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September 15, 2011

A Lotta More

Before I can tell my story, I’ll need an old pickup truck. Ford or Chevy, it doesn’t matter. Not a Dodge. A little rust around the wheel wells is fine, but not so much of it that the fenders are flapping like a killdeer’s wings. Faded, powdery two-tone paint is acceptable. An old comforter covering the duct tape covering the high-mileage driver’s seat is okay, too. The truck should graze in clover and timothy up past the hubcaps. Yes, the windshield is cracked.

In my story, the truck will be parked in front of a frame bungalow that is painted gray by time. Or a Federal style house, its missing bricks resembling acne scars. The rain gutters have become flower boxes—weeds and ivy cascade over the greening metal. It’s not in the field of view, but behind the house a single sunflower bows its face over abandoned landscaping. The low picket fence around this garden lies flat in the myrtle. A Federal style house should work very well.

My story is going to need some sounds running in the background. Sure, there will be cicadas, but that’s not enough. A broken down yellow dog with a whitened muzzle is a good idea, although a little overdone. His snoring will provide a nice counterpoint to the rise and fall of the insects’ melody. If he awakens and barks, it’s a bonus. We might as well stimulate all the senses, even smell, so I suppose the dog’s infected ears and bad breath and flaking skin have a role to play, too. I will want some wildflowers and fresh-cut alfalfa.

I now have a place and the loose construction of a scene, but I can’t begin until I determine a time to go with the location. It’s not an early spring morning story, not at all. Not a humid, thunderstormy summer’s dusk one, either. The story is going to be really good, so it should start at the beginning of autumn, when for a couple of weeks the trees have been tired and changing to amber and tan but the afternoons still burn like an acetylene torch. The days grow shorter, though, and my story does not take place at night. I need to hurry.

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