7 Storytelling Jail

CHAPTER 7 STORYTELLING JAIL into a jail cell! The Door of Doom clangs shut behind us. "Andy! Jill!" says Terry, rushing toward us. "I'm so glad you're here! I thought I was doomed to be

locked up alone forever!" "But you've only been here for a few seconds," I say. "Really?" says Terry. "It felt much longer." "Keep quiet in there!" says a voice through the gloom on the other side of the bars. "Who said that?" says Jill.

"I did," says the chief of the Story Police, stepping up close to our cell. "Thought you could get away, did you? Well, we've got you now!" "But you can't just put people in jail for no reason!" I say.

"Oh, we've got our reasons," says the chief, "and plenty of them. You are hereby charged with crimes against good and proper storytelling, including the use of outlandish plots, ridiculous characters, silly names, needless repetition— I repeat, needless repetition—too much detail in some places and not enough in others, lack of worthy life lessons, poor dietary habits, unlikely escapes, gratuitous violence, time-wasting chases, and, worst of all, clichéd endings, such as it was all just a dream… Need I go on?" "I can explain!" I say. "Don't explain it to me," says the chief. "Explain it to the judge." The chief opens the cell door…

marches us to a courtroom… and puts us on the stand.

"Order in the court!" says the bailiff. "This court is now in session. Judge Pumpkin Scones presiding." "I object!" says Terry. "To what?" says Judge Pumpkin Scones. "The trial