I wrote this for my Intermediate Creative Writing course at UW. The assignment was to take an article and write a scene relating to it. The article was about man, Mr. Abrahamson and his retelling of what he had done in his earlier years - which included taping up sewage pipes that drained into the Chesapeake Bay.
I now present to you "The Paper".
The Paper
The paperboy was late. It was already 6:45 a.m. and the paper should have been here 15 minutes ago. In his bathrobe and slippers, Mr. Abrahamson was pacing the front porch to keep warm. He didn't want to miss an opportunity to have words with the adolescent boy on a bike who never seemed to be on time.
Mr. Abrahamson watched as around the corner came the 12-year-old boy pumping the pedals on his bike as fast as his legs could while still being able to throw papers. Mr. Abrahamson counted down the houses till the boy would get to his. Three . . . he took a step down from his porch. Two . . . a couple of steps down the walkway. One . . . ‘thunk'.
"Sorry Mister," the boy said as he continued to speed down the sidewalk. Mr. Abrahamson rubbed his had across his forehead where the paper had hit. He leaned down to pick up the paper and was about to run after the boy when he did a double take on the picture for the cover story. He quickly took the rubber bands off the paper and opened it fully. Under the headline "Chemical Waste Backup - Four Arrested," was a picture of his son being led off by the police.
"Martha," he yelled as he reached the front door. The older woman hurried out of the kitchen and rushed to her husband. "Look at this," he said shoving the paper into her arms. She righted the paper and read the article.
"Chesapeake Bay - Four men were arrested this morning for taping shut pipes which discharge chemical waste into the Chesapeake Bay . . ." A wide smile came across Ms. Abrahamson's face. "That's my boy!"
Copyright 2001, K.C. Ramey. Don't take this without my permission. you can read it but don't steal it as your own. If you want to use it as an example please e-mail me with what you want to use it for. sardogmom@yahoo.com