Write a short story based on the notes and scenes you created in Lesson 1. Your story should focus on one of the main characters
you explored in that earlier assignment and expand on his or her struggle. The premise of the story is the same as in Lesson 1: Two contestants in a talent show have accidentally swapped bodies and must perform each other's acts. You'll rely on narrative elements, such as dialogue, to make the story engaging. You'll also include a clear beginning, middle, and end. Later, in Lesson 3, you'll have a chance to give your short story a thorough revision. Your story should include the following elements: A main character who faces a clear source of conflict Dialogue to show how the characters speak Conflict that the main character must resolve Tension that builds as the main character tries to resolve the conflict A beginning that introduces the central conflict and gives the main character a goal A middle in which the tension builds to a climax An ending that shows what happens to the main character once the conflict is over You should have completed a draft of this assignment in the activity before this one. If you haven't done so, go back and complete that activity now.
Every day when I was a kid I’d drop anything I was doing, no matter what it was—stealing wire, having a fistfight, siphoning gas—no matter what, and tear like a blue streak through the alleys, over fences, under porches, through secret shortcuts, to get home not a second too late for the magic time. My breath rattling in wheezy gasps, sweating profusely from my long cross-country run I’d sit glassy-eyed and expectant before our Crosley Notre Dame Cathedral model radio.
