still bored, so let's tell a story one sentence at a time

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed

This thread is a complete ripoff of the thread I'm bored, so let's tell a story one word at a time, but tries to address its major pitfall, namely that the one word limit only results in participants trying to one-up each other by selecting a word no one can sensibly follow up on. The putative winner is whoever wrecks the process beyond repair. Far from 'a story' the result is hopelessly incoherent nonsense.

Allowing each participant one complete sentence won't stop participants from trying to one-up each other. That would be improbable; competitiveness over linguistic creativity may be too ingrained in ilxors for any true cooperation to build a fully coherent story. I do expect it to improve the quality of the nonsense at least.

Rules and Suggestions:

- You may not post two or more consecutive sentences. You may not cheat around this rule by using semi-colons or other transparent ploys to defeat the no-consecutive-sentence rule. Don't even think about it.

- No sentences greater than 50 or 60 words, please. Sure, probably nobody will count them, but for crying out loud, you ain't no Faulkner. Go easy.

- Try to overcome the temptation to be so clever it stops everyone else in their tracks and the story dies an abrupt and ignominious death. Instead be so clever that the story becomes even more exciting & interesting to contribute toward. A spur to our collective imagination.

That's it. A plan so crazy... that it just might work.

A is for (Aimless), Thursday, 7 May 2020 00:14 (four years ago) link

I expected, even wanted, it to be a day like any other day and for a short while it seemed that my expectations would be fulfilled.

A is for (Aimless), Thursday, 7 May 2020 00:17 (four years ago) link

Eggs for breakfast, hot coffee,the paper on the doormat, even the radio seemed to be working.

Mark G, Thursday, 7 May 2020 01:12 (four years ago) link

What didn't seem to be working was my sense of continuity, that something or other that usually reassures me that the eggs, the paper, the dog, myself or the rest of the world have some connection to the person who laid his head down to sleep at some inspecific time, which now could be eons ago.

A is for (Aimless), Thursday, 7 May 2020 02:07 (four years ago) link

One text at 6:55 am screwed it all to hell--it was the burst of dog bark around a blind corner, the scream that ripped the day in half.

karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Thursday, 7 May 2020 02:28 (four years ago) link

The scream was mine.

A is for (Aimless), Thursday, 7 May 2020 03:27 (four years ago) link

I had to sneeze, and I was carrying coffee.

let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Thursday, 7 May 2020 03:42 (four years ago) link

After cleaning myself up as best I could, I consulted he text message.

A is for (Aimless), Thursday, 7 May 2020 03:55 (four years ago) link

it said "goodnight. you fucking asshole."

let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Thursday, 7 May 2020 03:57 (four years ago) link

"Nothing wrong with that", I thought, preparing to text her back.

A is for (Aimless), Thursday, 7 May 2020 03:58 (four years ago) link

“I’m sorry about Jeremy, he means well,” was my intention but the squirrelly letters floated and slip-slid under my sweaty fingers, the speed-laced rolls copped by Mean Eddy still had my peepers all geeked.

karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Thursday, 7 May 2020 04:15 (four years ago) link

Jeremy's stomach grumbled somewhere beneath the blanket on the couch.

let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Thursday, 7 May 2020 04:23 (four years ago) link

Pulling pranks never failed to provoke his famously powerful hunger.

karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Thursday, 7 May 2020 04:34 (four years ago) link

"AH-CHOO!," I finally sneezed all over Jeremy.

felicity, Thursday, 7 May 2020 04:46 (four years ago) link

Jeremy tasted coffee.

let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Thursday, 7 May 2020 04:55 (four years ago) link

“Prank!” he yelled as he held out his fist for a bump.

karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Thursday, 7 May 2020 05:05 (four years ago) link

So far, so usual but three things were bothering me.

Mark G, Thursday, 7 May 2020 06:44 (four years ago) link

The least being that Jeremy was clutching my blanket about his waist, asking whether I'd seen his pants.

speaking moistly (Sanpaku), Thursday, 7 May 2020 07:15 (four years ago) link

Much more troubling was the fact that Jeremy's face was made up to resemble the renowned Batman villain, The Joker, and he seemed strangely on edge, or even more so than usual, since 'edgy' was his trademark move.

A is for (Aimless), Thursday, 7 May 2020 17:39 (four years ago) link

The moon farted slyly.

| (Latham Green), Thursday, 7 May 2020 18:10 (four years ago) link

"Quit mooning me, Jeremy!", I commanded, "It's time we had a little talk."

A is for (Aimless), Thursday, 7 May 2020 18:33 (four years ago) link

Jeremy smiled, and asked if anyone wanted a coffee.

Mark G, Friday, 8 May 2020 14:07 (four years ago) link

I had a vision of me jamming my hairy, loose-skinned fingers into Jeremy's eye, but it turned out not to be a vision at all, because I was actually doing it.

genital giant (Neanderthal), Friday, 8 May 2020 14:12 (four years ago) link

Jeremy's eye burst into fizzing sparks like a teen's faulty Juul before his cybernetic core went into emergency shutdown mode.

karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Friday, 8 May 2020 14:36 (four years ago) link

The sky had suddenly grown dark again, though it was mid-day.

let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Friday, 8 May 2020 15:22 (four years ago) link

I then put on my robe and wizard hat.

genital giant (Neanderthal), Friday, 8 May 2020 15:39 (four years ago) link

Meanwhile, at the other end of the galaxy, PISSwôd-K3387 had just finished another long and sticky shift spraying Meitnerpudding off the tall, metallic reactor cylinders inside a factory which was responsible for (among other things) the manufacturing of robe and wizard hats for most Class-D humanoids in the eastern division of the Lower Xanthra Galactic Federation.

budo jeru, Friday, 8 May 2020 15:45 (four years ago) link

The shift manager grabbed a sticky shoulder and whispered "anyone need some coffee?" into the cranny of the neck.

let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Friday, 8 May 2020 15:53 (four years ago) link

This was one of the factory shift manager's favorite jokes, though its humor was always lost on PISSwôd-K3387, who was deaf and never heard it, but nevertheless smiled politely each time he felt the soft tickle of the manager's tentacles on his skin.

budo jeru, Friday, 8 May 2020 16:06 (four years ago) link

"Morale is good", thought the shift manager, "because everyone who needs coffee has it."

let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Friday, 8 May 2020 16:08 (four years ago) link

Suddenly, Lil Wayne showed up for his shift

genital giant (Neanderthal), Friday, 8 May 2020 16:54 (four years ago) link

Lil' Wayne's neck cranny practically screamed out for attention.

let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Friday, 8 May 2020 16:59 (four years ago) link

"Your neck cranny is beautiful," thought the shift manager, and Lil Wayne, in his infinite wisdom, understood that his shift manager loved him and wanted to give him more coffee.

budo jeru, Friday, 8 May 2020 17:15 (four years ago) link

"When is The Carter 6 coming out", joked the manager, who was known as a "bit of a cutup"

genital giant (Neanderthal), Friday, 8 May 2020 17:18 (four years ago) link

"It came out on brain chip implant last week," said Lil Wayne, "but somebody on ILM told me that's some lame-ass retro bullshit for white hipsters who are out of touch with the social dynamics of how the children actually interface with musical content."

budo jeru, Friday, 8 May 2020 17:23 (four years ago) link

a boiling kettle of water shrieked in the distance and wouldn't stop.

let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Friday, 8 May 2020 17:25 (four years ago) link

"Boiling kettle of water" was a euphemism for the shift manager, whose name was Annabelle.

genital giant (Neanderthal), Friday, 8 May 2020 17:34 (four years ago) link

"Oh dear," thought John Dos Passos, who could hear the noise from his executive hover craft, "she must have seen that we've replaced the employee espresso machine with a Keurig."

budo jeru, Friday, 8 May 2020 17:39 (four years ago) link

Annabelle's neck cranny cracked open wide and steam exploded out into the open air as her tilted head hung lifelessly to the side

let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Friday, 8 May 2020 17:44 (four years ago) link

"Doesn't all this coffee just make you want to fuck all these beautiful fucking necks?" asked Lil Wayne.

budo jeru, Friday, 8 May 2020 17:48 (four years ago) link

A voice resembling a British man's poor impersonation of an Alabama accent issued forth from Annabelle's neck.

karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Friday, 8 May 2020 17:50 (four years ago) link

[insert sentence of 13,955 words from Jonathan Coe's 2001 novel "The Rotter's Club"]

Kate (rushomancy), Friday, 8 May 2020 17:52 (four years ago) link

What was even stranger was that the novel was written in an ancient language called English, which Annabelle had no way of knowing.

budo jeru, Friday, 8 May 2020 18:56 (four years ago) link

To make matters still more chaotic, red lights began flashing in every room, and the siren warning everyone there that Jeremy of Terra had gone into emergency shutdown mode began wailing in Yiddish (the native language of this galaxy), "Varenung! Jeremi hat kikt dem emer! Varenung! Jeremi hat kikt dem emer!"

A is for (Aimless), Friday, 8 May 2020 19:09 (four years ago) link

"Di rinderns zenen halb," intoned John Dos Passos grimly.

karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Friday, 8 May 2020 19:14 (four years ago) link

"Don't forget to bring Jeremy back into the story," went the voice from inside Annabelle, which of course nobody understood.

budo jeru, Friday, 8 May 2020 19:19 (four years ago) link

Across the galaxy, Jeremy suddenly awoke from his dream, which was about a shower curtain ripping in half in a steamy locker room.

let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Friday, 8 May 2020 19:24 (four years ago) link

Nevertheless, in the other galaxy, Annabelle's now decapitated body strode decisively over to a panel hidden on the wall, opened it with a flourish, and threw a switch that deactivated the Jeremy-alarm, after which the voice emanating from within her announced, "We shall now observe a moment of silence for our fallen comrade, Jeremy of Terra."

A is for (Aimless), Friday, 8 May 2020 19:26 (four years ago) link

The internal voice then yelled "Gardyloo!" and dumped waste onto the street below.

genital giant (Neanderthal), Friday, 8 May 2020 19:27 (four years ago) link

Meanwhile, back on earth, Jeremy poured himself a cup of coffee.

A is for (Aimless), Friday, 8 May 2020 19:29 (four years ago) link

Eddie swiftly broke several of his incisors on Jeremy's all-titanium cranium.

A is for (Aimless), Saturday, 16 May 2020 17:02 (three years ago) link

Meanwhile, the hit song “All-titanium Cranium” was playing on the radio.

very avant-garde (Variablearea), Saturday, 16 May 2020 17:33 (three years ago) link

Between the radio blaring and Eddie Murphy's loud drunken yelps as he danced around holding his mouth, Jeremy wasn't sure if Eddie had heard him say, "-autograph", so he helpfully extended the pen and paper in Eddie's direction and sort of jiggled them to draw attention to their mute appeal for some little personalized greeting, such as 'To Jeremy, rots of ruck, your pal Eddie'.

A is for (Aimless), Saturday, 16 May 2020 17:59 (three years ago) link

Instead, Eddie, who had ceased to be human after the stroke of midnight due to the curse put on him by Rick James years earlier, took the pen and brutally stabbed Jeremy to death in the neck, which was very much not titanium and smelled kind of fishy.

I am a free. I am not man. A number. (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 02:29 (three years ago) link

After Jeremy's apparent death Eddie began to wonder, after that whole 'give me your autograph' thing, just how big a fan of his Jeremy had been, and so slowly and methodically began to investigate whether the apartment contained any of his comedy recordings as vinyl, cassette tape or CD, and film roles, as VHS tape, Betamax discs, or DVDs, plus any wall posters, People magazines, biographies, or just books that may have mentioned him in passing.

A is for (Aimless), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 03:04 (three years ago) link

It turns out Jeremy had mistaken him for Richard Pryor.

I am a free. I am not man. A number. (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 03:07 (three years ago) link

The jagged wound made Jeremy's warranty, neatly but perplexingly tucked into a cranny, completely indecipherable. The corpse, or whatever this was, was far from exquisite. Just a crumpled smelly mass.

Eddie, still thinking himself the original protagonist, thought, "I want my towel back, and I want a refund."

mafia sleepover (Sanpaku), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 03:07 (three years ago) link

(that was more than one sentence)

I am a free. I am not man. A number. (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 03:08 (three years ago) link

(consider the offending 2nd sentence expunged and move on)

A is for (Aimless), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 03:11 (three years ago) link

(oops. also include the 3rd, and 4th, too)

A is for (Aimless), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 03:12 (three years ago) link

His warranty, however, did not cover "acts of Eddie Murphy while dehumanized" and therefore its current illegibility was of little import.

A is for (Aimless), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 03:26 (three years ago) link

Randall Flagg arrived on the scene, realizing it was time once again for his reign.

I am a free. I am not man. A number. (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 03:30 (three years ago) link

"Eddie! My main man! Can I have your autograph?", Randall exclaimed with all the fervor of a true fan.

A is for (Aimless), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 03:37 (three years ago) link

"Flagg?" gasped Eddie, his voice betraying the horrible suspicion that his unsportsmanlike conduct during the Fifth Intergalactic War might finally come to light with the sudden reappearance of this, his arch-nemesis and former commanding Güberhauptführe.

budo jeru, Wednesday, 20 May 2020 03:47 (three years ago) link

Then Eddie's eyes hungrily alit on the pen Flagg was holding out in his direction in all innocence, believing that this Eddie was still the same old Eddie the cut-up and clown he knew from long ago, unchanged by fame, fortune, untold amounts of drugs and alcohol, and Rick James' curse.

A is for (Aimless), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 03:56 (three years ago) link

A few moments passed, and as the fierce and raging tears began to clear from Eddie's keen and incisive eye, he espied an inscription upon the Flagg-pen, the pen which we knew had traveled lightyears from a distant, squalid dimension: "Baktar bicht nÿeer biní Qglooob."

budo jeru, Wednesday, 20 May 2020 04:36 (three years ago) link

He hummed a tune by Buzzcocks, "I don't mind" he thought it was, although he couldn't be sure.

Mark G, Wednesday, 20 May 2020 06:31 (three years ago) link

For the first time since brutally eliminating Jeremy, Eddie Murphy felt almost human, but it quickly passed.

A is for (Aimless), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 17:01 (three years ago) link

As did a kidney stone he didn't even know he had.

I am a free. I am not man. A number. (Neanderthal), Sunday, 24 May 2020 00:13 (three years ago) link

“Shlwooopgh!”

budo jeru, Sunday, 24 May 2020 00:15 (three years ago) link

He exclaimed, as the kidney stone came out of his ear.

I am a free. I am not man. A number. (Neanderthal), Sunday, 24 May 2020 00:16 (three years ago) link

It was a process of birth, of spiritual renewal.

budo jeru, Sunday, 24 May 2020 00:18 (three years ago) link

A bit of Eddie's brain came with it, but he found the overall effect was very refreshing.

A is for (Aimless), Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:36 (three years ago) link

There were parades.

longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Sunday, 24 May 2020 18:48 (three years ago) link

The processions bubbled up from portals in the ground and stretched out in psychedelic patterns toward the horizon.

budo jeru, Sunday, 24 May 2020 22:24 (three years ago) link

all of a sudden, an unexpected guest arrived - Kadeem Hardison, Eddie's co-star in Vampire in Brooklyn

I am a free. I am not man. A number. (Neanderthal), Sunday, 24 May 2020 22:26 (three years ago) link

He started to play a harpsichord duet with James Redd, whose band, the Blecchs, had been leading the 134th parade brigade.

budo jeru, Sunday, 24 May 2020 22:34 (three years ago) link

Outside in the cold distance a wildcat did growl, for the wind was surprisingly calm, allowing the growl to be audible from so far away.

A is for (Aimless), Monday, 25 May 2020 01:21 (three years ago) link

Pavlov's dog-like, he cracked himself open a cold Labatt with the boys from Canada.

pomenitul, Monday, 25 May 2020 01:30 (three years ago) link

The growl was met by the strains of “Garryowen” as the pipes of the 134th began to skirl.

Spocks on the Run (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 25 May 2020 02:35 (three years ago) link

The psychedelic processions vanished into the ground from whence they had magically emerged at the first notes of the bagpipes (which incidentally were the highland pipes, not the more petite uilleann pipes, nor the gaida, traditional bagpipes of Balkan shepards) as if they were pursued by seven devils holding knives and forks and looking famished.

A is for (Aimless), Monday, 25 May 2020 03:00 (three years ago) link

Suddenly, Eddie felt fatigued of all the merriment, and also possibly of the mild aural brain-loss he had experienced only moments earlier.

longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Monday, 25 May 2020 05:02 (three years ago) link

The wildcat finished his Labatt and politely wished his Canadian friends a good evening; continued merriment was not his purpose, either.

El Tomboto, Monday, 25 May 2020 05:23 (three years ago) link

Disgusted by the lack of either merriment or drugs, Kadeem Hardison soon left in a huff, while Randall Flagg, who had been waiting, doglike, through it all for Eddie's autograph now left, too, ecstatically clutched a wrinkled Labatt's label, upon the back of which was inscribed, "To my best arch-nemesis ever, respectfully..." followed by a scribble that might have been either 'Eddie Murphy' or else 'Richard Pryor'.

A is for (Aimless), Tuesday, 26 May 2020 16:32 (three years ago) link

He tucked the label into the pages of a book he'd been reading, the second volume of a biography of Adolphus Busch.

budo jeru, Tuesday, 26 May 2020 16:39 (three years ago) link

"Looks like it's down to just you and me," Eddie said to James Redd, "What do you say to a couple of hands of cribbage before we turn in?"

A is for (Aimless), Tuesday, 26 May 2020 16:44 (three years ago) link

one month passes...

The wind blew itself to pieces.

| (Latham Green), Wednesday, 22 July 2020 16:23 (three years ago) link

two months pass...

everyone in town that died weirdly came back to life as if they had never been dead, but they smelled REALLY bad.

LaRusso Auto (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 23 September 2020 06:00 (three years ago) link

Nobody remembered the rules of cribbage.

sound of scampo talk to me (El Tomboto), Wednesday, 23 September 2020 07:47 (three years ago) link

As a result, those who had been continuously alive and still had somewhat functional brains could easily convince the recently dead of whatever cribbage rules favored them, enabling them to win the shirts right off the backs of their rather moldy opponents, but these, too, smelled really bad and it didn't improve the looks of the undead, either.

the unappreciated charisma of cows (Aimless), Wednesday, 23 September 2020 16:18 (three years ago) link

It was an election year.

Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 23 September 2020 16:27 (three years ago) link

The rules for the election seemed to be as unsettled and doubtful as the rules for cribbage had become.

the unappreciated charisma of cows (Aimless), Wednesday, 23 September 2020 17:22 (three years ago) link

Eddie hated acting against styrofoam balls, but here he was again, in a makeup seat on a trailer, awaiting the next layer of latex.

Disgraced, committing sudoku (Sanpaku), Wednesday, 23 September 2020 18:38 (three years ago) link

Then, in spite of the odor of fresh latex assaulting his nose, he smelled something that cut past that baseline aroma with an acrid force that staggered him.

the unappreciated charisma of cows (Aimless), Wednesday, 23 September 2020 18:51 (three years ago) link

two months pass...

Fragrance is like luck:we all want it when we go on a date. Such was the case when the robotic cello appeared.

| (Latham Green), Sunday, 20 December 2020 12:53 (three years ago) link

On another cello, the scents of linseed, beeswax, elemi, rosemary oil, garlic, and dichromate would have been too much.

A Like Supreme (Sanpaku), Sunday, 20 December 2020 22:28 (three years ago) link

Fart.

Looking for Cape Penis house (Neanderthal), Sunday, 20 December 2020 22:41 (three years ago) link

nine months pass...

Chris Cornell would sing of days like this.

you had me at "giallo" (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 22 September 2021 01:39 (two years ago) link

This was the thought that fleeted through the mind of Miroslav Danilovich, lead singer in a Soundgarden tribute band called Zvuková Záhrada, based in Slovakia but temporarily on tour in Sofia, Bulgaria, as he trudged through the streets searching for a place where he could buy a bottle of slivovitz.

more difficult than I look (Aimless), Wednesday, 22 September 2021 02:38 (two years ago) link

eleven months pass...

Miroslav may not have looked like much, but he had it where it counts - in his huge fingernails.

Toonie Orlando (Neanderthal), Monday, 22 August 2022 17:04 (one year ago) link


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.