Writing Exercise
Write a short story using 4 characters with unique jobs and have them go through two scenarios.
Characters and Unique Jobs
Four Unique occupations:
- Twitch Streamer
- Elevator Mechanic
- Freelance Writer
- Animator
Twitch Streamer- Max- Male, Streamer name is PyroManiac, 32, shaggy brown hair, tanned skin but got a bad sunburn, glass green eyes.
Elevator Mechanic- Baxter- Male, 42, short black hair, brown skin, caramel brown eyes
Freelance Writer- Ora- Female, 39, long curly black hair, chocolate brown eyes, light black skin
Animator- Mandy- female, 24, bobbed red hair, pink skin, baby blue eyes
Two Scenarios- Meeting in the hotel lobby and getting stuck in an elevator
My Story
Max stared up at the tall hotel building, the sun barely hitting the windows. He brushed his shaggy brown hair out of his glass green eyes with a sunburned hand. He groaned and trudged into the lobby of the hotel, pulling his suitcase behind him. Max had been waiting all year for the gamer convention in downtown California, but since he had gotten sunburned at the beach, he was no longer looking forward to it. He knew that if he ran into any other streamers; he knew or his followers, they would want to give him either a hug or high five. And he was too sore for any of that at the moment.
Max walked over to the counter and checked in just as two women joined him at the counter.
“Hi, I’m Mandy. I’m here for the Animation Convention,” the woman in her early 20s to his left said.
Max glanced at the young woman with the bobbed red hair and baby blue eyes. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t place her. Max smiled and waved at Mandy when she glanced over at him. Mandy returned the wave with a freckled pink hand. Max turned his attention to the other woman who looked to be in her late 30s.
The woman brushed her long, curly black hair into a ponytail as she smiled at the person behind the counter. “Sheena?” asked when she looked at the woman’s name tag. “Hello, I am Ora and I made a reservation three weeks ago. I’m here to take part in the Writing Conference.” She waited while Sheena typed into the computer. Ora tapped her green painted nails on the counter.
Ora looked at the two people beside her, her chocolate eyes lighting up when she saw Max. “I can’t believe it! PyroManiac, is that really you?”
Max blinked, taken aback that someone recognized him. He grinned and took a hold of her soft, light black hand. “Yes, I am PyroManiac. How did you know that?”
Ora let his hand go and clasped her hands together, excited that she was meeting one of her favorite streamers. “I’m one of your viewers. I go by Quills and Blood.”
Max thought for a moment, then gasped. “Quills? I can’t believe it! It’s so cool meeting you in person.” He laughed and took the key to his room from the woman behind the counter who had been helping him. “Thanks,” he told the woman before he looked back at Ora. “But wait, I heard you say you’re here for a writer’s conference?”
“Yea, I am. I had already signed up for it and then heard that the gamer’s convention was taking place during the same weekend.” Ora frowned and said, “I wish I could do both, but I don’t have the money.”
Max grinned at her. “I’ll get you some merch, Quills.”
“Are you serious?” Ora squealed and hugged Max. “Thank you so much, PyroManiac.”
“You can call me Max, Quills. You only have to call me PyroManiac in the stream.”
“And you can call me Ora, Max.”
Mandy looked at the two chatting away and smiled. “I was hoping to go to the writer’s conference, but I have my Animator conference this weekend, too.”
Max turned on his heel and looked at Mandy. “Wait, that was this weekend, too? I really wanted to check it out, but totally forgot about it.”
An older gentleman in his 40s walked up behind them and stood waiting to talk to the hotel staff. He heard their conversation and chuckled. “Doesn’t it always seem to happen that way?”
The three turned and looked at the one who had joined their conversation. He held his hand to each of them, shaking their hands. “My name is Baxter.”
“I’m Ora.”
“Mandy.”
“And I am Max.”
“It’s nice to meet you all.”
“Are you here for the writer’s conference, animation conference, or the gamer’s convention?” Mandy asked Baxter.
“Sadly, none, but I will be around. I might sneak into each one just to make sure you all are having fun,” Baxter chuckled, a wrinkle in his brown skin by his eyes.
“Baxter?”
Baxter turned to see an older gentleman hurrying over to him. He looked back at the other three. “Time for me to get to work. I will see you all later.”
Max, Ora, and Mandy said their goodbyes to Baxter, grabbed their rooms keys, and headed to the elevators together. Baxter walked off with the man, who looked like the head of the hotel.
After a few hours, Max, Ora, and Mandy stepped into the elevator together. They had dropped off their bags to their rooms and freshened up before they met each other at the elevators closer to noon. Luckily, they were all on the same floor and could travel down together for the luncheons for each conference that would take place on the second floor.
Max leaned back against the back wall. “Are you both looking forward to the luncheons?
The elevator jumped for a moment before it descended to floor four. Mandy grabbed onto the railing and let out a shaky breath. “I hate elevators,” she uttered.
Ora nodded in agreement. “So do I.”
The elevator screeched and squealed, causing the three to look alarmed. The elevator shook until it stopped, the emergency breaks triggered by some unknown reason.
Mandy screamed and pressed herself into the corner. Ora got her to sit down, and the girls clung to one another. Mandy wiped away tears as they fell, shaking. Ora looked at Max, who was frozen against the back wall of the elevator.
“Okay, uh okay,” Max said and pushed himself away from the wall. He walked carefully over to the buttons. He hit the button that should have opened the doors, but nothing happened. The lights flickered for a moment, turned off, then turned back on, causing everyone to panic a bit.
Max took in a deep breath to calm his nerves, while hitting the number 2 button to see if that would restart the elevator, but again, nothing happened. The elevator shuddered again, but it refused to move up or down or open the doors. Max grew concerned again, and hit the help button.
Soon the speaker crackled, and Max heard a voice on the other end. “Hello?”
“Uh yea hi. The elevators stopped. It won’t go up and down and the doors refuse to open.”
“Max? Max, is that you? Is Ora and Mandy with you, too?”
“Baxter? Oh man, am I glad to hear you voice.” Max laughed through his nervousness. “Yea, yea, both Mandy and Ora are in here with me. They are terrified, Baxter. And I am not going to lie, so am I.”
“Don’t worry, Max. I’ll come get you all out of there in a minute,” Baxter said. “Just give me a minute to get my tools. Hang in there, my friends.”
The speaker went quiet and Max moved to the back of the elevator, where he sat with Mandy and Ora. Max talked to the girls to help keep from calm. It also was to help keep himself calm.
The three heard some banging noises and they stare over at the door. It creaked and groaned until finally it was forced opened.
Baxter stuck his head in and grinned at the group. “Fancy meeting you all here.” He laughed at his joke and waved for them to come over to him. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
Baxter helped Ora first, then Mandy, who had to be coaxed over because she was frozen in fear, and Max climbed out last.
“Baxter, we are so thankful to see you.”
Baxter grinned at them “Glad I was here to help you out. I wasn’t supposed to be here today but a change in my work schedule allowed me to come a day early to work here.”
Mandy cocked her head to the side. “Hey, Baxter, what is it you do?”
I’m an Elevator Mechanic. I’m here to check on the elevators since they are going to be used a lot this weekend with the three conventions going on at the same time. Like I said I wasn’t supposed to come until tomorrow but I am glad that I did.” Baxter looked inside the elevator. “And it looks like you three found me an elevator to fix.”
The group laughed as they headed for the stairs. “Okay, you three. Time to get you to your luncheons. And time for me to get to work on these elevators. But after I go with you to make sure you all make it safely to where you need to be.”
Baxter walked with each of them to their luncheons. Ora put on her name tag that said her name and Freelance Writer. She grinned proudly as she touched the name tag that wasn’t just made out of paper. She waved to her new friends and entered the room, the door closing quietly behind her. Mandy was next and Baxter and Max waited until she had her name tag on with her name and Animator pinned on her shirt. She waved goodbye and disappeared inside. Max and Baxter walked down the hall to where his luncheon would be and he gratefully accepted his name tag. He pinned it to his shirt, the name tag having his name, his occupation as a streamer, and his streamer PyroManiac under that. He shook Baxter’s hand and thanked him for his help again.
Baxter took out his phone and added dinner to his calendar since the group had made plans before they each went to their luncheon. He slid his phone back into his pocket and headed outside to his van. He grabbed more tools, headed back inside, and went to find out why the elevator had stopped.
