One assignment, one that I've done before: to write a scene using only nouns and verbs to describe the action. No adverbs or adjectives allowed. I sneaked a few in. Can you find them?
She was not there when he pulled up to the Sunday school at twenty minutes after noon. She knew he’d be late. She started walking home rather than watch the other kids get picked up and the parking lot empty. He found her on Grove Avenue four blocks away. He slowed his car out of traffic, two tires slipping onto the concrete lip of the road, wheel rims spinning close to the curb. She refused to notice. She kept her chin set, her hands dug into her pockets, her toes squeezed. People were swerving around them, slowing down. One woman made to pull over and she waved her on and got into her father’s car. She did not want her father to be a spectacle.
He played her a tape, 1950’s doo wop, and controlled the radio knobs with two fingers. He turned up the volume, forwarded the tape to the next song. He stuck his hand out the window, tapped his ring to the music. He leaned toward her and sang the lyrics he knew, mumbled lyrics for the rest. He wanted to know if she liked the music and she told him that it was okay. She liked when he played music for her. She liked doo wop because he liked it and because the songs didn’t mean much. Guys begged for forgiveness or confessed their love but they didn’t care what happened. Like when a girl said no, they said it was the end of their world but they didn’t mean it.
He gave the parking attendant a bill hidden under his fist. The attendant slid it into his jacket pocket and pointed at an area where no cars were parked. He said, “Thank you, my man,” to the attendant and patted him on the bicep. He told her, “Hang with me and you don’t have to worry.” He said, “See this spot?” and patted down his hair before he got out of the car.
She trailed behind him when they walked together. He was over 6’ tall and she was ten years old. He didn’t slow down or stop. He got a few paces ahead and then she jogged to catch up. He bought her a program and handed her a pencil that was the size of her middle finger. He said she could bet on the next race, number five. She turned to the fifth race in the program. The names of the horses ran over to the next page. Each horse had the name of its rider and the owner beneath it and other numbers and names but she didn’t what they were for. The horses had names like Funnyside, Mother’s Little Helper, Dancing Queen. She picked Confirmed Winner, 5-1 odds and circled it in the book with her pencil. Her father said that Confirmed Winner was scratched. He said that Dancing Queen was the favorite and that she should pick that one. He said she’d win $1.25 for every $1. She said that she’d wait until the next race.
