I think I'm off to a good start, but I'm running out of steam at only halfway done. I'd like to have around 50 total (52 to be exact). Here's what I have so far. Please join in the fun!
- A white crane, helpless and bloodied by an arrow, not at all what it seems.
- A luckless mariner, haunted and wild-eyed at the bulwark, bent on revenge.
- The sole survivors of a shipwreck, huddled close and fearful.
- A whispered curse, the last words of an old woman dying from heartbreak.
- A pale and lovely stranger, arrived at moonrise beneath the birch boughs, wielding secret talents.
- A sudden transformation, revealing truths better left concealed.
- A harbor lost within the reeds, home to an ancient sleeper, fouled with piles of tiny bones.
- A new-born babe, foretold by sages, rocked within its cradle of briars.
- The landlord's daughter, threatened with word and pistol at the hands of a wandering rogue.
- A fresh corpse laid to rest by the water's edge, coins for weights upon its eyes.
- A soldier's sweetheart, vigilant for his return against all rumors of his death, beginning to show her condition.
- Two families, locked in a blood feud, muskets at the ready and no quarter given.
- The betrayal of a secret romance, with deadly consequences.
- A gang of murderous youths, knives glinting under the gaslights, the boogeymen of children's lore.
- The ill-timed arrival of a raft of refugees, seeking new homes far from the war.
- The ghost of a soldier, heedless of his fall in battle, marching ever homeward.
- The lamp-lit tent of a teller of fortunes, redolent of cinnamon, cardamom, and myrrh.
- A sickly legionnaire, veteran of exotic wars, the last of his laudanum clutched in his bony hands.
- A veiled young virgin on camelback, the prince's betrothed, conveyed by night to her lover's hiding place.
- A bejeweled palanquin on the back of an elephant, centerpiece of the the Queen's procession.
- A fine robe of gold and silk Arabian thread, the burial robes for one of surprisingly low station.
- A teenage lookout on a signal tower, sentinel for a convocation of burglars.
- A deadly accusation, pointed at the wrong man, but the lie believed.
- A sweaty bagman, dreading watchful agents, anxious to be rid of the evidence.
Crossposted with Story Games.
Thanks to this post, I've just got this one line stuck in my head:
ReplyDelete"It was the perfect, the perfect, the perfect, the perfect, the perfect, the perfect, the perfect, the perfect crime."
I may be missing several "the perfect"s in there.