Opening Lines

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Write an opening line for the photo below!

Jessie: One minute, she had been standing hand in hand with Ralph wondering if he might be “the one”. The next, a beam from above lifted him from his feet and pulled him into a silvery craft hovering above their heads. Sadly, it was not the worst way one of Janine’s dates had ever ended.

Edith/Maddie: In Jimmi’s long career as a detective, she’d occasionally been hit with a bolt of inspiration from the other reality, but this was the first time the aliens had appeared to her directly. Sure enough, the bloody knife was under the petals behind the fence.

Barb: “Go toward the light.”

“Are you urging me to let go and accept my death?”

“Geez, Mom, no. Just stand over there so I can take your photo. You’ve been crazy paranoid since you won the lottery.”

Julie: It would have been pretty, except it was midnight and she couldn’t figure out where the light was coming from. She started to run, but then one of the trees grabbed her and a vine began to wrap itself around her throat.

Sherry: I wasn’t afraid of the light, until the theme to Star Trek started to play. I swear I heard someone say, “Beam me up, Scotty.” Then I realized I was wearing a red shirt.

Readers: Add your opening line!

 

Published by Sherry Harris

Sherry Harris is the author of the Agatha Award nominated Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series and the Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Mystery series.

36 Thoughts

  1. As Detective Johnson examined the photograph with a magnifying glass, he realized that the killer was an expert with Photoshop.

    By the way Sherry, if you haven’t read John Scalzi’s Hugo-winning novel, Redshirt, you definitely should. (And TOR is giving away a free download of it today only.)

    1. Thank you soooo much for the Redshirt tip! I loaned my copy to someone who moved away with it.

  2. When I prayed for an answer to COVID19, I wasn’t really expecting a beam from the sky!

  3. Upon opening her eyes, she realised the storm was over. Standing from where she had huddled during the lashing wind and rain Sarah saw a scene of carnage. Blossoms littered the path before her, tossed about and left strewn in the storm’s wake, reminding her of the bodies she was here to examine. Though, unlike this fresh destruction, Sarah was here to study the long dead, from battles centuries past.

    Being caught in the storm had been a sudden surprise she thought of as a bad omen. Then the shaft of sun from the watery sky seemed to confirm it when she spotted what lay amongst the petals and mud.

  4. “No divorce, George! Not now. Not ever! The only way you’ll be rid of me is to get yourself abducted by aliens. Do you hear me George?
    George?

  5. Folks would be talking about how Mathew’s car slide off the curvy road and over the cliff in the wee hours only to be saved from certain death by being caught up in the countries oldest and biggest oak tree.

  7. Sherry, I don’t have a line right now, but I did want to comment and say thank you to you lovely Wickeds for sending out fun emails more often during this time of uncertainty. You are much appreciated!

  8. A sudden shaft of light pierced the dark forest and with it came unearthly voices offering the loveliest of symphonic delight. Randi stood still, letting the music wash over her. “Yeah right,” she finally said, kicking a cloud of too-pink petals. “Like I’m going to fall for that crap again.”

  9. I’m laughing at so many of these.

    I was so busy marveling at the beauty of the light coming through the trees that I missed the tell tale signs that someone had set a trap in the path.

  10. It was a great day for a good walk. She’d been stuck in for so long due to the Covid 19 shut down, she’d gotten used to not being outside but this was now scary. The light was very bright but there was no one in sight. Anywhere. Then she heard the growling sound behind her.

  11. Proving just how narcissistic he was, Millennial Mike couldn’t go for a simple walk in the woods without hiring someone to climb into a tree with a spotlight to shine down on him as he took yet another selfie.

  12. I never expected the yellow brick road to be paved with fallen petals, but then, who thought the Wizard and Dorothy would wed!

  13. I was running through the woods and it was starting to rain – i had to get away – all i could think was that the last thing i needed was rain on top of everything else. I just wished it would hold off until i got somewhere safe. Then it was like a angel answered my prayers as i came out of the trees onto a trail.

  14. Bright, focused sunlight. Trees in bloom with petals covering the tree-lined path. I stood in the middle of the path, watching more petals float toward the ground.
    “Achoo!” Once, twice, three times as was my usual pattern. And so began my annual war with spring.

  15. I never believed in UFOs, but I was celebrating International Abduction by Aliens Day with a bunch of friends when I suddenly looked around and everyone was gone. There was just this mysterious beam of light.

    (BTW, it really is IAAD) 😮

  16. Jenny, my best friend from middle school and I met in park and linked arms to walk and talk and laugh at everything and nothing (COVID 19 be damned) just like we had been doing for years. The walking trail was empty except for the litter of blossoms from the overhanging trees. Ahead we could see a shaft of light that shone boldly through the trees. The effect was ethereal and breath taking.

    “Oh my gosh!” Jenny laughed and pointed, “My grandma always called those the finger of God pointing.”

    We ran through the thick carpet of fallen pedals to get a closer look. We didn’t expect to feel a magnet-like pull and stopped short when we heard the unholy groans and screams coming from within the unseen depths of the light shaft. Jenny, who was closer, started getting pulled into the cool finger of light. I grabbed her arm but quickly lost my hold and she was gone. No trace that she had been with me. I reached hesitantly toward the light and felt nothing. Just like a terrible April’s Fool trick the pulling sensation,shrieking and Jenny were all gone.

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