Writing Exercise: Love Story

[XerXesXu]

These are all good. I want to know what happens next, what happened before, etc. I want more.

I was curious to know these things about my snippet, so I entered it into Co-pilot and made the relevant enquiries. After a series of prompts it produced a passable story, but it missed a lot. It believed in ghosts and apparitions, and it’s too familiar with the movies I referred, though I’ve never seen them.

In my snippet, Sam is an undercover policeman. He’s based on a spoof of a ‘Spot the ball’ feature that appeared in a newspaper shortly after a shot was fired at Queen Elizabeth II in the Mall on a ceremonial occasion – ‘Spot the undercover policeman.’ A guy, in a clown costume, led the rush of policemen to protect Her Majesty.

Val was a reasonably accurate description of a female mental health nurse working on the emergency admissions ward, rising for a day shift after doing a change over shift from lates to earlies, in London, in February, in a flat with no central heating.

At some point I’ll prompt Co-pilot appropriately and see how that affects the story.

 

[Bazzle]

I was between lectures sitting in the campus café nursing my £1 cheap bilge cleaner coffee, I had a two hour window before my next lecture. It was the days before you could doom scroll. I was sitting there with my notes attempting to be be studious. I could have been in the library. I could have been playing snakes.

I looked up, and there was a girl on the opposite table, drinking a coffee, her table was covered in papers and brightly covered highlighters. She was being far more efficient at taking her notes. Our eyes momentarily caught each other. Hers were hazel, her smile pretty. I ignored it. Her green highlights in her hair, meant she was on the other campus. An art student, not doing the sciences.

I look down at my notes, I struggle to maintain focus. I look up. Again our eyes catch she is smiling at me.

Its moments like this, that you don't quite know what to do.

I smile back. Then focus again at my papers. There is only so many times we can do this before it gets embarrassing.

I look up again, she is actually looking down. Phew.

Then she looks up and smiles at me. She starts putting her pens and papers back in her rucksack. Just how much coffee froth did I have smeared across my top lip.

I look her up and down, then back at my work.

By the time I look up again, her hand is out stretched. "Hi, I'm Vicky."

 

[shelleycat1]

Janey and I left the farmhouse and walked down the long sweeping drive.

"I forgot my cigarettes," she said, turning. "Wait here."

I looked out at the Lancashire fields, green and moist, for a couple of minutes. She came back, hurrying a little.

Once we were out of sight of the house, halfway down the stone and gravel drive, she pulled the fag and matches from her jeans pocket and lit up. She knew I didn't smoke so she didn't offer me a puff.

"Your parents smoke." I said.

"Yes, but not around Gran, and they don't know about me. You've got the condoms?"

We were really going to do this. I felt anticipation in my stomach. "Yes. Where are we going?"

"Bottom field. If we go across the stile then down to the beck we won't be found." Janey smiled and I took her hand; it was so easy to hold hands and walk together.

On the bank above the little stream we laid out clothes to lay on. For the first time I saw her breasts, her slightly rounded belly and the black hair between her legs. She was so pretty to me with a slightly heart-shaped face and short black hair.

I thought I had more experience than her, at 21. I was wrong and she indicated what I should do. She felt delicious, so soft and warm beneath me.

"Come on then, keep going. Faster."

Walking back we were both happy, even closer now, relaxed and content. I hadn't said it yet, nor her, but I knew then I wouldn't let her go.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

Love is all that I can give to you
Love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it, take my heart and please don't break it
Love was made for me and you

 

[StillStunned]

Love is all that I can give to you
Love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it, take my heart and please don't break it
Love was made for me and you

It's a simple love story, it grows better all the time.
You can tell me all about it, first I'll tell you about mine.

 

[yowser]

A slender woman examined me from a table as I entered. I stopped abruptly, she reminded me of an early love interest of mine. I had barely been eighteen at the time.

Long, fine dark hair, intense eyes. A slow smile spread over her face.

Maria Verde once had been a troublesome threat to my sanity, inflaming every cell of my being. Her parents did not approve of me, an impoverished university student with no prospects, thwarting any future we might have had together.

I could not forget the two times we surreptitiously coupled however, how her arms held me close, how tightly her thighs gripped me, her scent, the softness of her hair. If her father had suspected the extent of our intimacies, I would have died with a knife in my back. She told me, and I believed her, that I was her first.

"Maria," I said. "It cannot be you." I knew it wasn't.

She stared back at me, those deep eyes enchanting. She shook her head.

 

[MK_Whimsy]

Sally stood in the garage, listening to her partner cursing. His large feathered butt protruded out from underneath the sedan, as well as his yellow-scaled feet. She couldn't figure out what he was fixing. She knew nothing about cars. A tool clattered on the pavement, followed by more cursing.

"Son of a... stupid thing," he grumbled. For being a humanoid rooster, he had a normal human-sounding voice, devoid of any random clucking or other similar noises.

Eventually, he pulled his plush body out from underneath the vehicle and stood up. Streaks of grease and dust ran through his colorful plumage. With a taloned hand, he used a shop towel to wipe through them, careful to avoid impaling it on his pointed beak. He sighed, looking completely dejected.

"I just can't fix this damn thing," he groused. "Why do they make these things so friggin' complicated. They cram everything together and you can't get to anything."

"Don't worry," replied Sally, putting a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. "If you can't figure it out, we'll just take it in. It's no big deal."

"But you can't trust them," he objected. "Remember when that guy tried to upsell us on new tires, and I had to make a scene in front of everybody?"

Sally's eyes glistened. "Oh, David. You're so sweet. Look, just take a break, okay? I hate seeing you like this."

David glanced down, a single tear now rolling down his face. It traveled down his feathers, eventually sliding off of his red wattle and onto the floor.

"I just want to do right by you, honey." At that, she leaned over and kissed him on the top of his beak. He lifted his head to nuzzle her.

"Oh, careful, David. Don't poke my eyes out, please. I don't have my goggles on."

"Oh, right, darling. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie." She smiled. "Come inside. Dinner's almost ready. I'm making chicken." Teary-eyed, he looked at her, infatuated.

 

[PennyThompson]

Sally stood in the garage, listening to her partner cursing. His large feathered butt protruded out from underneath the sedan, as well as his yellow-scaled feet. She couldn't figure out what he was fixing. She knew nothing about cars. A tool clattered on the pavement, followed by more cursing.

"Son of a... stupid thing," he grumbled. For being a humanoid rooster, he had a normal human-sounding voice, devoid of any random clucking or other similar noises.

Eventually, he pulled his plush body out from underneath the vehicle and stood up. Streaks of grease and dust ran through his colorful plumage. With a taloned hand, he used a shop towel to wipe through them, careful to avoid impaling it on his pointed beak. He sighed, looking completely dejected.

"I just can't fix this damn thing," he groused. "Why do they make these things so friggin' complicated. They cram everything together and you can't get to anything."

"Don't worry," replied Sally, putting a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. "If you can't figure it out, we'll just take it in. It's no big deal."

"But you can't trust them," he objected. "Remember when that guy tried to upsell us on new tires, and I had to make a scene in front of everybody?"

Sally's eyes glistened. "Oh, David. You're so sweet. Look, just take a break, okay? I hate seeing you like this."

David glanced down, a single tear now rolling down his face. It traveled down his feathers, eventually sliding off of his red wattle and onto the floor.

"I just want to do right by you, honey." At that, she leaned over and kissed him on the top of his beak. He lifted his head to nuzzle her.

"Oh, careful, David. Don't poke my eyes out, please. I don't have my goggles on."

"Oh, right, darling. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie." She smiled. "Come inside. Dinner's almost ready. I'm making chicken." Teary-eyed, he looked at her, infatuated.

I... think I would like to read more about Rooster Husband

 

[MK_Whimsy]

I... think I would like to read more about Rooster Husband

I'm a fan of anthropomorphic birds and actually thought about writing something serious (albeit probably not with a rooster). But this just seemed like more fun.

 

[OffNSFW]

Cool challenge.

-

For a long time, I was curious about getting my ass eaten. I never admitted it to any of the women I'd been with. Men aren't supposed to want that sort of thing. One night, I was fooling around with Olivia, the new bartender at work, and she just... did it.

I'd walked her out to her Chevy Tahoe. She pulled me in for a kiss. We made out against the door. I had my hand in her pants, making firm circles under her clit. She shook in my arms while she came.

"Let me return the favor," she said.

She opened the back end of the Tahoe and had me lie in it with my legs dangling. She stripped me completely naked below the waist, which seemed unnecessary, but I stopped caring when she dove on my cock.

She was taking longer and longer licks from my dickhead to my balls, then my taint. Before I had time to get nervous, she licked my anus, then again a second later.

"Hold your legs up to your chest," she said, as if we'd already agreed to it. Bewildered, I did as I was told.

It was the wettest, weirdest sensation. I don't know how I felt about it physically, but god, it was hot. It made the handjob she was giving me so much better.

She finished me with her mouth and swallowed it. I got dressed on weak legs. We kissed goodbye, the strangest cocktail of spit, cum, and sour sweat. Walking home, I felt her between my cheeks with every step.

The next few times we worked together, she avoided me. I felt crazy. I had to see her again, just to talk to her. Finally, I got her to agree to talk with me outside, in private.

When I told her I couldn't stop thinking about her since that night, she rolled her eyes. "Every time I eat a guy's ass, he thinks he's in love with me."

"Maybe I am." I don't know why I said it. But, as I did, I realized it was true.

 

[MK_Whimsy]

What if we fell in love in the Blockbuster Video

I guess with the advent of streaming services, we will never be able to meet someone in a video rental store.

 

[PennyThompson]

I guess with the advent of streaming services, we will never be able to meet someone in a video rental store.

I feel nostalgic for a time I never knew

 

[dmallord]

The heat was unseasonably warm for this time of year, insufferable inside the third-floor walk-up flat in the small village nestled along the narrow road winding by the seashore. It was a weekend getaway, stolen from work and prying eyes at home. Selfish, yes, but she was worth every penny, including the accompanying guilt. I flung open the paint-peeled windows. They groaned under the effort as I pushed them wide.

Peering out, I noticed the usual foot traffic was sparse, with pedestrians dodging the occasional car that dared to navigate the narrow streets. Those treading the path were dressed in as little as modesty allowed. It brought a smile to my face—a lecherous one—at the sight of girls in shorts and halter tops paired with flip-flops. From my vantage point, it was a spectacular top-down view of youthful, luscious bosoms. I glanced at the clock and realized she was half an hour late, but again, this is Italy, where clocks have flexible hands. I closed my eyes and shook my head. It was just enough time to have missed the commotion below.

A horn blared, accompanied by a screech of brakes. It was followed by the sounds of twisting metal rising from the chaos. Bellows erupted from a guy cursing in Italian, waving his hands at something just out of view, as is common in Italy. I craned my neck but only spotted his 1976 Ferrari 246 Dino T-boned into a quaint but sturdy village lamppost. Moments later, as I watched his despair, hands raised to the heavens, a knock came at my door. She stood there… in flip-flops, naked and grinning. “Did you cause that?” I smiled and asked curiously.

“Maybe, but he should have looked where he was going instead of at a girl needing to cool off,” she answered, proffering her hand.

 

[shelleycat1]

Gosh, a serial inside a writing challenge. Now I’ve got the image of the Rooster husband trying to fix the Ferrari.

 

[StillStunned]

It was hard to believe they’d been married for twenty-five years. Hard to believe that so much time had passed already. Sam wondered if that made him old.

Nika didn’t look old. She didn’t look a day older than when they met. She’d caught his eye with her friends on a bench by the river. Not the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, he thought at the time, but there was something about her. Something that made him want to find out who she was, and maybe tell her about himself.

Now he couldn’t imagine how he’d ever thought any woman could be more beautiful. The red hair had a few strands of silver, but it still shone as bright as ever. Her thoughts and moods had left traces in her expression that only he could see. It was a contented expression, and that made him happy.

Like he often did, he wondered what he’d done to deserve her. He was nothing special: he worked hard, he did his share of the housework, he did his best to be sociable with her friends. It didn’t seem like enough. But somehow she was still contented with him after all these years.

“What are you thinking?”

Nika’s voice startled him. He blinked, then smiled. “How beautiful you are. How much I love you.”

“You’re a smooth liar, Mr Whitlow.” But she smiled back and reached for his hand.

He squeezed her fingers for a moment, then brought them to his lips and kissed them. “I’ll see you in a few hours and lie to you some more.”

Then he stood by himself in the corridor, watching the doors swing shut behind her as the doctors and nurses wheeled her away.

“It’s going to be alright,” he told himself. “It has to.”

 

[onehitwanda]

I was between lectures sitting in the campus café nursing my £1 cheap bilge cleaner coffee, I had a two hour window before my next lecture. It was the days before you could doom scroll. I was sitting there with my notes attempting to be be studious. I could have been in the library. I could have been playing snakes.

I looked up, and there was a girl on the opposite table, drinking a coffee, her table was covered in papers and brightly covered highlighters. She was being far more efficient at taking her notes. Our eyes momentarily caught each other. Hers were hazel, her smile pretty. I ignored it. Her green highlights in her hair, meant she was on the other campus. An art student, not doing the sciences.

I look down at my notes, I struggle to maintain focus. I look up. Again our eyes catch she is smiling at me.

Its moments like this, that you don't quite know what to do.

I smile back. Then focus again at my papers. There is only so many times we can do this before it gets embarrassing.

I look up again, she is actually looking down. Phew.

Then she looks up and smiles at me. She starts putting her pens and papers back in her rucksack. Just how much coffee froth did I have smeared across my top lip.

I look her up and down, then back at my work.

By the time I look up again, her hand is out stretched. "Hi, I'm Vicky."

I feel attacked. And seen. And... all happy and warm and dreamy, all at once.

Also, every Vicky I've ever met has been lovely.

 

[PapaRomantic]

He sat in the sterile coolness of the well-lit hallway. All around him were sights and sounds and movements and hustle, and yet he was oblivious to them all.

His mind was still processing all he had seen and witnessed just a few moments before. There was a singleness of purpose in that room, several people with a common goal, working together, following a well-practiced routine. In some ways, he was an outsider, waiting for the outcome. In others, he was a main character, witnessing something that was both a miracle and a life-altering event.

He had watched his wife in the midst of it all, as she ended one journey and began a new one. He had seen an intensity on her face that he'd never seen before, and then the look of exhausted joy. He loved her deeply as her ordeal began...he loved her even more deeply as it was completed.

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft, pleasant voice standing over him. "Mr. Simmons, would you like to come in and meet your daughter?"

He stood slowly and followed her back into the room. He held out his arms as his brand new daughter was handed to him. He cuddled her close, looking into her tiny eyes as they looked back up at him. In that instant, his capacity to give and receive love doubled. His life was changed forever.

As a tear slowly streaked down his unshaven face, he glanced up at his wife, who despite what she'd been through was beaming as her husband and daughter met each other for the first time. In the midst of that joy and discovery and intensely fulfilling love in his heart, he mouthed the simple words to her - "I love you."

Time turned timeless as the world stopped in the perfection of that moment....

 

[Market_girl]

He sat in the sterile coolness of the well-lit hallway. All around him were sights and sounds and movements and hustle, and yet he was oblivious to them all.

His mind was still processing all he had seen and witnessed just a few moments before. There was a singleness of purpose in that room, several people with a common goal, working together, following a well-practiced routine. In some ways, he was an outsider, waiting for the outcome. In others, he was a main character, witnessing something that was both a miracle and a life-altering event.

He had watched his wife in the midst of it all, as she ended one journey and began a new one. He had seen an intensity on her face that he'd never seen before, and then the look of exhausted joy. He loved her deeply as her ordeal began...he loved her even more deeply as it was completed.

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft, pleasant voice standing over him. "Mr. Simmons, would you like to come in and meet your daughter?"

He stood slowly and followed her back into the room. He held out his arms as his brand new daughter was handed to him. He cuddled her close, looking into her tiny eyes as they looked back up at him. In that instant, his capacity to give and receive love doubled. His life was changed forever.

As a tear slowly streaked down his unshaven face, he glanced up at his wife, who despite what she'd been through was beaming as her husband and daughter met each other for the first time. In the midst of that joy and discovery and intensely fulfilling love in his heart, he mouthed the simple words to her - "I love you."

Time turned timeless as the world stopped in the perfection of that moment....

♡

 

[StillStunned]

Dear Kylie,

It’s taken me a while to work up the courage to do this, but I can’t keep this to myself anymore.

I love you.

There, I’ve said it. I love you. I’ve loved you from the first moment I saw you. That yellow dress you were wearing – with the low-cut neck, remember? – was so bright that it caught my eye immediately. Then I noticed your face, and your smile, and my heart was lost.

You must have noticed me that day, following you around the park. I watched every move you made. You laughed at a joke, you smiled at the man who sold you an ice-cream. Your hair shone in the sunshine. Your yellow dress moving as you walked, when you bent forward to pet a dog, and as you turned suddenly when Graeme called your name.

I loved you that day, and I’ve loved you ever since. Did you think it was a coincidence that I became friends with Graeme? I hate him for being married to you. But I put up with him because of you. I’d put up with anyone and anything to be able to spend time with you.

But it’s not enough. I want more time. I want more of you. I want you. I know you feel the same way. I see how you look at me. I see the jealous glances you give Colleen when the four of us are together. You don’t need to be jealous, though. Yes, I still fuck her, but when I do I’m making love to you in my mind. It’s always you.

Kylie, my love, we’ve waited long enough. Meet me in the park tonight. Just you and me, on the bench by the duckpond. I need to kiss you and stroke you, and make you mine.

Tonight.

Yours with every ounce of my being,

Tom

 

[birdy_]

I felt her weight shift on my lap. Not long after we'd started dating, whenever I was reading on the sofa, she would lay down and use me as her pillow.

She had also insisted on holding my hand, interlacing her fingers in mine, as she fell asleep. Occasionally, she would squeeze it gently, not for attention but a reminder that she was there or perhaps for reassurance, I wasn't quite sure, but it had become a comforting habit.

I felt her squeeze it now, twice in quick succession. Looking down, she met me with her sleepy gaze. That look. She didn't have to use those three special words, she knew I would understand.

Slowly her eyes closed, her breathing shallowed and she slept.

 

[StillStunned]

Bed of Roses

Danni had been asleep for a while now. Very quiet, very still, but Russ didn’t disturb her.

They’d had a fight. Danni had been surprised when he came to get her, and he had to convince her to come with him. Even then, she’d pretended to struggle. She could be a tease like that.

He might have lost his temper. It was a bit fuzzy, looking back, the way he sometimes had difficulty remembering the things he said or did. But she’d taken it too far with playing hard to get, and he’d snapped at her, and…

Well, one way or another they’d found themselves here. The old factory, where he used to work before it shut down. No-one would find them here. Not Danni’s creepy husband. Not Russ’s mother. They could finally have some time alone. Alone and together.

But Danni had complained again. Maybe about the bed he’d prepared. It wasn’t terribly good, he admitted that, but it was the best he could do. An inflatable mattress and the sleeping bag he’d used for camping when he was younger.

This time he remembered losing his temper. He’d shouted at her. Told her how much effort it had cost to arrange all this. And if she didn’t appreciate it, well then… And he pushed her. Onto the bed.

She’d bounced off and over it. See, he told her, see what a good bed it is? But she’d gone to sleep, there on the concrete. Closed her eyes, lying very still.

Sulking, of course. Probably she wasn’t really asleep at all, at first. She didn’t snore like his mother did, for a start. She was more beautiful than his mother, so pale and beautiful and still, and his heart ached inside him with love and desire.

Where her head had hit the floor it had cracked the concrete open, to bring forth a bed of rose petals, bright red, surrounding her head like a halo, until it was like she was resting on a bed of roses.

He wanted her to wake up, so he could tell her he loved her. But she slept, and slept, and slept.

 

[Erozetta]

He held my hand. I didn't have to ask him to do it; he simply knew I needed it. That was when I first felt safe with someone.

And now, it's what I first look for when making a connection. Every meaningful relationship I've had has started with their fingers slipping between mine without a word, just a silent understanding of need.

It still makes me smile. I'm caught by surprise each time it happens, and I feel both loved and understood. The only thing better is following it up with the tightest of hugs and a sigh of contentment.

 

[Lifestyle66]

First Date

His last e-mail said; ‘Reservation under my name at seven.’

No endearments, just the sparse use of words! Would this be worth my time?

Online dating is a crap shoot. Trying to find a match with checkboxes from a list?

‘You have a cat, here’s a guy who likes cats.’

I didn’t say I LIKE cats; I checked the box I HAVE a cat!

‘You like to travel, here’s a “Bus Driver!”

I’ve given up hoping for ‘Mister Right.’ Tonight, I’d settle for ‘Mister Not-a-toy.’ I need a good fucking by someone I won’t hate in the morning.

I just miss sharing my day with someone over a glass of wine after work, cuddling, watching a movie, going to bed with my head on his shoulder as I fall asleep.

When dating online, I assumed the virile pictures of a youngish-looking fifty-five-year-old were recent pics. But a balding, potbellied guy showed up looking like he could barely lift a beer glass?

Tonight, he’s supposedly tall, muscular, no glasses, divorced, no pets, and no kids at home. His picture just looked a little goofy, dressed like ‘Charlie Brown.”

But the guy I saw walking alone into the restaurant was NOTHING LIKE that! So, it’s going to be another short, dreadful liar luring women to a date.

Seven o’clock, and the wait is over. I got out of my car with a feeling of despair. Opening the door, I stepped into the foyer, seeing the jerk now seated alone at a table on the far side of the restaurant.

At the matre’d station, I said, “Reservation for two under the name …”

“Leslie? I recognized you from your picture.”

Turning to look, my jaw dropped. He was tall, well built, with salt & pepper hair, wearing a tailored grey suit, and blue dress shirt bringing out the blue in his eyes, and his gorgeous smile …

“Oh, my GAWD,” I exclaimed. “You’re not him!” I said, snapping my head back and forth between them, almost losing my balance

I was jerked from despair, now thinking of ways to take him home with me, tonight, forever!

 

[StillStunned]

First Date

Again, people: remember the word count!

 

[Lifestyle66]

Again, people: remember the word count!

Sorry.

I got carried away.