Challenges

      I  love challenges where I have a list of words that I have to include.  I have loved them since I was in school.  I remember math classes where I had to include rectangle, square; term after term and I loved it.  I wrote noir mysteries with math themes.  It was so fun.  I think that is why I feel so compelled to include this scene written for a writing class with the instructions.  I made sure I used all the terms and, I think, it even makes sense.  (I don't know if it has any of the other stuff.)
     Have a read and tell me what you think:

Write a scene of 250-350 words featuring a character with one concrete want (a table, a moose, a toothbrush, anything physical is fine!) and one weakness. Use these two features to drive the action of the plot. Set up the story where every other sentence is a rising action. To help you come up with rising actions, use one word from the following list of twelve words in each sentence that has a rising action. In other words: Write your first sentence introducing your character. Make the next sentence a rising action using one of the following twelve words. Write your third sentence, which may introduce the weakness, then write your fourth sentence with a rising action that includes one of the remaining eleven words you haven’t used. And so on.
·         trick
·         memory
·         aboard
·         tiger
·         pretend
·         carrot
·         appliance
·         cage
·         rings
·         crow
·         filthy
·         explode
You must use at least 6 of the 12 words, but you are encouraged to challenge yourself to use as many of the words as possible while still meeting the word count.
     It had to be a trick of his Swiss-cheese memory. Aboard the train bound for Crow Station, the young man strode past the man in a Detroit Tiger ball cap.  The soldier could pretend not to know who the older fellow was, but that put him in a cage he couldn’t escape from and he was loathe to fall into a trap. A girl with carrot colored hair smiled timidly and moved over to the free seat next to the appliance salesman who sat ignoring the rest of the travelers by peering into a folder of papers. He shouldered his bags and moved to the open chair. The rings on his good hand flashed as he shoved his duffel under the filthy seat. Though his clothes and gear threatened to explode through the material, it held. He smiled crookedly at the girl as a way of thanks and slid his arm out of his jacket. His other arm, weighted by the prosthetic hand, dangled by his side. Easing the cuff over the stiff fingers was something he had practiced in the rehab facility.  Now, heading home on the train, he looked almost at ease doing it. Almost. The coat slipped from his hand and landed on the floor in a heap. The girl jumped up and picked it up before he could bend down to get it. He gritted his teeth.  It wasn’t her fault.  He smiled tightly as she handed to back to him after dusting it lightly with her hand.

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