ONE WORD - WEEK 6 - BLADE

So the word for week six of this experiment was blade. I didn't decide what I was going to write about until Wednesday night. I visited the oneword.com website on Monday as I normally do, and I got my word with no problem, but nothing really came to mind until I was more than halfway through the week. And although at three pages this is, by far, the shortest script I've written for this project, I'm still fairly satisfied with it. I'm not sure how much more I could have done to beef up the story, especially considering what I chose to write about and how I chose to approach it.

PAGE ONE

Panel 1. We’re looking at a cityscape with a park located smack dab in the middle of it. Buildings frame the trees and lawns of the park on all sides.

CAPTION:
Once upon a time there was a city. And in this city there was a park.

Panel 2. We’re looking at a beautiful meadow of grass near a walking/riding trail in the park. A sign is posted in the meadow of grass that reads “Keep Off”.

CAPTION:
And in this park there was a meadow. And in this meadow there was an abundance of grass.

Panel 3. We’re at the level of the individual blades of grass now. They are tall and lush and crisscrossing one another. We shouldn’t be able to see the ground the grass is springing up from though. It’s more like we’re looking up at the grass from the ground.

CAPTION:
The grass in this particular meadow was lush and vibrant, and it was not uncommon for people to admire it as they strolled by. This made the grass proud--and it grew as high and as fast as it could to please its admirers.

Panel 4. Now we’re truly at ground level, and smack dab in the middle of the long blades of grass is a much shorter blade of grass. The longer blades of grass tower over this short blade of grass, making it seem rather insignificant.

CAPTION:
All except for one little blade of grass.

PAGE TWO

Panel 1. The long blades of grass are in the foreground, and in the background we can see a trail leading off into the distance with people jogging, walking dogs, or taking a stroll on it.

CAPTION:
The longer blades of grass tried to convince the little blade of grass to grow with them so that it could experience the adulation of man’s admiration.

Panel 2. The tall blades of grass are blowing happily in the wind, and the small blade of grass is barely being ruffled by the wind at all.

CAPTION:
Or to grow to their height so that the small blade of grass could feel the same exhilaration they felt as the wind swept over them.

Panel 3. Rain is falling on the tall blades of grass and the small blade of grass, running down their sleek frames and collecting on the spongy ground.

CAPTION:
But even though he got his fair share of rain and sunshine the small blade of grass simply refused to grow.

Panel 4. The long blades of grass are surrounding the small blade of grass tightly on all sides.

CAPTION:
And when the long blades of grass mocked the short blade of grass for his diminutive size, and asked him why he didn’t grow like the rest of them, the short blade of grass simply replied--

Panel 5. Close in on the short blade of grass.

CAPTION:
I know something you don’t know.

PAGE THREE

Panel 1. A man is in the park near the meadow and is wrestling a lawnmower out of the opened back end of his pickup truck. The truck is parked on the walking/running trail, and there are orange cones warning any possible pedestrians to keep back.

CAPTION:
And so it was that one day a different sort of man arrived at the meadow in the park--a man the long blades of grass had never seen before. And the man brought along with him a machine.

Panel 2. The man is systematically mowing the meadow with the “Keep Off” sign. He’s already mowed a good portion of the meadow row-by-row, and is in the process of cutting another row.

CAPTION:
And with this machine the man provided the long blades of grass with a new experience to talk about to the small blade of grass. For in their vanity, the long blades of grass had grown too long, and were no longer admired as they once had been.

Panel 3. The man is mopping his brow as he admires the freshly cut lawn. The hand he’s not using to mop his brow is resting on the inactive lawnmower as he leans against it. The back end of the pickup truck is still open, and there is a cool drink sitting on it waiting to be tasted.

CAPTION:
Now because of the man and his machine the long blades of grass were long no longer, and when the man was finished using his machine he admired his handiwork with pride.

Panel 4. The long blades of grass have been chopped down to the size of the small blade of grass. Their tops are ragged and stumpy now, but the small blade of grass has been unaffected by the havoc the lawnmower has wreaked.

CAPTION:
The long blades of grass were dismayed. Their sleek and sweeping frames had been reduced to ragged stumps. The only one of them that could genuinely call itself a blade of grass was the little blade of grass, which was so small it hadn’t been touched. And as the long blades of grass wept over their misfortune, the small blade of grass could think of only one thing to say--

Panel 5. Close in on the small blade of grass surrounded by the mangled blades of grass around it.

CAPTION:
Told you so.