October Prep 2023

Day 3 - Character Protagonists Profiles

Dave and Jim have been next door neighbours and close friends since childhood. They met Richard at high school and the trio have maintained their friendship throughout their adult lives. Dave is now approaching 60 and Jim and Richard are both around 58. One of the things that has kept them together is a shared love of amateur dramatics, and they are members of a local group that regularly puts on plays. They also form a small lottery pool, and have recently won a few thousand pounds, which is paying for the holiday.


Jim

Birthday: 29th September 1965

Jim has been married and divorced twice, he has no children. He does have a dog, named 'Montmorency' after the dog in Jerome K. Jerome's 'Three Men In A Boat'. Jim works as an engineering manager for a Telecom company , and he travels a lot around the country. He dotes on Montmorency, and the little dog (some sort of terrier, but a bit of a mixed bag), is with them on the holiday.

Jim's major flaw is that he is capricious, given to flights of fancy and sudden impulses. He has had a string of hobbies that he's bought kit for and been briefly deeply into, before becoming distracted by the next big thing.

He is currently bored with everything and feels trapped in his life and his job.

His goal is to make some major changes to his life so as to feel that it is worth living, though he is not sure what changes he should make. Jim feels too old to start his own business, and wonders if he should take early retirement.

Dave

Birthday: 2nd July 1964

Dave is divorced, having been married for ten years. He has two adult children that he still sees and cares for. He has a cordial, even friendly relationship with his ex-wife. Dave works for the local council organising social services. He's a caring and kindly man in general, but he gets incensed at people's stupidity and especially at selfish behaviour.

Dave is the leader of the trio, who generally tries to keep them out of serious trouble. He is well meaning and thoughtful. He is usually the ideas man and decides what the trio should do. This holiday is of course his idea, though with the ulterior motive of letting them know about his limited life span. Dave has learned that he is dying, and is worried about his friends and his family. He wants to go out with a bang though. His goal is to live his remaining life to the fullest.

He's a practical minded man who can turn his hand to most things if he wants to - keen on DIY and has a garage cum workshop that he likes to spend time in.

Flaws: Dave can be both stubborn and tactless at times. He sees himself as being plain speaking, but goes too far on occasion.



Richard

Birthday: 7th March 1965

Richard is married to Gemma, who is a couple of years older than him. Gemma 'wears the trousers' and though they rub along, the spark has long gone out and they are together more out of habit than anything else. They have a daughter, who works abroad as a translator. Richard runs his own small company making items for train dioramas and similar. Judy is an office manager at a distribution centre.

He is troubled by his sexuality, and has the feeling that he is living a lie. He is attracted by transvestites but doesn't know how to do anything about it - or even if he should. He is embarrassed, and afraid to share with his friends in case they take it badly and cease to be friends. In this his fears will prove to be groundless.

Flaws: He is a shy man and usually very awkward in any company other than his close friends. He is also rather gullible and is easily fooled, or led astray.

Goal: Richard desires to explore his inner inclinations, which he is very reluctant to even discuss. He wants to find true love with someone.