First paragraph

[It's not right yet.]

Long ago the forests of America were dark and unbroken, and beyond them were the sun-baked plains that ran on and on toward the mountains, and the sunset. Then the Europeans came and built European cities. And the peoples of the world came and met and mingled. And now there is me, and there is also him, this man whose eyes I am gazing into, this stranger who I am asking for help.

Badass Viking epic: paragraph one

Assignment: write the first paragraph of a short story that may or may not ever be completed.


If the ship came in now, Ingegärd would be the first one to see it. She stood on the cliff above the sea, waiting for the sun to rise. She’d come alone. Probably no one else would join her. This was the beginning of the two hundred and forty-ninth day since they’d left. Since Hrodgeir left. Most of the village had given up. Hrodgeir’s wife had given up. Ingegärd glanced back at the path to the village—no one. She turned back towards the sea. The sky was starting to glow blue, and she could tell just tell the ocean apart from the sky. She lifted her lantern, blew out the flame. The sky grew brighter. A bird passed overhead. Two hundred forty-nine. This was the last sunrise she’d suffer here, alone. The bird continued on, headed out to sea.