That skinny look. Not the "I'm trying to be perfect" kind, more the School of Hard Knocks kind. The kind that says, "Yeah I've missed a few meals in my time - so what?" She wears her cargo pants low, with a black tank tucked in. A heavy belt keeps pants on narrow hips that sway like a bull dog as she stomps down the hall. Thick eyeliner matches the roots of her hair, barely highlighting dirty green eyes. A tacky tattoo inscribed with "Karl" marks her right arm and one wonders what he did to warrant being indelibly stabbed with a glittering knife. You doubt Karl's name is the only thing that has met Charlie's ire. You catch Charlie's eye just as the door swings closed and wonder where she's headed. Can't be anywhere good, but you hope for her sake it's nowhere too bad, and you hope for Karl's sake it's not wherever he might be.
This month I am participating in the April A-Z Challenge! My theme for the month is ‘character development.’ Some days will be exercises from John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction, others will be profiles of characters from my book Armageddon: Pick Your Plot, and some will just be random characters I make up. I hope you enjoy!
