This dialogue prompt from The Fake Redhead made me do a double take. It’s definitely a lot less serious than some prompts are. On top of that it really tells you a lot. The person talking clearly has their priorities. I can’t say I agree with them, but I love a character who knows what they want and this one sure does.
To start with this is a character who doesn’t seem to care a whole lot if the person with them comes back or not. Is that because the other person wouldn’t be very useful in the situation or because they are actually worried about what would happen to them if they came back alone?
The character claims to be starving. Of course most of the time when someone claims that, they are just hungry or they wouldn’t have this much energy to speak. Is it possible this person actually is starving and either way, how long has it been since they ate anything? And why a burger? Is it their favorite food, the most convenient, the least expensive? Why choose that? What are these characters doing? Why do they even need backup? Is a fight brewing or are they babysitting rowdy children? There are so many potential things going on here.
It’s a fun little prompt with very little visible stakes, but I can see all sorts of ways to change that and give them some pretty solid stakes . . . or not. It all depends on what you want to do with it. What would you do with this kind of prompt? Who would you make these people and what would you make them doing? Would it be fun? Or would it be scary?
