F2K ASSIGNMENT 2 - Senses
Exercise #1
- The raucous splashing and growling from the direction of the
stream awakened her with a start... the bear had found the
left-over bacon.
- The pulsating Cerulean blue light, just above the treetops,
caught her eyes as a magnet catches iron filings.
- The needles from the low-hanging branches slapped and pricked
at her surprised face as the horse bolted.
- The exquisite shock of biting into the Bitters-splashed lime
wedge banished the hiccoughs instantly.
- With her fingers, she crushed the pine needles until they released
their fragrance, then applied the 'perfume' that a cowboy in the
high country had taught her how to make.
- There were simply no seats left anywhere on the train - standing
room only - every car packed with soldiers, the lucky ones, going
home for Christmas one last time before shipping out.
- Standing on the South Rim for the very first time, she felt herself
growing smaller and smaller, tiny and insignificant in the vastness
of the scene before her.
- Fingers grasping the wet, slippery, jagged crack on the rock face,
she tentatively placed one foot, then the other on the narrow ledge
that was the only route across the gap, trying not to notice the
rough boulders in the stream 50 feet below.
Exercise #2
The cry exploded out of her, a mindless, primitive howl like
an animal surprised by a savage predator. She ran from the house,
down the wet wood steps, and on to the gravel drive, her slippered
feet stabbed by the sharp edges of the rocks underfoot. The dirt
road up to the oil well was slick with wet leaves. Clad only in
t-shirt and jeans, she felt the snow on her exposed skin, felt the
cold wind like a slap in the face. Her stomach cramped and produced
an unpleasant reminder of the half-eaten breakfast omelet. She had
taken this walk many times, for the sheer pleasure, beauty, and
inspiration of it. Today, all the colors were gray, the tangle of
trees malevolent. The stench of wet, rotting vegetation assaulted
her. The physical pain of her violent charge up the steep path
almost offset her intense grief. Within a quarter mile or so, the
anger began to subside and she became aware of the growing pain in
her fingers and toes. Her pace slowed. She stopped, watched the
play of the wind in the trees for a moment, then turned and
reluctantly returned to the house.
Exercise #3
From "A Little Cloud" by James Joyce
- "The golden sunset was waning and the air had grown sharp."
SIGHT and TIME: 'golden sunset was waning' 'air
had grown sharp.'
- "He chose the darkest and narrowest streets and, as he walked
boldly forward, the silence that was spread about his footsteps
troubled him; the wandering, silent figures troubled him; and
at times a sound of low fugitive laughter made him tremble like
a leaf."
UNKNOWN, FEEL - 'silence troubled him', 'wandering
silent figures troubled him', 'sound of low fugitive laughter
made him tremble like a leaf.'
- "He knew that people went there after the theatre to eat oysters
and drink liqueurs;...'
TASTE
- "I'll tell you my opinion,' said Ignatius Gallaher, emerging after
some time from the clouds of smoke in which he had taken refuge,
'it's a rum world."
SMELL
- "Giving no heed to him she began to walk up and down the room,
clasping the child tightly in her arms and murmuring: 'My little
man! My little mannie! Was 'ou frightened, love?... There now,
love! There now!... Lambabaun! Mamma's little lamb of the world!
... There now!'
SOUND
NOTE: I could probably have done this in fewer sentences, but
these were the most evocative for me. Somebody else wins!