Assignment: Let’s keep carving away at our dialogue and tweaking it. Today, write the dialogue between the two men in the picture below. Be creative! Then post it in the Facebook Group.
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| photo licensed under creative commons, courtesy of bradleygee |
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Huddled deep in his orange jacket, Roy moved as quickly as possible. “This would be so much easier if I could walk along the boardwalk” he mumbled under his breath. As a private investigator, Roy often sacrificed his personal comfort. He’d done numerous tracking and tailing of suspects before. This time was no different. But the slippery grass from the melting snow was physically draining.
Keeping his prescription sunglasses on the target ahead, Roy kept moving. His name was Albert and his suspected crime was chronic cheating. Not only did this guy fail at monogamous relationship, but he also cut corners on the job and cheated on his taxes. He always looked for flaws in products or switched price tags in stores in order to pay less. Yes, this guy was at least going to provide Roy with some entertainment.
Suddenly Albert stopped. He had been strolling along the boardwalk, destination unknown. Roy paused, pulling out a guide book as part of his cover. He appeared to be a lost wanderer, exploring the area. He kept a casual glance at Albert. In the corner of his eye, he noticed a blur of black approaching him. If he ran, it would alert Albert. If he stayed, maybe Albert would just bypass him? Good thing Roy was the praying type. “Lord, help!” he pleaded silently.
“Uh, pardon me, sir?” Albert asked hesitatingly, “do you have the time?”
The time?! Roy thought. This is something different. “Yes, it’s 4:30 pm” Roy announced. Albert looked quite uncertain. “Is everything alright? You look a bit puzzled” Roy took a wild guess, hoping that he didn’t give anything away.
“Um, well, I had to make a drop off across town by 4:00 pm. It’s too late for me now.” Albert was starting to sound distressed. “And I had to meet my girl, Candy, by 5:00 pm.” He was starting to speak faster, starting to sound like one long run on sentence. “Then I have another meeting at 7:30 pm, with a friend, a dinner date. There’s no way I can make it there now. No way! I’m doomed!” He finally stopped and took a deep breath.
Yep, definitely a cheater, Roy realized. If only all my cases were so easy. “Well, dude, that’s too bad. Maybe you should do the drop-off—it sounds important. Then go and see your, um, girl. You know the ladies,” Roy forced a chuckle, “they’re always running late themselves. Who knows, once you explain yourself, perhaps your later meeting can be delayed? I have a hunch about that one…” He let his voice trail off. Better to quit now, before he revealed too much. While it was a thrill to bust these guys, Roy didn’t want to rob Albert’s soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend of this pleasure.
Roy watched Albert walk away with a renewed pep in his step. The sucker has no clue of what’s coming he thought to himself. After a few moments, Roy pulled out his cell phone. He dialed a number, intending to close this case in a next few minutes. “Hello, Gretchen? Roy here. I have an update for you…” He felt no shame in letting the smile shine through over the phone.