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breakinglight11I have a feeling there is going to be a fair bit of fanfic for this year’s 31P31D. I’ve been working on one a lot lately, albeit a silly, easy one, my one hundred-installment comedy chat fic Texts from Avengers Tower. But I’ve had an actual prose-based one on the back burner for Boulder in the Stream, the latest installment from my post-retirement Captain America series, Forever Captain. When I got busy I kind of put it aside, seeing as it’s actually requiring some plot structure, which I find to be one of the most labor-intensive parts of making a story.
I’ve found success when I was stuck on prose scenes in the past by first drafting them as theatrical scenes, later to be edited and filled out by the narration. So that’s what I’ve done here, imagined a moment from Boulder as a scene. Though honestly I doubt I’d include this conversation in its entirety in the story, just a few lines or so from it. And the bit I’m currently stuck on is all action and minimal dialogue. But it’s something, and fun to think about.
This piece takes place after three installments from last year, Lost Cat, Recon Mom, and Veterans. It’s after the cops finally show up, to interview the two seemingly suburban middle-aged parents about the action that just went down.
Day #2 - “Home Field Advantage”
From Forever Captain: “Boulder in the Stream”
By Phoebe Roberts
Schenectady, New York, 1954
OFFICER PAUL MORAN, a uniformed policeman, 32
STEVE ROGERS, formerly Captain America, now retired to the midcentury as Grant Carter, 46
RISHUN HAYWARD, his neighbor, formerly an Allied special agent, 34
~~~
(Nighttime in the front yard of the Carter residence, as six armed operatives are loaded in cuff into a police van. OFFICER PAUL MORAN bemusedly interviews STEVE and RISHUN. She is wrapped in a knitted shawl, he is dressed in nerd glasses and a grandpa sweater.)
OFFICER MORAN: Uh, so… let me get this straight, Mr…?
STEVE: Carter. Grant Carter.
OFFICER MORAN: Right. Mr. Carter. So when the home invasion started, you happened to be awake?
STEVE: Yes, sir. I’m a bit of a night owl when my wife’s away.
OFFICER MORAN: So you were aware when the break in started?
STEVE: Yes, thank God. It meant I could get the children out of the house. With Mrs. Hayward’s help, of course.
OFFICER MORAN: I take it you’re Mrs. Hayward?
RISHUN: Rebecca Hayward, yes. I’m a neighbor.
OFFICER MORAN: And how did you come to be involved in all this, ma’am?
RISHUN: Oh, I was already on my way as it happened. Grant had found our lost cat, you see. He’d called to let me know.
OFFICER MORAN: In the middle of the night?
RISHUN: Well. The kids missed him so.
OFFICER MORAN: I see. So… you were there when the assailants broke in?
RISHUN: Oh, yes! It was terribly frightening. But I was so grateful I was able to get the two little ones out of the house with me. Before things could turn ugly.
STEVE: Yes, Mrs. Hayward was a lifesaver.
OFFICER MORAN: It seems like you were very lucky in that regard. Was no one hurt?
STEVE: Oh, no, thank God. Well. None of us, anyway.
OFFICER MORAN: Except, it seems, for the culprits.
STEVE: Nothing fatal, I don’t think?
OFFICER MORAN: No, as far as anyone can tell, just… pretty neatly apprehended.
STEVE: Oh. That’s good, then.
OFFICER MORAN: Yeah, speaking of that…
STEVE: Yes, officer?
OFFICER MORAN: Mr. Carter, is it true this is all your handiwork, then?
STEVE: Mostly. I suppose.
OFFICER MORAN: Do you mean to say you single-handedly fought off six armed assailants in the middle of the night?
STEVE: Well, not totally single-handedly.
(RISHUN coughs.)
STEVE: I mean. I was very lucky. I… had the home field advantage.
OFFICER MORAN: Mr. Carter. If you don’t mind my asking— how in the world did you—?
STEVE: Well. I was a soldier once myself. Guess I’m not as rusty as I thought?
RISHUN: Like riding a bicycle. Or… so I would assume.
OFFICER MORAN: And that taught you to take out a strike team with golf clubs, flatware, and a hot steam iron?
STEVE: Like I said. Home field advantage.
(OFFICER MORAN regards them, to which they stare back with wide, innocent eyes. At last he shakes his head and flips closed his notebook.)
OFFICER MORAN: Well. That’s all, then. Very glad you and your family are all right.
STEVE: Thank you, officer.
(MORAN turns to go, then turns back to look at RISHUN.)
OFFICER MORAN: What became of your cat?
(Pause.)
RISHUN: Oh, he’s home with the children. As I said— they just missed him so.
I’ve found success when I was stuck on prose scenes in the past by first drafting them as theatrical scenes, later to be edited and filled out by the narration. So that’s what I’ve done here, imagined a moment from Boulder as a scene. Though honestly I doubt I’d include this conversation in its entirety in the story, just a few lines or so from it. And the bit I’m currently stuck on is all action and minimal dialogue. But it’s something, and fun to think about.
This piece takes place after three installments from last year, Lost Cat, Recon Mom, and Veterans. It’s after the cops finally show up, to interview the two seemingly suburban middle-aged parents about the action that just went down.
Day #2 - “Home Field Advantage”
From Forever Captain: “Boulder in the Stream”
By Phoebe Roberts
Schenectady, New York, 1954
OFFICER PAUL MORAN, a uniformed policeman, 32
STEVE ROGERS, formerly Captain America, now retired to the midcentury as Grant Carter, 46
RISHUN HAYWARD, his neighbor, formerly an Allied special agent, 34
~~~
(Nighttime in the front yard of the Carter residence, as six armed operatives are loaded in cuff into a police van. OFFICER PAUL MORAN bemusedly interviews STEVE and RISHUN. She is wrapped in a knitted shawl, he is dressed in nerd glasses and a grandpa sweater.)
OFFICER MORAN: Uh, so… let me get this straight, Mr…?
STEVE: Carter. Grant Carter.
OFFICER MORAN: Right. Mr. Carter. So when the home invasion started, you happened to be awake?
STEVE: Yes, sir. I’m a bit of a night owl when my wife’s away.
OFFICER MORAN: So you were aware when the break in started?
STEVE: Yes, thank God. It meant I could get the children out of the house. With Mrs. Hayward’s help, of course.
OFFICER MORAN: I take it you’re Mrs. Hayward?
RISHUN: Rebecca Hayward, yes. I’m a neighbor.
OFFICER MORAN: And how did you come to be involved in all this, ma’am?
RISHUN: Oh, I was already on my way as it happened. Grant had found our lost cat, you see. He’d called to let me know.
OFFICER MORAN: In the middle of the night?
RISHUN: Well. The kids missed him so.
OFFICER MORAN: I see. So… you were there when the assailants broke in?
RISHUN: Oh, yes! It was terribly frightening. But I was so grateful I was able to get the two little ones out of the house with me. Before things could turn ugly.
STEVE: Yes, Mrs. Hayward was a lifesaver.
OFFICER MORAN: It seems like you were very lucky in that regard. Was no one hurt?
STEVE: Oh, no, thank God. Well. None of us, anyway.
OFFICER MORAN: Except, it seems, for the culprits.
STEVE: Nothing fatal, I don’t think?
OFFICER MORAN: No, as far as anyone can tell, just… pretty neatly apprehended.
STEVE: Oh. That’s good, then.
OFFICER MORAN: Yeah, speaking of that…
STEVE: Yes, officer?
OFFICER MORAN: Mr. Carter, is it true this is all your handiwork, then?
STEVE: Mostly. I suppose.
OFFICER MORAN: Do you mean to say you single-handedly fought off six armed assailants in the middle of the night?
STEVE: Well, not totally single-handedly.
(RISHUN coughs.)
STEVE: I mean. I was very lucky. I… had the home field advantage.
OFFICER MORAN: Mr. Carter. If you don’t mind my asking— how in the world did you—?
STEVE: Well. I was a soldier once myself. Guess I’m not as rusty as I thought?
RISHUN: Like riding a bicycle. Or… so I would assume.
OFFICER MORAN: And that taught you to take out a strike team with golf clubs, flatware, and a hot steam iron?
STEVE: Like I said. Home field advantage.
(OFFICER MORAN regards them, to which they stare back with wide, innocent eyes. At last he shakes his head and flips closed his notebook.)
OFFICER MORAN: Well. That’s all, then. Very glad you and your family are all right.
STEVE: Thank you, officer.
(MORAN turns to go, then turns back to look at RISHUN.)
OFFICER MORAN: What became of your cat?
(Pause.)
RISHUN: Oh, he’s home with the children. As I said— they just missed him so.
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