Razor's Sixth Level Three Assignment
(This assignment was a short dialogue between a man and a woman.
Goals:
* Engage your readers
* Make them care about your characters and their topic of controversy
* Create a sense of tension
* Use descriptions of the action and the characters mixed with the dialog to move the short to a resolution.)
The Selection Process
By Razor7826
"The nun. Definitely the nun," she said, leaning over her husband's muscular shoulder. Her long, curly blonde hair draped over his navy blue dress shirt. She pointed at one of the pictures spread across their kitchen table.
The picture showed a young woman in a full nun's habit. Her skin was white and smooth, and she had a gentle smile on her face. The photos showed little else.
He turned his head towards his wife. "We got an innocent woman like that last time." He sighed and continued, "she barely lasted a month before she was a blabbering mess and it took us twice as long that to find a buyer. Didn't even get enough money to pay for her food."
"Oh, come on, do you think any of the other choices are better?" she asked.
"Yes, I do think some of the other choices are better," he answered, his voice raising in agitation. "Like this one." He reached out and picked up a picture of a young brunette in a tight sweater adorned with Christmas patterns. Her hair was tied into a pigtail, revealing her ears that stuck out too far. "The kindergarten teacher. She goes through absolute hell every day. I'm absolutely positive she'll last a lot longer than that nun."
She pushed off of her husband's shoulder and raised her hands in frustration. "You're being a cheap ass again, Hank. Why do you care so much about how long they last? It doesn't cost us anything to replace them when they go bad."
He yelled back, "Yes, it does cost us something! Each time we cave in and capture a new slave, we increase the odds of getting caught. Do you want to spend the rest of your life in jail, because that's sure as hell what it sounds like to me."
She stood in silence for a moment, her arms crossed across her abdomen. "Fine," she sighed. "We'll take the teacher, but promise me that we can be extra rough with her, okay? I want to see if she's as durable as you make her out to be."
He rose from his chair and approached his wife. "Whatever you say, dear." He kissed her on the cheek, grabbed her hand, and led her upstairs.
