Quite often an author will finish a work and leave it untitled. Sometimes, a writer starts out with a title and by the end of the story, or poem, it is just not right for the piece. Many times, a writer waits for a story or selection to be completed before deciding what the right title would be for what has developed on the page.
In my case, I just start writing and, usually, a title happens whenever!
~Danielle G.
Untitled Excerpt
Gilden Cromartie stared at the wall in disbelief and sighed. Finding another dead body along his path was not what he expected when he woke up this morning. He could count the number of dead bodies he had seen in the past two years on one hand before the last three days happened, and they had been at funerals. The first body was that of a quite attractive young woman, tossed carelessly in a dumpster in the alley behind his favorite upscale restaurant on Sunday. The second body he found --on Monday--was the hot dog vendor outside of the office building that he so religiously stared up at in admiration of its unique architecture. The third body, and by far the most disturbing, was that of his landlord unceremoniously dangling from the top railing of the stairway, right outside of his apartment door. It was Wednesday. The police were having a field day dragging him in and out of interrogation rooms.
Gilden wondered why the hell he was the one unlucky enough to keep encountering such grisly scenes. He didn’t remember making any enemies. The girl, Vera--he saw her at the restaurant plenty of times before as a frequent patron-- he didn’t even know her name. The hot dog vendor sold him many hot dogs over the course of the past year plus the occasional candy bar. The medical examiner found that the vendor was bludgeoned to death. Gilden found that body laying on the sidewalk beside the stand when he strolled up and peeked around the side, having not seen the merchant at his usual place in the window of the little cart. So much for early morning hot dog purchases.
Now, the landlord, Gilden saw him every day. He never had a problem with his landlord, Steve. Gilden paid his rent at least a day early every month, kept his place in pristine condition, didn’t make loud noises or argue with the neighbors,and he certainly was more than polite in his daily routines.
Gilden wondered why the hell he was the one unlucky enough to keep encountering such grisly scenes. He didn’t remember making any enemies. The girl, Vera--he saw her at the restaurant plenty of times before as a frequent patron-- he didn’t even know her name. The hot dog vendor sold him many hot dogs over the course of the past year plus the occasional candy bar. The medical examiner found that the vendor was bludgeoned to death. Gilden found that body laying on the sidewalk beside the stand when he strolled up and peeked around the side, having not seen the merchant at his usual place in the window of the little cart. So much for early morning hot dog purchases.
Now, the landlord, Gilden saw him every day. He never had a problem with his landlord, Steve. Gilden paid his rent at least a day early every month, kept his place in pristine condition, didn’t make loud noises or argue with the neighbors,and he certainly was more than polite in his daily routines.
RSS Feed
