Mitch has been an asshole right from the beginning. His language is profane–more so than anyone else in this story–his attitude is negative, and his tendencies are downright psychopathic. And now he got the trio in a car, waving a gun and holding hostage the very drug-boss he was working for.
If only he would have been able to drop off the drugs in time, none of that would have happened. He would have cashed in a pretty sum of money, married Sarah at noon, and be on his way to the perfect honeymoon.
Instead, he has to figure out how to come out of this situation alive. And on top.
This is Mitch’s last scene. And as such should end with a bang. After all, he’s the one that’s holding everyone hostage. Nathan might have a six-shooter stashed away, but as far as Mitch is concerned, he’s in total control.
I feel like I need to give a little explanation as to how he managed to survive the shootout at the motel, and where gang’s leader ended up (since that man went with Mitch to the hotel). And of course, he may have to show up in this scene, as well, hunting down the trio and the man that shot his Lost Boys dead in the parking lot.
I also have to deal with this card:
Card # 13 — Kill The Hero
At one point I established that, when a card refers to “the hero”, it’ll refers to the person whose scene it is. That would make Mitch the hero we might have to kill. However, all three characters are main protagonists in this story, and this close to the end, I might consider either of them the target of this card. Maybe not. Let’s see…
If your hero died right now, what would happen next? Who would keep up the mission?
As far as the trio is concerned, Mitch is the only one with a “mission” they call could benefit from: make money and clear their name by threatening the boss. Nathan wants to join the mob, so if he was to die, the other’s take up his task for him. Same can be said for Sarah; she wants to get away from the bunch and figure out her own way dealing with the drugs. Mitch, on the other hand, got them into quite a situation now, and should he die, the other two have to figure out a way for themselves out of this.
It’s almost never a good idea to kill your hero in the middle of the story. But sometimes it’s a great idea. Might this be one of those times?
If your hero died right now, who would take over her function? What would her opponent do next? What would her friends and family do? Imagining the hero dead us a great way to find out how indispensable she is.
Alternately, if everyone wrongly believed your hero was dead, what would she suddenly be free to do?
Frankly, the only way the trio can get out of this is with the mob believing they’re dead and done for. Same can be said for the gang. As long as they are alive, at least the mob will hunt them down. It’s not just about drugs anymore: it’s about revenge. Mitch might know that. Staging their (or his own) death might just be the only way to make this all work out in the end. But first, he wants his money. Of course.
The questions and exercises on this card are more distracting than helping at this point in the story, to be honest. If this was a bigger project, and I would only be halfway through, thinking about all these options might be helpful. But this story is about to conclude and not that big in scope to begin with. So I might just skim over them quickly, keeping in mind the concept of the card, not so much the details it wants to entice. And killing a hero is always a fine way to conclude a story like this one. No?
Write a eulogy for your hero from another character’s point of view. Could that character say any of this things while the hero is alive?
- Thinking about this, none of the characters would’ve anything nice to say about Mitch at this point. Far as Sarah’s concerned, Mitch should never have let Nathan talk him into any of this. And Nathan blames Mitch for ruining his last chance to fix this without anymore violence. So anything they would have to say about the dead Mitchell would be anything but nice–and yes, they would tell him straight up at this point. Sarah might be writing about how she still loves him, something she won’t tell him while he’s alive. Same with Nathan and his friendship with Mitch.
Jot down your character’s last will and testament. Who would get her stuff? Would she want to be buried, and where? What would her tombstone read?
- I don’t see Mitch as having a lot of stuff. He lives from small job to the next. Can’t see him giving a shit about what happens to him when he’s dead, either. If he had a say about his tombstone, he would be something to the effect of “Mitchell Simmons — Was It Worth It?” or something wryly like that. Because he doesn’t give a shit.
Consider options short of literal death: prison, coma, exile, alien stasis. Anything that takes your hero out of the action can work.
- At this point in the story, he’d rather commit suicide by cop before going to prison. And like I said, at this point, it won’t matter much for the continuation of the story, since it’s about to conclude.
Since the card’s prompts weren’t much of a help this time around, I figure I do a little brainstorming on my own.
One thing I want to establish is how Mitch survived the shootout, what happened to the leader of the gang, and how this could figure into the conclusion of the story. I have the idea that Mitch might have made a deal with the leader just before he came to get Sarah and Nathan. After all, the two don’t know what happened outside besides the shooting, and they don’t know anything about the gang to question the leaders disappearance. After a shootout, everyone needs to disappear quick or else the cops will get them. Maybe Mitch made a deal with Harris (the leader) that he’ll bring the two and the drugs somewhere safe–a location he disclosed to Harris before they parted ways. Question now would be if Mitch will own up to that (maybe planing in “selling” The Knuckle to Harris, besides the drugs) or whether he wants to try and make it on his own after all. Needless to say, whichever way he choose, the gang will catch up with Mitch and friends, and something tells me that his mother will be there, too.
I also want Mitch to go ape-shit crazy. He’s been holding in a lot of anger, and I think it’s time for him to go postal. To let it out. To work through it. Fixing his life–getting married, settling down, being contempt–has obviously failed. Time to fuck shit up. Magnificent self-destruction. Over-the-top violence. Rage-filled mania.
Lastly, I need to set up the story in a way to make it all very interesting for the last scene featuring Sarah. Up to this point, other than in her own scenes, everyone underestimates her. She’s just a woman. A bitch. A girl. Knows nothing about the real world. Of course, that’s not true, and she’s ready to prove that to everyone. She is not the damsel in distress. This scene has to, somehow, establish a final scene for her, besides putting Mitch on his final path towards personified disintegration.
No pressure there.
That all looks… bad. Mitch might die, or at least everyone will think he did. The gang will make a last appearance. Mitch has more than one agenda, and none of them have a chance in hell to succeed. Not that that would stop him.
Find out Wednesday just how far Mitch is willing to push in scene 11 of “The Honeymoon”: Mitch Goes Too Far.
Any ideas, thoughts, comments? Would you have done anything differently?
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