Rising Star Adventures and Beyond

Ruth's Background Story

CONTEST ROUND: Protagonist Background Story

Write a story about your protagonist that takes place outside of your novel. Make your readers relate to him or her in such a way that we would be devastated if he or she were to experience conflict (which, ultimately, sometime in November, he/she will.) The object of the contest is to make your judges root for your protagonist! Simply put: the character we like best wins. If your protagonist is a drug dealer or someone similarly ""unlikeable"" (a.k.a, an ""anti-hero""), never fear! I love Vlad Taltos, the professional assassin. You can make us love your character, too.

*Contest Round entries may be any rating. Submit your ITEM or ENTRY number by 1200 noon WDC time on Sunday to compete. WDC time is New York City time and can be found at the top of the IM Console. If you miss this deadline or choose not to compete, you must still log the assignment complete (without linking your work) for the grand prize, per the standard Prep guidelines.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ruth sat in church half-listening to the sermon as her mind drifted. She looked around at all the people in church today, and thought they had a good attendance this morning. Everyone seemed to get into the song service, and the offering plates appeared to be filled up. She looked at her husband's face, he seemed to be attentively listening and getting into the sermon.

She could remember a time shortly after they were married when he hated sitting in church. He had said he was a Christian, but he couldn't seem to sit still during a service. He couldn't wait until it was over so he could go on about his business. Later, he had confessed to her that his heart had not been right with God. Now, he loved church and spending time reading his Bible.

The years of hard work had etched themselves into his face. His skin was tanned from sun exposure. He had worked hard to make a comfortable living for them. Ruth hadn't had to work since she had married him fresh out of high school. At six feet and 3 inches tall, she had always considered him to be tall, dark, and handsome.

He looked over at her looking at him and smiled. Then he reached over to hold her hand. She gladly accepted the offer. She still felt madly in love with him even after all of these years. He was the kind of man that just seemed to get better with time. Now in their 40s, she wondered what the rest of their future would be like.

They had two daughters who were fully grown. The oldest would be getting married soon. Both daughters were currently in college. One wanted to be a teacher and the other wanted to be a nurse. She felt very proud of them both. She imagined she would be a grandma in the near future, and thought upon it with excited anticipation.

Ruth and Mike we're well-respected in their community. She felt like she had been living the American dream. They had a decent house in the middle of town. They had two cars. Mike was getting ready to start working to build up a community center.

Ruth volunteered at the local homeless shelter and was active in the church. She felt like she couldn't ask for more. She was so happy with her life. She couldn't imagine it getting any better than this.