One of the first assignments in my Kenyon Review Writers Workshop class was to write “postcard stories.” Geeta (Kothari) assigned us 5 random postcards (from her personal collection!) and a certain phrase to incorporate into 1 of the stories. This is what I came up with.
Note: the 1st one fell TOTALLY flat. I mean, after I read it aloud, you could hear a pin drop, in a bad way. But, haha, that’s okay. I just wanted to try something different.
Joan,
Can you believe they sell this card in the gift shop? I guess it’s sort of funny… but why is there a gift shop in a loony bin anyway? It’s not exactly a teddy bear kind of place, you know. (Plus they wouldn’t let you keep a teddy bear. I think Martin once smuggled in pistachios that way. He’s a serial suicider too.)
Anyway, just wanted to let you know that the doc says I’m showing improvement. Well, he didn’t say it, but I saw him check off that box on my chart yesterday. Maybe I’ll see you guys at Thanksgiving after all?
Smooches, C
PS: Martin is allergic to nuts.
Hi! Xing:
This is your Ahyi. Can you guess where am I? China? Taiwan? No! Florida. Here they have a fake little China. Very funny. Your uncle bring me here for our anniversary. 25 years, can you believe? Don’t worry, someday you will find such good fortune too. Much better than Michael. He is chao pi dao dan. Besides, you are much more pretty than these girls. Just don’t wear glasses. Cheer up!
- Ahyi Lin
Dear Mom,
I am fine. Dad brought me to this park. He says it’s a vacaytion. We saw a fat squirrel. He gave me $1 for candy but I bought this card insted. The lady at the counter said she will mail it for me. I hope you get it OK. Dad says I shuldn’t talk to you, but I don’t think this counts. I miss you.
Love,
Eric
Dearest Marianne,
Worst. Trip. Ever!! Karl is a total diva, and he even sassed an exec during the pitch. There’s NO WAY we’re getting this account. And he knows he blew it.
So I better go console him with whiskey or something… See you on Friday? Till then, think of me in that slinky red number.
XOXO
Sylvia
Hey Natalie,
After a week of Basic, it’s clear: I shouldn’t be here. Tell Mom and Dad I’m coming home on Saturday. I’ll figure out some other way to pay for college.
Amelia
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That Acadia National Park postcard story breaks my heart.
Hmm, someone else emailed me to say that too. It’s interesting, because that wasn’t the one that got the most attention in class. But then again, it was the 2nd day, so we were still gravitating towards light-hearted things. (No one likes to get emo too quickly.)
Love the last one.
These are great! I even like the first one, though it is a bit disturbing.
I got your letter yesterday, thank you so much. The story reminded me about when I went hunting with my dad the first time.
Glad you like ‘em! Actually I’m beginning to wonder if I should do more… They seem like a hit, hehe.
OMG I loved these. They’re so much fun, kind of like our one words that we stopped doing…
Speaking of which HI FROM ACADIA!! I’m actually here in Maine and wanted to type that. Lol, talk about coincidence :)
• Angie’s recent blog post: Visiting the New England area
hmm… i actually like the first one the most! =) and i don’t get some of them, but i’ll attribute that to my artistic shallowness…
I think this is an awesome writing exercise. Loved them!
• Twenty Four At Heart’s recent blog post: A Bachelor Party Gone Too Far?
Have been catching up on all our posts. Funny, silly me, I thought the writing workshop was in Kenya, like, in Africa. So I thought $2,000 was a good deal.
Sounds like a great expereince. I’ve having a difficult time writing as much as I thought I would this summer.
I liked this last exercise – think I liked the Acadia Park one the most.
• Pseudo’s recent blog post: Spin Cycle: The Good, The Bad, and The Fugly of Driving in Hawaii
Thanks, guys! I had no idea these would be so popular!
[...] Click here to read the rest of my postcard stories! [...]
I love these, they are so great!
• Kate’s recent blog post: If you build it, they will come.
Maybe I have a dark sense of humor, but I actually like the first card the best. Then that could be because of the image. It’s an Edward Gorey illustration, right?
• K’s recent blog post: Thank You For Smoking by Christopher Buckley
K-
Yes it is! Which I confess I didn’t know until someone else in the class said so. But I adore it!