Neighborhood Drama (Monday Writing Essential)

It was just a bit after six when I walked out to the kitchen to refill my coffee cup and saw a car pull up in front of the house next door. The windows were tinted and I couldn’t quite see what was going on inside, but my curiosity got to me and I stood there for a few minutes until the passenger door opened and the oldest daughter from next door got out.

She turned and leaned down to say something to someone in the car when the mother came racing out of the house and down to the curb. She grabbed the young girl by the shoulder, pulled her away from the car, and leaned down to look inside. From the way her mouth was moving, she was obviously very upset about something. She slammed the door shut and turned to face her daughter as the car roared off, down the street and around the corner.

Mom was leaning toward her daughter, her mouth moving fast, and her finger wagging in front of the girl’s nose. She reached down, grabbed the hem of the girl’s very short skirt, and pulled it up showing… well, everything. She pointed down at the skirt, yanked on it several times, and then dropped it as she returned to wagging her finger in her daughter’s face.

She finally threw both hands up into the air and waved them downward in apparent disgust, and stalked back toward the house. As she walked up to the door, she reached down and pulled her own short skirt half way down her thighs and then disappeared inside. Her daughter stood there a couple of seconds, shrugged, and then followed her mother into the house.

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This week's challenge: do the same. Give us a dialogue without words. Tell a story as seen through a window or from across a street or on television with the sound turned off. Supply enough detail to reveal the contents of the conversation - without us hearing a word.