Excerpt from: "Thump Bump and Dump" by Wrona Gall
Photo found in the Public Domain
LA embodied a trend-setting dynamic that challenged people to do more, be more, experience everything. This vibe inspired him to reinvent himself, to overcome his melancholy by rescuing an actual victim. Not some wimp like Francine who threw a bottle of pills down her throat.
Local
scavengers would have boosted his rental van by now. The thieves were probably
barreling down the 101, oblivious to the bloody cargo area. An abandoned house
loomed in front of him. The rotted porch, a strong wind away from collapse,
creaked under his footsteps. He ducked under the sagging doorframe. Testing the
floor with each step kept him from crashing through the wood. After scrubbing
every inch of exposed skin with antiseptic, he tossed his wig, moustache and
costume onto a pile of garbage.
He smoothed
the wrinkles out of his second layer of clothes, a Lakers T-shirt, cargo shorts
and flip flops and dug a candle out of his pocket. He lit the wick and wedged
it into his trashed belongings. In a few minutes, Howard Green would be
incinerated. He’d again be Stuart Evans, LA cool guy.
Walking
toward a glow of neon lights, he texted an Uber to take him to The Grove. This atonement stuff
really made him hungry. He craved a juicy cheeseburger oozing bloody grease.
The Rochelle Staab Questions asked of Wrona
 |
| Photo by James R. Gall |
We moved from Chicago to Ojai a year ago, so I
haven’t experienced weird yet. So far, my impressions are great weather and
wonderful people.
Do you have a yet-to-be realized L.A. dream?
Seeing my
daughter Vanessa on the red carpet.
Why write short stories? Why write at all? What's in
it for you?
I write to create the endings I want
to be on the news.
What is the biggest challenge in writing to theme?
Staying on track. I tend to wander.
Are the characters in your story based on you or
people you know/met?
My characters are collages of people
I know.
Los Angeles is a patchwork quilt of different
neighborhoods. Why did you pick the area you used for your story, and how did
the neighborhood influence your writing?
I found an LA neighborhood that
resembled our inner city Chicago neighborhood of twenty years where street
people, artists, and rich collectors mingled and enjoyed each other while
gentrification changed the buildings, but not the rich diversity.
What came first, the character or the plot?
Character, always.
While you're writing: music
(what kind?), dead silence, or…?
I play old black and white mysteries
that function as white noise.Favorite writing quote—yours or
from someone else…
Enjoy what you write.
Your writing ritual begins
with…
Diet Pepsi and a chocolate chip
cookie
About Wrona Gall
Wrona Gall
moved from Chicago to Ojai with husband, Jim, daughter, Vanessa and rescue
Westie, Zoe, in 2016. “Thump, Bump, and Dump” is her second published short
story. She is currently writing Resolve,
her second novella about Deckle Ahern who is diagnosed low-spectrum autistic
and transforms his life from visual artist to Samurai Avenger when his mentor
is murdered. Wrona divides her time between writing and sculpture.
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