Two Characters
Writing prompt: Two characters in a room, each of whom wants something from the other. Neither is allowed to ask straight out. Only dialog and tags are allowed.
"What did he look like?" She asks.
"Big, huge, frightening," the boy answers. "Will you just listen?"
"How big? How huge? How did he frighten you?"
"He threatened to hurt me. He sounded mean. I was scared."
"Then what did you do?"
"What do you think? I ran. All I wanted to do was escape."
"Then why didn't you?" Frustration colored her eyes.
"Because someone needed help. Someone else was in there with me. I couldn't just leave her."
"Why? Did you know her?"
"No, but you don't just leave someone if you know they're in trouble. That's wrong."
"Why didn't you come get help then? There are plenty of men around here who could have helped."
"It was really far away. If I came here first, who knows what could have happened by the time we got back. There wasn't enough time."
"That's a stupid reason, Jack. You put yourself in danger for a stranger. Do you know what would have happened if you'd been hurt? After what happened with your father, do you know what that would have done to me?"
"I didn't think of that."
"And that's your problem. You never think. You never stop to consider what effect it will have on me. That's really selfish of you."
"I didn't mean to be selfish." His eyes start to burn.
"Of course not. You never do, but you always are. There is just you and I now. You need to start thinking of me, you need to realize how your actions will reflect on me."
"I did. I do."
"Oh? How so? By selling off our only possessions? By running away in the middle of the night and disappearing for days? By making a bad situation even worse with your actions? Tell me how you have made everything better."
"Well, I...see, there's this...this thing..." He doesn't know quite how to explain it.
She explodes. "Jack! For christ's sake, there's a damn beanstalk in our yard a mile high! It has wrecked all the fields around us! What did you do?"
"Mom, I brought back a golden harp."
