Wally's lesson - A Constrained Writing Exercise
"Whooeee!" Wally gets excited easily. Nothing is humdrum to Wally. "Cosi fan tutti!?" Wally can hear it all. Wally loves where he gets to go. Thrum thrum of a subway. Delicious scents in that Thai place we like so much. Laughter and pride at the library.
But now...
"Hey. HEY!" It's been a week. Briefly excited to meet so many new faces. But unfamiliar hands violating him. And now... it's been a week. Time passes slowly. That face is familiar, but only vaguely. Hard to place. These new friends mostly stick around, but Bean disappeared after only a few hours in the holding cell, and no one's seen her since.
"That's my dad!" And things go on like nothing changed, except Dad clings now. Cozy is gone. It's all tightly clenched. And Wally's always hungry. He feels empty inside. Now half of him is somewhere else. Pride and laughter are gone. Life is only plastic, stiff, lonely. He's left behind. Wally winds up sad and feeling forgotten, even though he knows he's always remembered. There's just so much stress now.
Things have to change. Wally talks to Beverly. They're just acquaintances, but she's always been a morning person, and morning is when Dad makes the big choices. She preaches patience, reliability. She teaches Wally to simply love the new kinds of attention. Beverly is wise.
A few weeks go by. Things are alright. Wally gets fed more and more again. He's full. He even starts to gain a little weight. There's more and more cozy time, and more and more exciting stuff to do.
Then it happens again. A few drinks, and...but this time, he thinks of Beverly. He spends his day getting to know everyone else in his holding cell. Just one day. And dad comes back. And it was just an adventure this time, no trauma.
This is life. This is life. Nothing to fear. Life is change again.
I re-read this three times, and all I'm getting is... keys? :P
Please please please I want to be right! D: hahaha :D
Close enough. I think you've zeroed in on many of the characteristics that keys have in common with this, though the answer "keys" leaves a few things inexplicable.
It must be something someone loses at a party.
Something you keep with yourself... but also something that can grow in size.... Ugh.
I.. I guess I'll try again tomorrow with a fresh mind? :3
I have faith. Do you want me to point out clues in the text? We can talk about it more this evening when you come over for mead.
Of course I want you to! I silently wanted that! ;3
Yes, I would love to discuss NOT KEYS over mead :p
Then, subway... thai place... library and life is only plastic...life is change again
Ugh...
I don't knoooooow >.<
That's just a perceptual metaphor. I mean, it means something, but you needn't believe that it's a place that human police bring you when you're arrested.
Great writing! I believe the holding cell is a wallet. So is Wally, a wallet?
I reread the story, and the comments again, and I must say I'm with you on this one.
My bet is Wally=Wallet. :P
She figured it out!
Voila!
After I thought about it, of course Wally made more sense :D I'm not sure how I missed that clue at the beginning. That was a good one!
I'm glad this exercise was so popular! People like guessing. FUN!
Ooh… I think I know what wally is (only thanks to the clues in the other thread)… but what is Beverly? Coffee or something you drink in the morning? Maybe I'm overthinking it
I have another object for you to guess. SBD goes to the winner. Read my post here
I was too slow and missed my chance! Thanks for thinking of me though
You ain't overthinkin' nothin'. :)
Loose change (or money) in the pocket.
"dad" and "unfamiliar hands" are my hints to guide you from your very close guess to the truth.
A pocket watch? Dad is a businessman?
Do businessmen carry pocketwatches?
Wait. I think I have it. Is it a cell phone? And it got lost and ran out of battery. Then it was found, recharged, and taking pictures again. The holding cell is the pocket.
Interesting! Everyone is in the same world as what I had in mind. "Wally"
Wait. It is a wallet. That's the answer. It gets empty. It gets full again. Comes out at the subway, and at Tai food. And drinks. It gets lost. It gets found. It goes in the pocket. It comes out again. That's why I was hung up. I figured the mystery item was either in the wallet or in the pocket. It never occurred to me it was actually the wallet itself.
Voila!
I have another object for you to guess. SBD goes to the winner. Read my post here
Awesome post. Fun guessing.
I see from @amos-robinson that I've probably missed my chance, but I'll see if I can figure it out regardless.
IDK - bathroom tokens ?
Interesting! That's not something I would have thought of, because we don't use those in the USA, but clever thought!
I’m in California...
Then... what are bathroom tokens? I'm also in CA... I've seen them in Europe. You get one when you buy something at the mall, and then you can use the bathroom. But here bathrooms are free...
Same thought as in Europe - just in California.
Cray.
Cray cray. Only place I've ever used a bathroom token is in Europe.