NOVEMBER SPECIAL – A STORY IDEA

Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month.

As there were no reader submissions for this month, I offer one of my “story dreams” for development. I did begin to write my version, but it seems destined to languish. Perhaps you will be inspired to complete it.

1. GENERAL PREMISE. It is a coming of age story and could be told from the point of view of either of two main characters.
2. TIME AND SETTING. The time is up to you, long ago on earth, on some other planet, et cetera, in an appropriate setting for hunter-gatherers.
3. MAIN CHARACTERS: twins, a boy and girl. They belong to the hunter-gatherer clan.
   • The boy is expected to be a hunter, but he has no talent for it.
   • The girl is expected to step into the role women fill in the group, but she wants to be a hunter and has the talent for it. Whereas, she does not have the interest or gift for the “womanly” tasks, especially cooking.
4. IMPORTANT BACKGROUND INFORMATION. In the folklore of these people is the story of a woman who was a fine hunter at a time when the males had been separated from the women and far from home.
5. THE PROBLEM:
   • The siblings meet in secret moments while the girl tries to teach her brother what comes naturally to her, especially the art of tracking. It is important that the older males do not find out.
   • The boy suspects his sister is planning to use the clan folklore to enable her to become a hunter. He is worried that if she does, the clan may thrust her out into the wilderness and abandon her there.

Good luck to you. I would love to know what you come up with.