In a Jam – WAG 11 (Writing Adventure Group)

I was awash in a sea of stop lights. Grid lock is never fun and after ten minutes I was already fed up. I glanced to the guy in the car to my left and watched him frantically rub his nose. It must be an itch. What is it they say? A row or a surprise.

I looked to the front and stared at the line of stationary traffic. ‘God we’re going to be here ages,’ I muttered. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him prod the end of his nose with his right forefinger. Well it can’t be an itch, it must be something else. I was intrigued and turned my head slightly so I could watch him without appearing to stare. But he didn’t care, he was totally immersed in his nose. I turned so I could see him properly.

He leaned forward and adjusted his driving mirror. Then, tilting his head so he could see better, he pushed the tip of his nose upwards with his finger. Was it a spot or a growth? Or maybe it was something even more sinister like cancer. His face was now about an inch from the mirror and he wiggled the tip of his nose with his finger and peered into his nostrils. I couldn’t keep my eyes off him.

Suddenly he sprung out of his seat and let out a silent scream. I saw a red spider slide out of his left nostril and fall onto his lap.

-o0o-

I wrote this after I watched a man playing with his nose in a traffic jam. He did everything I described, only the last two sentences above are actually fiction. OK, so maybe I didn’t follow the instructions completely.

Instructions for WAG #11: Scaredy-Cat

Another people-watching exercise! Choose a stranger and observe him/her for a little while. Now give them a phobia. A full-on, jump on the chair, scream like a little girl, unreasonable fear. (Or however you imagine them to respond.) Try to choose something that fits the person you’re watching, and let us know what it is about them that clued you in to their secret fear. The object is not just to describe the fear, but to make us understand why it fits with this particular person.