fandomhigh | Writing Workshop - 5/30 - Journalism Classroom

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Writing Workshop - 5/30 - Journalism Classroom - Tuesday Morning

Chloe was grinning as everyone came into the classroom, looking as though she'd had a very good weekend.

"Hey everyone! Welcome back. I'm glad to see you all survived the first week, and decided to come back." She may have given Cameron and Janet a special smile there. "So, last week we talked about writing biographies. This week, we're going to be flipping a bit and talking about obituaries. Sadly, everyone has to die someday - at least, they do where I come from."

"What I want you to do today is write an obituary, either for yourself, or for someone else." Chloe smirked. "Feel free to write about someone who you wish was dead, because I certainly won't hold that against you."

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A silent classroom is a scary classroom.

Marie sat at her desk, apparently in deep thought. She couldn't imagine writing about someone she knew that was still alive. It seemed like bad karma or something. And there was no one she wanted dead.

She tapped her pen on her tablet and pondered.

Cameron frowned at the assignment, any and all ideas of writing about anyone else just didn't sit well so he picked up a pen and started writing his own.

After a while, Marie finally leaned over and whispered to Cam. "Who are you writing about? I can't think of anyone that doesn't seem weird."

"Myself. It's probably easiest," Cameron replied and pondered if he should do a detailed description.

Marie considered that. It wasn't a bad idea. "I might have to steal that idea," she said.

"Sure," he said. "Or maybe on an inanimate object. I might have to do one about the Meerkat cabin."

"Oh, we had a dog that died a few years ago of old age," Marie said. "I guess I could write about him."

"Might be an idea," Cameron nodded and looked at her. "As long as it doesn't make you too sad."

Marie smiled. "Nah, the dog never liked me. He was already old when I was a toddler and I used to chase him around and pull his tail and stuff," she explained.

"Poor dog," Cameron sympathised, still sounding rather amused.

Marie tried to glare at him, but ended up laughing.

"So what have you been up to? I haven't seen you since Saturday."

"Nothing much. I decided to keep a low profile and avoid pranks for a while," he told her as he jotted down the first line of his obituary;

Cameron Mitchell, mighty Stickbug brother, was killed in action in a dogfight over the planes of Antarctica in service of the U.S. Air Force.

"Have you managed to get into a cabin war yet?"

Alanna sat starring blankly at a page. "Um, what if it's considered extremelly bad taste and bad luck to write about someone who's alive as if they're dead?"

"Hmm. I hadn't considered that, I'm sorry," Chloe said seriously. "You can write about someone who's already died, if you want. That's totally fine."

Alanna shrugged and began working on an obituary for her father. She got stuck on trying to figure out anything he actually did.

Kawalsky sat down next to Alanna, rested his chin on his arms and looked up at her. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Making a vague attempt at an obituary for my father. You?"

"Trying to figure out who to write one for. I was gonna write one for myself, but Cam stole that idea." He was content to sit and watch her for a while.

Alanna may have blushed a little under his gaze. "It's bad luck to write about someone who's still alive as if they're dead." She fiddled with a strand of her hair. "But at least you'd have more than 'He died. No one really noticed' to write."

Kawalsky tilted his head and kept watching. "You noticed, so someone noticed. I've read loads of obituaries. There's always something you can write about them. 'Beloved father', 'good basketball player', 'made good pizza', 'never forgot to take out the trash'."

"The only reason I noticed was because I had to ride for a week in the winter to get to his funeral. And he wasn't a beloved anything. All he had were his stupid books." Alanna's voice was bitter. If asked, she would most vehemently deny the few tears in her eyes. "Sorry, this assignment is getting under my skin."

He reached out and rested his hand near her arm. "Hey, it's okay. Not all fathers are perfect. Some suck. I knew one guy in junior high whose Dad beat the hell out of him for no reason. One girl who just wanted some attention, but her Dad was always busy with work. That chewed her up inside and made her do some crazy things. If you wanna write one about your Dad, then write something. He did at least one good thing, because you're here. Gotta give him that much, even if it did only last 10 minutes. Some guys just can't...okay, I'm crossing into the TMI area now, so I'll stop. But if you don't want to get worked up, write about someone else, like that guy on Bitterwoman who died in last week's Monday episode. Y'know, the one that had his own laser-sharks turn on him?"

Alanna blinked at Charlie and manage a weak smile while trying to get the annoying blush to subside. "You make me sound sane. And yeah, I know there could be worse Fathers than mine. The head knows. The heart...is a little lagging sometimes. And Bitterwoman freaks me out. Oh! Maybe someone from Misguided." She squinted at Charlie, her eyes still a little watery. "What about you? You were still looking for someone to write about."

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Talk Amongst Yourselves

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