Empowerment. Engagement. Authenticity.
Show and Tell - Danger
The Plan
The darkness in her bedroom
seemed impenetrable, deafening, solitary. Her eyes probed for the flash
of headlights through the blinds, her ears strained to hear a siren, a
train whistle…anything to tell her there was life around her. But there
was only the drumbeat of her heart in her ears, only the restless rustle
of her limbs gone cold under the covers. She thought of the phone on her
desk but they wouldn’t listen, had said she was illogical, weak, a
broken record. No, no, no, it couldn’t be just up to her. She had fallen
too far down the abyss to claw her way out on her own. So what to do?
What to do? She curled herself around her pillow and let the tears spill
like hot rivers, let the sobs scrape her throat like a rake against
concrete. Didn’t anyone hear her? Now she was rocking herself…rocking,
rocking, rocking and clutching the pillow case as if it could prevent
that final descent to that place. There was a plan there and everything
was so simple. Coffee. Rat poison. Invisibility.
Conveying Danger in Writing
Remember to show the reader rather than tell. Describe the situation, the character, the emotions.
