Writer's Retreat

Hello! I just got back from a writers retreat where plenty of writing, plenty of writing contests, plenty of writing exercises, and plenty of discussions on writing all took place. It was a community of writers just hanging out and writing. Now, if you are not into writing, I know that doesn't sound like much fun; but let me tell, it was.

One of the main writing prompts was that we had to use one of the following three sentences (for our first sentence of our short story), and the chosen line cannot be altered in any way:

1. Rachel's first trip to England didn't go as planned.
2. A light snow was falling as Charlie Reardon left the diner and made his way down Madison Street.
3. Sometimes, when it's quiet, I can remember what my life was like before moving to Cedar Springs.

I chose sentence (1). Here is the beginning of my short story that I am writing based on the prompt:

Rachel's first trip to England didn't go as planned. Just like the second didn't go as planned, nor the third. Come to think of it, Rachel couldn't remember anytime when things went according to plan at England: Family Diner in Boise, Idaho. And this time--her fourth time, with her fifth-grade class--was no exception.


"Class," said Rachel, "we will be sitting in the corner booth seats." She extended her arm towards four turquoise vinyl seats. And then she led her class from the front door; past the regulars, grumbling about those damn kids; past Laverne, the fifty-something, raspy voiced waitress with too much purple eye shadow and deep-red lipstick; and into the booth seats.