lawrence Olivier lived here?' said Charlotte trying to impress her friend from home. They had planned this English-language study-trip since Christmas.
'Yes, and ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest here in 1974,' replied Jenny, looking at a map of East Sussex.
'What'll we do if we meet some nice boys?' asked Charlotte, as she sipped some tea and fingered the stick of rock-candy with the words 'Brighton Rock' embedded in it.
'We'll just stick together. I mean, we can't be too careful. Here we are, two young Swedish girls trying to learn English,' replied Jenny, as she spread lemon curds on some toast. 'We should have a "plan B", though. If, for any reason, we do get separated, let's meet at the ferris-wheel at nine-thirty this evening. If one of us doesn't show up by a quarter to ten, the other one can get help.'
'Alright, if you think we should do it that way', replied Charlotte as she read a list of tourist attractions.
'Oh look at those cute boys walking toward us, now maybe we can put our knowledge of English to good use. Let's try to be English.'
'Hello, what a wonderful view of the sea you have from here!' said a blond and summer-clad young man as he approached their table. 'My name is Max and this is John.'
'How do you do, Max and John', said Jenny shaking their hands. Charlotte shook their hands but said almost nothing.
'Please join us,' said Jenny.
Max and John, sat down at their table and ordered tea.
Glancing at the guide-book first, Charlotte said, 'The writer Graham Green worked here; and Rudyard Kipling lived near here.'
'Yes, that's true. And George Everest,' repied Max smiling at Jenny.
'George who?' asked Charlotte, eyeing the guide-book.
'Mount Everest was named after him,' whispered John, trying to be helpful. '
'Oh,' said Charlotte, smiling at him.
Max asked, 'Where are you from? Are you students here?'
'Yes', said Charlotte, we're from Swe-'
'Swinton,' Jenny added quickly, to keep their cover.'
'Oh, then you are real English girls!
'Yes, of course we're English', lied Jenny, 'Don't we sound English?'
'Of course', lied Max and smiled. His real name was Sven.
'We're from Sweden, from Gothenburg!' confessed John, laughing.
Wordcount: 398 FCA
Full Critique Acceptable. Write what you like, constructive criticism is always welcome.
I have never been to places like Brighton and have had to rely upon information and images from Wikipedia. (But I'd loved to go some time!)
Best wishes,
Anna
First Commenter:
Ruth Madison
of
Ruth Madison
To read other texts for Romantic Friday Writers please visit this site or click on the image below:
7 comments:
That is so adorable! I like the little surprise ending there.
Hi Anna,
Fun twist to this piece! Ha ha, loved how the couples attempted to dupe each other.
And my goodness you packed in some research with images and list of Brighton celebs. Did you know Charles II Prince of Wales, in the 1600s escaped from Brighton to France, only Brighton then known as Brighthelmstone, a mere fishing village.
The old place certainly has a lot to offer for sight-seeing visitors. The Regency pavilion for starters, and of course Brighton Rock (sweet). I doubt you'd be disappointed if ever you get to visit Brighton.
best
F
a delightful short story. How fun to pretend for a while that you are something other than yourself :)
This made me smile! There is such an innocence about it plus the hint of romance to come.
I know Brighton very well - I spent a great deal of (misspent) youth there!
Thanks for dropping by mine, no it isn't a true story - like yours, it was written just for RFW.
Hi Anna.
Loved this story that proves how small the world really is. Imagine falling in love in a different country with someone from your own?
I can't imagine writing in a foreign language to me plus having two small children running around that I had to pay attention to. You deserve an award.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, Fantasy Author
This was sweet as a piece of rock candy. :-)
I could never pull of this game - my biggest challenge, in a new place, is to try to keep from dropping my mouth open as I gaze all around me.
Realistic to me they couldn't keep up the pretense very long - nobody "hears" your accent like somebody from your own country/regional area. Fun piece - and I don't think there are ANY other writers in our group dealing with two young children andwriting in their not-native tongue. it blows me away that you can do it at all - and you do it well.
Thanks for sharing the wonderful photos. This was a fun dialog with a twist at the end.
Linda
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