SCENARIO: A family of four - father, mother, two little girls - lives on your street. You know them only to smile and wave to, you recognize their cars - sports car for him, minivan for her - in the driveway, etc. Friendly but not friends.
Summer starts. You realize you haven't seen the minivan for . . . awhile. His car comes and goes, he puts the garbage cans out, etc but no sign of the mother or the girls.
What if . . . the mother and girls are vacationing somewhere for the summer, and he visits on weekends? He goes with them that first time, helps them unpack, and they eat dinner together in the local diner. He returns the next weekend, only to find them . . . gone. Not just gone, but as if they'd never been there. And no one in the diner or in town remembers him or recognizes photos of his family. What does he do now?
What if . . . the mother and father kidnapped the girls years ago and raised them as their own? What if the father thinks everything is fine, but the mother is becoming paranoid, is sure the authorities are on their way? She takes the girls and runs, not telling the father where they're going. How can he report them missing to the authorities when he stole them in the first place? What's his next step?
What if . . . the girls are really intelligent alien life forms studying the human race from childhood on up? What if they get sick of not having control over anything in their lives and decide to return to their planet? But they need to travel quite a bit in order to meet up with the mother ship. They need a ride. How do they convince their earthling mother to take them?
Now, what if you took a turn with this scenario? Any sparks of inspiration? Feeling a stretch in that creative muscle?
What if it only looks like they are vacationing somewhere when he's really killed them and dumped the bodies?
ReplyDeleteAlex, I know you've been around here long enough to know that was my first thought.
DeleteOf course, my second thought involved zombies and other forms of monsters....
Oh my goodness, I will never look at my neighbors the same. Yikes! Definitely some sparks flying there.
ReplyDeleteI do tend to be paranoid and look at the darker side of things, although I was trying to be a little lighter with the whole space alien idea.
DeleteHmm, maybe the mother and daughters are really superheroes and are busy saving the world while the father is the "normal" one - working and keeping house....
Now I'm going to be watching my neighbors this weekend and wondering what they're up to.
ReplyDeleteYou mean I'm the only one who already does that? :o
DeleteI was thinking the same thing as Alex!
ReplyDeleteGreat minds.... :)
DeleteFreaky! My mind goes all sorts of dark places. My imagination wreaks havoc on me as a mother.
ReplyDeleteI can totally see how that would happen - yikes!
DeleteI agree with Alex. That is what I thought.
ReplyDeleteBut what else could it be? Let's all stretch that creative muscle even more - but don't pull anything! We don't want to hurt ourselves. :)
DeleteWhat if...the freezer in the garage holds three bodies...and the power goes out across the whole town during a severe thunderstorm...will the frantic dad jump in his van and make a run for it? Or does he have another solution to the problem?
ReplyDeleteGood one! If the scenario is set in the south, it could be a hurricane instead of a thunderstorm...and he has to evacuate and go to a shelter.... Or he has a generator and all the neighbors gather at his place....
DeleteI imagine the father was abusive and the mother took the girls and ran away. Or they got a divorce and the mother moved back in with her folks across town. Or they were never married and he was their cover. The mother and girls were actually under witness protection! Ha. That's got to be it.
ReplyDeleteThis was fun.
Love the idea of the father being their cover, that they were in witness protection! Hmm, I wonder who they were hiding from? And where are the mother and girls now?
DeleteGlad you enjoyed it!
What if the father is a cannibal and....
ReplyDeleteNo, I better not.
Ha! :)
DeleteIf he is a cannibal then the neighbors better watch out, especially if he invites them over for a barbecue.... :o
Love this idea of inspiring readers to write/create. Well done!
ReplyDeleteWhat if when driving home from school, the mother and daughters hit a time warp and are now in an alternate reality?
Thank you, Linda!
DeleteOh, a time warp - good one! What does the alternate reality look like, I wonder? What if it took them back in time? Or into the future?
My first thought was that he killed the mom and the girls and hid their bodies somewhere. Shows you how twisted I am!
ReplyDeleteYou weren't the only one with that first thought!
Deletewhat if he cheated on her so they left him or vice versa, she cheated and took the girls - but that's too common of a story, isn't it? gossip fodder... i like your stories better!
ReplyDeleteHey, gossip fodder totally works, too! :)
Delete