Still having trouble letting my manuscript rest, but I am having fun with the prompts so it isn’t all bad. As before, the prompt that inspired the mini outline is below, with the mini outline following.
Wednesday, February 5th: They fit the pieces back together.
They fit the pieces back together. “Do we have all of them?” Charlotte asked. Henry shook his head.
“We seem to be missing a few,” he pointed at the gaps. “One entire handle is gone.”
“It has to be around here somewhere.”
She got onto the floor. They had already swept up all the fallen pieces into a pile and taken it to the table.
“Had to have gone under something,” she said to herself.
She lowered herself so she could peer under the furniture. The piece with half a handle was under the chair. The other half of the handle she located under the couch.
She passed them to Henry and resumed her search in case they missed anything else. She returned a few moments later with a handful of shards and a blue velvet pouch. She passed the shards to Henry.
“I think that’s all of them now,” he said.
He placed the missing pieces on the table and reached for the glue. We should be able to reassemble. What’s that?” he asked looking at the bag she held.
“Not sure,” Charlotte said. She slipped into the seat opposite Henry as he began the reassembly and glueing process. “It was stuck to one of the pieces.”
“It was either in the vase or the piece hit into it with enough force to snag,” Henry said. He seemed more interested in the vase than the bag.
“Possibly,” Charlotte said as she began to work on the knots. The bag was a draw string one and someone pulled it tight and then tied the drawstrings into a series of knots to ensure it stayed closed. “Someone didn’t want this opened,” Charlotte said.
Henry shrugged. He fitted a piece into place and held it as the glue set up. “I can’t believe the vase got broken.”
He gently lifted his hands away and the piece stayed in place. Deciding he might want to leave it a bit before adding more weight, he began assembling the side pieces. “Small groups and then once they are set, I can attach them to the main piece,” he mused.
Charlotte struggled with the knots. Henry frowned.
“Are you going to help me?” he asked. “You know the trouble this will cause if it isn’t put back together before the others get home.”
Charlotte sighed and slipped the blue velvet bag into her back pocket. She pulled a section of the pieces together and started assembling them. “How did the vase get broken in the first place?” she asked.
“I was with you,” Henry reminded her. Still, he looked around. The two of them came in when they heard the crash, there was nothing to indicate how the vase was broken.
“Maybe it was too near the edge of the niche for some reason.”
The niche was placed at the bottom of the stairs and the large vase stood in the center of it and had for as long as either of them could remember. They had always been told not to touch it and finding nothing interesting about it, neither did. They did know that their aunt and Uncle were most particular about the vase. Charlotte recalled something about a trip and always assumed it had sentimental value while Henry thought it was some sort of rare antique.
“Maybe with everyone coming and going up and down the stairs lately it was jostled,” Charlotte guessed.
SETUP: Charlotte and Henry were in the other room when the vase broke. They are in the old family house where each of them are visiting. Their Uncle and his wife live there even though each of their parents inherited a share in the house.
COMPLICATION: They know the vase is a beloved piece and that they will get blamed so they glue it back together. When gathering the pieces Charlotte finds a small blue velvet bag that she puts in her pocket and forgets about it.
RISING ACTION: They put the vase back together and put it back in the niche. They move it far enough back so that it won’t fall again and then they go searching for what could have damaged it. They find no real reason for it to have fallen and then they are called outside to the family barbeque. They eat and forget. Then go back to their lives. There is a break in a few days later and the uncle and aunt are killed. Charlotte remembers about the bag and finds it is the key to a map that leads them on a scavenge hunt.
MEANWHILE: Someone else wants the clue and what is on the end of the hunt.
CLIMAX: It is a race to the finish, not only to find the item at the end of the trail but to find the murderers.
DENOUEMENT: They find the prize and return home.
Ten til Midnight 