This week’s Design Journal assignment required us, among other things, to write a 55-word story, in the spirit of 55 Fiction. Frank didn’t say so directly, but I imagine this has something to do with the importance of story-telling in design. And what better way to understand the important elements of a story than to whittle it down to its bare-bones elements. It reminds me a little bit of Angry Alien Productions’ 30-Second Bunnies, in that only the basics remain, and yet the story still functions. Here is my first ever 55-word story.
Dead Giveaway
“Sweetheart,” he gushes.
“Whiskey, darling?”
“Always.”
The waiter pauses.
“Jameson. On rocks, for him.” Sipping wine, she fumbles in her purse.
Pocket vibration. “Sweetheart, I’ve gotta. . . Hello?” He rises. Impatient ice melts into Jameson; she fumbles in her purse.
Only after paramedics remove the motionless body, the waiter remembers crimson nails, fumbling in her purse.