The rules of play: everyone brings a book along and describes it, then people have to make up a plausible (or amusing) first line for the book. All the lines are read out and everyone has to guess which is the real first line. The results of previous games can be found here and here.
There must be few things less dignified than kneeling on the floor lapping cream from a saucer when one is used to bathing in finest asses milk. (KJ)
Catching a mate was not the problem – it was knowing how to reel one in. (SM)
It was a dark and stormy night in the month of September; Jane sat under the tall oak tree and watched the water drip onto the leafmould at her feet; she huddled ever more closely into her cloak, and added another log to her fire as the rain hissed and sizzled on the glowing coals in a parody of a snake hiss which reminded Jane that she was down to her last octopus steak and that she would have to use it as bait to catch a wildebeest for her breakfast the next morning, but the weather foretold bad hunting as the herds never came down the mountain if there was likely to be less than 9.75 hours of daylight and Jane scowled as the wind blew the rain into her face.
Few topics arouse such excitement and wonder as the endlessly engaging subject of the formation of soil material! (JF)
All parks have seesaws. (AWB)
Calendula Portwine, the storekeepers wife, was a pretty old woman, and sharp as a knife. (CG)
We’d snuck Henry into the tower before. (AWB)
Jane stared down at the water, the fish spiralling, swimming, moving with the current. (BN)
Just how exactly the bet came about is an interesting story, perhaps the strangest story ever to have been conceived in the small sunny town of Dannevirke. (SS)
You can smell a toll coming, the air for miles around takes on the odour of an open landfill. (?)
We decided not to go to New Zealand. (BN)
Quiet at first, they might have been mistaken for the sound of the wind in the neighbouring trees, but these voices never subsided, never ceased, their murmur became clamour. (PB)
Maria was old and the stairs were steep. (CG)
It was a dark and stormy night; rain washed the streets lit by the dim glow of halogen bulbs and wind fought for possession of the earth; on a small farm outside the town Hugh the blind farmer felt his way along the fence line to his precious compost bins where he added the lime and potash to the mix; the necessity for this heroic feat was that of timing, unless the addition was made at exactly the right time the mix would be useless and the rhododendrons would be blue instead of pink and thus losing him the first prize in the annual Federated Farmers Rhododendron and Begonia Fanciers Club, not to mention the respect of the community and the love of the beautiful Vivienne. (ET)
According to my brother Steve, this should be a really short book. (PB)
Come on old crooked lady, show your face crooked lady, we have been waiting long – these are the words Gina was welcomed with at night. (MD)
It was a dark and stormy night and the wind was howling in the trees; Hugh the blind caretaker of the churchyard looked out over the rain drenched misty plain; as always the sound of children playing drifted through the open window before him and he gripped the spanner he held ever more tightly thinking angrily of revenge and went down to the cellar to fix the leaky pipe. (ET)
Once upon a time, the linoleum was green. (Actual first line of a novel I can’t remember the title of right now)
I wish you would speak normally for a change – why do young girls always speak with high pitched voices? (MD)
According to her, bathing in coconut milk not only does amazing things for your skin, but also your libido. (PB)
Mehitabel is perched with perfect poise in a spot of sunlight on the mantelpiece. (FM)
Dave Gorman sat at the window of his Tuscon villa and looked out at the day (which was neither dark nor was it stormy) and reached for his Tequila sunrise with his shaking hands; the news from Danny was unsettling: that there were so many people in the world who shared his identity was uncanny, especially that since before he was born there had been no reports of any Dave Gormans across the globe and suddenly a whole covey had shown up out of the blue and here was Danny, convinced that it was a conspiracy to get hold of the last remaining truth of the universe while at the same time causing confusion to any people they could come along in the interim and Dave was scarcely keeping hold of his own frail grip on reality. (ET)
This troll, that troll! (KS)
“Where?! Where?!” (AWB)
Posted by Fionnaigh at July 4, 2005 11:15 PM | TrackBack