I decided to start this after reading an exchange about a collaborative project here. The only tricky thing is to make sure that we don't get 2 people working on the same thing at the same time. I suggest you make an initial post to "claim" the project, and then post the entire story so far, with your additions to it, in a subsequent (but not too subsequent, if you get me) post. Anyway, here is the beginning:
Gunther lurched into the teashop, smoking heavily. He wasn't puffing on a cigarette or anything like that; rather, a leak in a coolant line had developed after years of neglect, and greenish smoke issued out of the access plate on Gunther's torso.
A surly machinist in grease-stained coveralls looked up from his tea. "Hey buddy," he grumbled at Gunther menacingly, then jutted his chin toward a faded sign reading "No Smoking / No Fumar".
"Ahh yes, quite nice," Gunther muttered in return. The machinist grumbled and returned to his newspaper as Gunther stumbled to the counter.
"I don't want any trouble with you," said the monkey behind the register.
"Fear not for your safety, nor that of your customers, my dear monkey," Gunther wheeezed.
"First, I'm actually an ape, second, I'm not worried about them-" gesturing to the rough and tumble patrons sipping afternoon tea- "getting hurt, if you know what I mean."
"Understood, gentle ape. If you will pour me a cup of coffee, in one of those cardboard cups, I shall trouble you no further."
Panic reigned in the ape's face as he backed away from Gunther. "Coffee? This is a teashop! Can't you read?" And with that the ape climbed hand over hand up an electrical conduit and leapt to the relative safety of a chandelier high overhead.
"No," Gunther whispered, "sadly, I can not..."
Hi everybody. This is the writer's group, eh? I just hope we can get people to give us their real opinions - don't hold back like you would in the blue!
