#13 Write a scene in which a woman is fired after only a week on the job.  Just a week earlier, the same person who is now firing her was very persuasive in convincing her to take the job.

Jane walked into her supervisors office.  She was excited to see Ruthie again because the last time they met it had been the day she was hired to be the new perfume girl at Dayton’s.  Jane almost felt like she and Ruthie were soul mates.  They both liked living in Minnesota, and had pet cats named Kirby Puck-cat. (What are the odds!) They talked for several minutes about the best place to buy pet food in the Twin Cities. And had both agreed that cat people were given a bad rap. When asked why she wanted to be a perfume girl Jane said in her best cat woman voice, “Well, it is the puurrr-fect job for me.”

Ruthie welcomed Jane into her office and got straight to business.  “Jane, we are going to have to let you go.  You are not right for the Dayton’s family.  We wish you the best of luck in the future.  Here is your paycheck.”

Jane couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  Flabbergasted, she shrieked, “You’re firing me!!  I thought we were friends! How can you think I’m not right for the Dayton’s family? I’m perfect for the Dayton’s family!!!”

Ruthie took a deep breath and calmly started to speak, “Jane, while I think we would make excellent friends on the outside of Ridgedale, you have to admit you are not doing well at your job.  Think about it.  What happened last Tuesday?”

Jane racked her brain trying to think of anything that had happened on Tuesday.  The only thing out of the ordinary she remembered was one gentlemen asking for a new perfume for his wife but leaving without buying anything.  Finally she queried, “are you talking about that guy from Minnetonka?”

Ruthie gasped, “that guy from Minnetonka was Governor Arne Carlson, and you sprayed sun flowers right in his eyes!”

Jane tried to explain, “he wanted to see the bottle, it was an accident!”

Ruthie started her deep breathing exercises again whispering,  “Jane, he is the governor of this State, the Dayton family is not in the business of upsetting the political world.  You are not puur-fect for this job!”

#14  Write a short story that is set in Argentina in 1932, in which a teacup plays a crucial role.  
Argentina had been called the Paris of South America, but from where I was sitting it looked like heaven on Earth compared to the camps the Bonus Army men had set up next to the Potomac River.  After spending a month covering this story for the New York Times, my boss decided that we needed to see if there was any difference between the economic crisis back home and here in South America.  I thought it was going to be a pretty swanky assignment but after all those days on a banana boat I was still trying to get my land legs back.
Holding my aching stomach I walked into a Cafe and ordered a cup of chamomile tea.  The waiter brought me a mismatched teapot and cup.  The teapot was a vivid purple but the cup was a dingy white that looked like it had seen better days.  I almost sent it back but my Spanish was not up to par.  As I raised the cup to my lips a man walked up to my table and starting frantically talking to me in Spanish.  I had no idea what he was saying.  I decided to take a chance that he spoke English.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand you.  Could you say that again, more slowly?  All I got was something about the cup.  Is there something wrong with it?” I put the cup down wondering if it was poisoned.  Just my luck to be the first female journalist from the New York Times to go to Argentina and end up getting poisoned.

The man’s face brightened. He started to talk very slowly in English.  “Are you from the U.S.?”

I nodded that I was and he went on to explain that he was about to go to the United States because he was a member of the Olympic team. He had started taking English lessons hoping that it would make his time in Los Angles easier.  He told me that his name was Juan Zabala and he was going to win the Men’s marathon. I liked that he was so positive that he was going to win. I asked him if he had been running marathons and he told me that he had ran all his life but he hadn’t run a marathon until the year before.  What an incredible source for my story.  I asked him to sit down and started to talk to him about his life and how things were in Argentina.  After talking for a few hours it dawned on me that I had never figured out what he wanted to tell me about the teacup.

Juan replied, “Since I have started training for the marathon I have come here every morning for coffee.  It is my lucky cup. They never wash it. You don’t want the luck to go down the drain.”