Last night, a bunch of us pretended we were dead.
A friend needed pictures of dead people, and people pretending to be dead, for a Uni project. As yesterday was the Day of the Dead (for the Southern Hemisphere), it seemed appropriate to kill our friends and eat copious amounts of chocolate.
The evening provided all sorts of inspiration. Apart from some really stunning photos, a short story also started brewing. I am sure the plot is slightly predictable, but I would like to write it anyway.
It was also interesting to note how each person reacted to the preparation for their scene, as well as witnessing the other deaths. My husband and I have always had a slight fascination for the macabre, and had done the 'pretend you are dead' in the past.
The friend who needed the pictures, however, had never died before. My daughter and the other couple's daughter (same age as ours) - also new initiates - thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and wanted to be dead in more ways than we, as parents, were prepared to think of. Her younger sister, aged 4, had a hard time coming to grips with all the gore and blood and spent most of the evening hiding away from us - which is perfectly understandable.
These exercises are also good for fiction writing, I think, because one can never predict how all humans will react in a situation. I would like to set up a couple more evenings that takes us out of our usual environments and comfort zones, just to observe the reactions.
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