So why is the book always better than the movie? Firstly, there are movies which are better, although they may be the exceptions that prove the rule. Secondly, the material used to make up a movie is roughly equivalent to a novella in writing terms. Since you can usually fit two or three novellas in a novel, of course the movie is lacking. Finally, the book allows the reader’s imagination to fill in the gaps, putting characters into appearances that suit them, filling out the whole world in their mind as they read. A movie does all of this for them, and it never looks like it did in all of the readers heads, but it can only be one way. So narrow and confining, compared to words on a page!
| Paperback | Script | Movie |
| Cedar Sanderson | She had to have her paw in everything | Leigh Kimmel |
| Padre | “Why, oh, why did they have to remake this? It will never be as good as the original.” | Becky Jones |
| AC Young | Each Autumn the dryad’s hair changed from green to purple. | Fiona Grey |
| nother Mike | He was collecting cobwebs from the tombstones… | Cedar Sanderson |
| Fiona Grey | It was an invisible romance. | AC Young |
| Leigh Kimmel | It was recalibrating and recalibrating… | nother Mike |
| Becky Jones | The dragons provided security for the children | Padre |
If you didn’t send in a prompt, or you’d like to supplement the challenge on hard mode, here are the spare prompts for your delectation!
| Spare | “I’m voting for the alligator.” |
| Spare | The bells rang, signaling… |
| Spare | “Only in Chechnya, obviously.” |
| Spare | A rainbow appeared in the clouds. |
| Spare | One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready… |
| Spare | Who put pictures of a slaughterhouse in the kitchen? |
Finally, come back and put your response to the prompts in the comments, whether that be textual or visual. Perhaps even audible, if you are playing with Suno the music generator!
More Odds Than Ends 
“Why, oh, why did they have to remake this? It will never be as good as the original.”
Said the fans of many a series/movie. 😉
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It’s a little longer than normal: https://acyoungauthor.substack.com/p/invisible-romance.
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Leigh Kimmel reminded us of that danger with automata…
It was recalibrating and recalibrating…
[oh, my. Not content with the first time through, there it goes again? And again? ]
The support line monitor lit up, as the call came in. Jennifer smiled as she answered on her headset.
“Yes, this is Acme Enterprises support line. How can I help you today?”
The voice on the other end was angry.
“Look, I bought your super AI inventory system for my warehouse, and it’s a piece of trash!”
She frowned. That package was supposed to be good!
“Well, what seems to be the trouble? Please tell me exactly what happened, and we’ll see if we can help you.”
The man ranted a little bit, but then calmed down and described a normal installation. The inventory system had started to run, automatically measuring everything in his warehouse. But then, he said, he walked out of the warehouse. And suddenly, the system flashed its lights, and ran another calibration.
“And that’s what it’s been doing every since! It just keeps recalibrating and recalibrating! What’s wrong with it!”
Jennifer scratched her chin. There was that report…
“Sir, did you say anything about the package while you were in the warehouse?”
There was a snort on the line.
“I sure did. That package cost as much as two accountants wages for a year, and I really doubt that it’s going to be worth it. And with this, I’m sure of it! I told the stupid monitor that, too.”
Jennifer groaned.
“Sir, if you had read the instructions, it clearly states that you should never say anything about the package. I’m afraid you’ve set off the AI security protocol, and it is punishing you.”
After a moment of silence, there was a yell.
“What? I’m not allowed to badmouth this piece of crud that I bought?”
Just then, there was a beep on the line, and another voice broke in.
“This is Acme Enterprises Automated Security. Sir, we have detected abnormally inflected speech from you. Please desist, or we will be forced to recalibrate you…”
Jennifer gasped. Then she quickly said, “Sir, I think we should end this conversation right now. Seriously, you don’t want the security to recalibrate you. Ever. Please hang up now!”
Then she clicked the button to hang up the call.
[hum, that’s odd… and now my tablet says it wants to recalibrate? That’s a new message…]
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And I’ve managed mine, in a tidy package with Taco Tuesday. https://cedarlila.substack.com/p/odd-prompt-cobwebs
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Ah, the ghoul in love! Yes! Very nice!
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I went in a slightly different direction with this.
https://professorornery.substack.com/p/remakes
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Oooh famous last words there!
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[…] Prompt trade with AC Young this week! Check it out, over at MOTE! […]
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Teenagers and their random hairstyles and colors!
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Becky Jones proposed, “The dragons provided security for the children.”
Bonnie smiled. It was a nice, peaceful day at the park. The grass was green, the sun shining in a blue sky unsullied by more than a few cloudlets. The trees provided a delightful shade from the heat.
She looked around. Her dragonlet was frolicking in the big open area in the middle of the park, keeping company with a couple of his cousins. His mother was wearing her human shape, so as not to stand out too much.
“I’m surprised that it’s so peaceful here,” Bonnie observed to her. “There aren’t too many parks left where it’s still safe for kids to play, no matter the species.”
His mother looked over at Bonnie and smiled. “I know. Even this one would be a problem if we didn’t take steps to keep it safe.”
“Steps?”
“We dragons provide security for the children here.” She shrugged as if it were nothing special.
“You do?!!!”
“Of course, we do. Why do you think I let him come here. Our children, like all children, are precious. And we have far fewer than you humans do, even in these benighted times.”
“I don’t see anything.”
Her dragonlet’s mother smiled. “Good. We try not to make it obvious. We wove some very subtle spells around this park, spells that make the idea of violence around here distasteful. Not that it doesn’t happen, but it’s more difficult. We can only do so much, though, because otherwise the boys would not be able to play rough and that would stunt them. We also have a couple dragons keeping an eye on this place throughout the day and into the evening.
“You do?”
She smiled again. “They’re shapeshifted, of course. But some of the parents who bring their kids here and some of the elderly who hang out here are dragons. For that matter, how do you know that a couple of the dogs and a few of the stray cats that live around here aren’t dragons?”
Bonnie looked at her in surprise, then looked around thoughtfully. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you for all the effort you and the others put into keeping this place safe.”
“You’re welcome. We also benefit from it, but we see it as hoarding the good people of the community, too.”
Bonnie nodded and smiled, then went back to watching her dragonlet and the rest of the people at the park. “It really is a beautiful day,” she thought to herself.
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Now mine is up on my LiveJournal at https://starshipcat.livejournal.com/1598348.html. I couldn’t get things to click, and it reads more like a description of a story than the actual story. But I think there’s a story in there — if I can just give it some time to develop, which means getting some other things off my plate.
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I can sense the magic hiding underneath this one, if that makes sense. I hope you get back to it sometime!
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