The story is finished several times

My “client” missed the deadline but submitted this photo of himself working.

Last week I posted an unfinished story. I had sat down to write one story, but in the process of writing it the story took on a life of its own and became another one. I offered it up for others to finish and was pleased to find several interesting takes on what had become of the young man who ran away from home.

Shivangi wrote of how the young man discovered now and became a great scientist.

Frederick wrote of how he became a race car mechanic, encountered tragedy in the sport, then overcame it to become a great mechanical engineer.

Sliver of Sana wrote about him returning home to rescue his little brother.

Samaborder wrote about how he met someone, fell in love, and had a child who ended up shutting the door of his bedroom on him.

Doobster418 wrote about him becoming good at his work, losing his work to technology, becoming angry and violent, taking it out on his family, and abandoning them in a squeal of rubber and smoke, much like his own father.

Caughtskies wrote about his brother tracking him down, and the two of them standing side by side as strangers at their father’s funeral.

Gridthusto wrote about him finding drink and violence, then a girl, then through the girl God, and through God a happy life.

Anonymous, who is not anonymous to me but my good friend IceDrummer, wrote about the man becoming successful in business, then losing interest in his business, and most other things as well.

Awax1217 stopped in to tell a story of his own, and the renowned Professor VJ Duke popped by to begin his but I think he was distracted by the many Professorish things on his mind. Or perhaps warrior things. (He’s a warrior, you know. He carries a katana.)

This was a great experiment, and I’m happy that so many people participated. Some took a positive, uplifting approach, some took a darker one, and some wrote about the circle of life coming back around to where it began.

I think that if I had written the ending myself, it would probably have come out most similar to Doobster’s or IceDrummer’s. I liked how Doobster brought it back to the squealing tires, and IceDrummer brought it back to Friday at 7pm. And I must say that the impact of caughtskies’ ending surprised me. I didn’t expect such an emotional wallop in so few words, but the image of both the young man and the brother he’d left behind wearing black at their father’s funeral really struck me. I myself did have a brother in a baby carrier and a father who passed away, so that one hit close to home. (And no, I never ran away from home or became a mechanic.)

So those would be my personal favorite endings for that particular story. Shivangi voted for Sliver of Sana’s ending. If you care to chime in on your own favorite, please do.

All were interesting, thoughtful, and very much appreciated by yours truly. In each case, it was a thrill to see my incomplete thoughts completed by others. My thanks to all of you who took the time to make this character your own, in your own way. I look forward to seeing your next bit of storytelling! Thank you for contributing to mine.

Sincerely,

Walt