The Unfortunate First Impression
1. verb past tense
2. verb past tense
3. adjective
4. verb ending in -ing
5. adjective
6. verb past tense
7. noun
8. verb ending in -ing
9. noun
10. adjective
11. verb past tense
12. verb
13. verb
14. article of clothing
15. adjective
16. verb past tense
17. exclamation
18. verb past tense
19. noun
20. adverb
21. same as 14
22. verb past tense
23. adverb ending in -ly
And now, with the words you have written down you are empowered to help me rewrite the following section of my short story.
Troy’s eyes (1 verb past tense). He lunged forward to try to grab the girl, but it all seemed to happen before he could even move. Her head (2 verb past tense) the (3 adjective) metal barrel and her body fell over the bale of hay, (4 verb ending in –ing) to the ground. The water inside the barrel sloshed out, as he jumped to her side. And somehow, being the (5 adjective) coordinated hero he always seemed to be around any damsel, in any or no distress, he (6 verb past tense) a bit too far, also slamming his shoulder into the barrel. It didn’t hurt, but, it did send the barrel into a lean, almost tipping it over. He reached then, over the girl, to keep it from tipping, but he pulled back on it too hard and the (7 noun) of the water tossed the whole barrel over. Luckily it also tipped toward the unfortunate bale of hay, so instead of (8 verb ending in –ing) the girl, it just soaked her through as its contents emptied on the both of them.
The tirade of curse words came to a (9 noun) as he corrected the barrel at last and realized the girl was still motionless in the (10 adjective) dirt. Her hat had ridden a wave of barrel water about five feet away and her hair (11 verb past tense) around her head.
“Ah, hell.” He knelt down and picked up her head. “Kelli?” he whispered.
No sign of consciousness. He felt her neck and though he was shaking he thought he sensed a pulse. Oh. She was still breathing.
“Thank God. Now what?” He said out loud. “Kelli?” This time a lot louder. Call for help. “Help! Anyone? Hello?” He raised one hand out from under her head to (12 verb) his forehead and noticed his arm was covered in blood.
“Ah, hell no. What do I do?” Kelli didn’t respond, but he was pretty sure, if she had, she would have told him to grab Billy Strait’s truck and (13 verb) her to a hospital. So, that’s what he did. But first he took off his (14 article of clothing) and wrapped it around Kelly’s head like a sloppy turban. He propped her up just a little, against the (15 adjective) bale of hay, made sure she stayed, and ran.
Billy was drunk, as usual.
“Staying in the trailer tonight Billy?” Troy tried to catch his breath to sound casual and did a pretty good job. Billy just (16 verb past tense) from a dark end of his trailer. “Just gonna borrow your truck, K, buddy?” He hardly waited for a reply as he grabbed the keys, let the trailer door slam shut and raced to the truck.
The driver door was jammed shut.
“Ah, (17 exclamation) .” He raced around the hood and opened the passenger door. “Damn door.” He tore back toward the barrel and the hay. . .and Kelli. Dust swirled around him as he (18 verb past tense) the truck to a halt. In the (19 noun) of the headlights he could see she was (20 adverb) as he left her. But his (21 same article of clothing as 14) was already soaked red. Fast as he could, he slipped his arms under hers and dragged her body toward the passenger side of the truck. He noticed her hat on the ground, crouched down and grabbed it, and flung it into the back of the truck. Then he (22 verb past tense) in first, pulling her after him. Putting her head in his lap, he gently shifted the truck into gear as (23 adverb ending in –ly) as he could.
