Tortilla - Can You Write a SCARY Paragraph or 2 or More With These Phrases From "Tortilla Flat"?

Can You Write a SCARY Paragraph or 2 or More With These Phrases From "Tortilla Flat"?

Again, I find my self throwing down the gauntlet with phrases randomly picked from a book by my desk. These all come from "Tortilla Flat", by John Steinbeck.

1. Monterey sits on the slope of a hill, with a blue bay below it and with a forest of tall dark pines trees at its back.

2. Let Pilon come by a jug of wine or a piece of meat and Danny was sure to drop in to visit.

3. You mean the little silk pockets on a string?

4. But at last the inactivity tired them.

5. Where Danny went, a magnificent madness followed.

Thanks! And best of luck!

Public Comments

Dodge City, Kansas

Circa 1876

(1.) "Monterey sits on the slope of a hill, with a blue bay below it and with a forest of tall dark pines trees at its back." As old Doc read these words aloud from the book he was perusing, his eyes misted over. He longed to travel. He felt that time was running out for him and that his life could be summed up in one sentence......" Yes. I will take the bullet out of you, Matt!" Doc Adams had been patching up U.S.Marshal Matt Dillon for the past 20 years. From cuts and scrapes to the time he extracted a bullet lodged next to Matt's spine, Doc had been on the job. He was tired. He wanted a change. But more than anything else.......he wanted a beer. He lay the book down on his desk and went to the Longbranch.

Miss Kitty was just coming off a two day drunk when Doc came through the swinging doors. She looked like hell and smelled like the bottom of a bottle of Randy Scouse Git Rotgut!! Ever since the Marshal had left her for Sunshine MacGillicutty, Kitty was falling apart. Doc:" Kitty, for heaven's sake!!" He helped her upstairs to her living quarters. As she sat there in a tub of cold water,Doc asked what to do with the things that had fallen on the floor. (3)." You mean the little silk pockets on a string? Just put them anywhere...it doesn't matter."

Doc put the silk pockets over a hook on the wall. He then sat down and tried to figure out WHO was supplying her with this vile booze. Why she didn't drink from her vast supply of alcohol ( she owned the Longbranch) was a mystery to all?!

All at once he realized who it was. That shy guy that lived in Ma Smalley's boarding house....Danny Bonatoochie!! As of late, Danny was spending alot of money around town...yeah! But where did HE get the booze? He was the town librarian,after all. Wait a minute!.....Danny was spending LOTS of time hanging out with the "rift raft" that lived just outside of town, by Cowlick River. Who was the leader of that scallawag bunch? Doc pondered this as he poured another bucket of water over Kitty's head.

After Kitty was finally clean and sober, Doc put her to bed and wandered down to Matt's office. He discussed his theory with his old friend. Matt:" Well you know, Doc. A man by the name of 'Pilon' is in charge of that bunch. And I hear tell that (2.) Let Pilon come by a jug of wine or a piece of meat and Danny was sure to drop in to visit. Maybe he was also dropping in for some of that Rotgut! Buying it from him and then selling it to Kitty....and probably for a nice little profit!! He told Doc he would check it out.

On his way to the river, he decided to pay Sunshine a little visit. Just the thought of that made him ride a litle faster. As he dismounted his horse at the hitching post outside her house, he heard her singing. Smiling, he ascended the stairs and entered the little house....a house he was beginning to refer to as "home." He followed the sound of her voice and found her taking a bubble bath. "Well,well, well......don't I know you?" Sunshine smiled and made room for him in the spacious tub. For the next 20 minutes bubbles were flying everywhere. The floor was soaked ! (4.) But at last the inactivity ( mmmm...I thought it said "activity") tired them and they got out of the tub and started getting dressed. Matt told her where he was going. "Be careful, baby," she said in a serious voice. "I just heard someone saying last night at the quilting bee.....(5.) 'Where Danny went, a magnificent madness followed.' " Matt just laughed and put on his boots. "Matt, PLEASE don't go. We were having such a lovely time." Matt: "I agree....but I have a job to do....I'll be back before you know it." Sunshine smiled that coy smile of hers....."Oh, you men are all alike....4 or 5 quick ones and then, WHOOSH!!! You leave." Matt gave her a wink and headed out the door.

OKAY...here comes the scarey part!! As Matt was coming into view of the bunch he was looking for, a strong wind started to kick up! It made weird and frightening sounds as it whipped through the woods. More than once, Matt took his gun from the holster, worried that someone was watching him.........SOMEONE WAS!!!!!!!!! When he got to the spot where Pilon and the others should be, the place was empty....or was it? A fire was just about to burn out.......plates with food on them were scattered everywhere. They had left in a big hurry, that was evident. "Hmmm, what could have chased them off," wondered Matt. Just then something fell from the trees and landed on him, knocking him off his horse.

Matt got to his feet as fast as he could,,,,and there in front of him stood......?

DOES MATT TANGO WITH A WILD BEAST?

DOES DOC QUIT HIS JOB AND HEAD OUT WEST?

DOES KITTY EVER SOBER UP?

YOU'LL FIND OUT AFTER YOU POST YOUR NEXT QUESTION.
Monterey sits on the slope of a hill, with a blue bay below it and with a forest of tall dark pines trees at its back. Both the bayou and the forest holding unforeseen dangers, with the musings of his distracted mind taking the forefront over his instincts. Monterey was very vulnerable on that hill. Though the musings were of the everyday sort. The thing that was coming wasn't, in fact it was quite the opposite.

2. Let Pilon come by a jug of wine or a piece of meat and Danny was sure to drop in to visit. Sure to the point where if he wasn't as sick as a dog or on his death bed he would be there. Pilon was finally starting to get restless, he had just seen Danny not three hours ago. The sun had fully set and the moon had rose. In that time Danny hadn't come about. Pilon paced the path that had been worn into his rug from the unending pacing he is prone to when bored or when he is waiting.Pilon finally paced outside his door and outside his home.

The moon cast an eerie glow over the town, Pilon realised as he made his way over to Dannies home he had forgot to lock the door to his house. And as he turned back a figure that vaguely resembled his friend stood before him, it's eyes aglow and a weird dark glow that seemed to come off him in waves...

3. "You mean the silk pockets on a string?" Juanita asked as she hurried to keep up with her suddenly very angry husband. Noticing out of the corner of her eye the ocean seeming to turn a dark red. It was then she noticed her husband undertake a startling change, as she ocean grew darker she could feel this intense heat emanating off of him. And other things began changing, the familiar ash grey strands of her lovers hair were suddenly turning a violent red and what was left of his old dark walnut hair, was turning darker.... She began to worry then perhaps those coins that were held in those silk pockets were perhaps more than old coins.

4. But at last the inactivity tired them. The young women were bored and in a house where the only interesting thing of note was hidden in a cupboard and out of their reach. Their grandmothers spellbook. Making sure their grandmother was thoroughly stuck in her bathroom by breaking the lock so it wouldn't open. The girls then darted back to the kitchen where the book was housed. The lock was something they didn't dare break when their grandmother was able to come in anytime she desired. But with her tucked away in the bathroom they were able to do as they please.

With a hair pin that was in one of the other drawers in the kitchen the girls opened the drawer where the book was held and found themselves not looking at some occult looking book, nothing leatherbound, nothing with occult symbols scrawled all over it, not even a pentagram. It was just a notebook with a picture of rabbits on it. Nothing threatening or dangerous at all.... The girls pulled it out though anyway and sat together on the ceramic tile and looked through it. The first page was a slightly scrawly note to somebody as if this book had once been just a normal book. But if it was why would their grandma lock it up then?

After a few more pages of the same the girls decided to look at one of the dog eared pages. The page compared to what they read earlier was polar opposite. The page was the wrong color compared to the slightly faded pages of the other ones in the book. It was the yellow of old looselief, you could barely even make out the lines on the paper. But what they read seemed much more interesting and as they began to read they started to chant the words on the page. They weren't even aware of this until one of them tried to say something outside of the words and then tried to stop, she couldn't. This didn't look good...

5. Where Danny went, a magnificent madness followed. Whether it be, a sudden en masse uprising of the teenage population against their teachers or a sudden mysterious disapearence of all the infants from the the nursery at a local hospital. It was always worthy of the tabloids. Gory, riddled with intruige a horror authors muse and nightmare all wrapped into one. Whether it was the nearly red sheen of his brown eyes. Or the almost uncanny way he had with every woman in the town. He brought madness and induced it anywhere he went. It was mad, delicious and glorious.....

Okay, not all of them are exactly spooky but this was kind of fun....