> >>This assignment was actually turned in by two English students: > >> > >>Rebecca and Gary > >>English 44A > >>SMU > >>Creative Writing > >>Prof Miller > >> > >> In-class Assignment for Wednesday > >> > >>Today we will experiment with a new form called the tandem story. The > >>process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person sitting > >>to his or her immediate right.. One of you will then write the first > >>paragraph of a short story. The partner will read the first paragraph > >>and then add another paragraph to the story. The first person will > >>then add a third paragraph, and so on back and forth. Remember to > >>reread what has been written each time in order to keep the story > >>coherent. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been > >>reached. > >> ---------------------------------------------------------------- > >> > >>At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The > >>camomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now > >>reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he > >>liked camomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind > >>off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about > >>him too much her asthma started acting up again. So camomile was out > >>of the question. > >> > >>Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron > >>now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about > >>than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with > >>whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to > >>Geostation 17," he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar > >>orbit established. No sign of resistance so far..." But before he > >>could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and > >>blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct > >>hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit. > >> > >>He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt > >>one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who > >>had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its > >>pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. > >>"Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel." > >>Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously > >>excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her > >>youth -- when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no > >>newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of > >>innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one > >>lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully. > >> > >>Little did she know, but she has less than 10 seconds to live. > >>Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched > >>the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy > >>peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty > >>through Congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile > >>alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within > >>two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on > >>course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire > >>planet. With no one to stop them they swiftly initiated their > >>diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere > >>unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine > >>headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the > >>inconceivably massive explosion which vaporized Laurie and 85 million > >>other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the conference > >>table. "We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty! Let's > >>blow'em out of the sky!" > >> > >>This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My > >>writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic, semi-literate adolescent. > >> > >>Yeah? Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at > >>writing are the literary equivalent of Valium. > >> > >>You total $*&. > >> > >>Stupid %&#$!.