Woodland Encounter

by Terry Reilly

“Did ye think ye were seeing things?” mocked the leprechaun.

Well, what else could he be? A tiny, wizened old man, squatting on a red and white toadstool.

Struggling to retrieve my composure, I registered his distinctive sartorial style.

A battered green stovepipe hat; a six button yellow waistcoat over a green shirt; green baggy trousers; shiny black shoes with silver buckles.

“Have ye an eye in yer head, a brain in yer skull, or as much common sense as McGinty’s goat?”

My inquisitor was seriously lacking in the “how to win friends and influence people” department.

“Well…,” I stuttered.

The leprechaun cut me off.

“Those mushrooms ye gathered here yesterday are mind benders. Did ye ate them?”

I was reeling from the relentless interrogation.

“As a matter of fact…”

“Never mind. I need yer help, be ye gombeen, moon shouter, gobshite or a bit o’ both.

Me pal Seamus – Seamus Always – has fallen down a rabbit hole and I need help to get him out.”

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Opening Line writing prompt entry

Writing Prompt
The first sentence of your story should entice your reader to keep reading. There needs to be a hook to reel them in. It could start *in media res* (in the middle of the action/plot) or a mysterious phrasing that intrigues the reader.

Ex: As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous
vermin. (Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka)

Ex: It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. (1984 by George Orwell)

Compare this to: The alarm went off and I got out of bed.
Which story would you rather read based on the first sentence?

****Write an opening paragraph to a story, with a 'hook' in the first sentence. The intrigue/action can continue making the whole paragraph a hook, but the punch should be in the first sentence.

****Prose only, one paragraph, not a whole story (this isn't a flash) just an opening paragraph. Any genre. Fiction or Nonfiction.

Gombeen = a stupid fellow.
Moon shouter = a lunatic.
Gobshite = an unlikeable, untrustworthy chap.
Bit o both = leprechaun*s logic!
This is the (modified and abridged) first paragraph of the third chapter of a children*s fairy story, a work currently in progress.

Pays one point and 2 member cents.

Artwork by lillyxxmayxx at FanArtReview.com

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A brush with the little people

Woodland Encounter

by Terry Reilly

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