First assignment of the season

Hi all,

Another reminder, we will be meeting on October 5th upstairs at Centre 64 (that's one week). Please invite all your interested friends.

At the meeting I will be discussing the upcoming workshop with Luanne, (how many are interested, what format/subject we want to cover and any other ideas that you have), so please give it some thought.

And here's a little something to get everyone warmed up. Strive for 500 - 1000 words.
Good Luck:

Write a scene in which a man and a woman go into a mattress store to buy a bed. The couple can only talk about the bed, but must nonetheless reveal through the conversation the real situation between them. (For an example of how this kind of scene can work, read Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants.")

To begin, you might consider the many different stressful situations that develop between couples: divorces, pregnancies (as with "Hills"), substance abuse issues, transfers, etc. If you're having problems thinking of a conflict, start with a situation from your own experience. The situation doesn't matter as much as the conversation. The exercise will force you to think about how couples communicate, how much goes unsaid between them. At the same time, when you're done, your reader should have a very good idea of what is happening in the lives of these two people.