Plot: Just the Basics

“As we start to drive, I pull out my phone and start playing my various games. I don’t last on the same one for more than 5 minutes, I can’t bother putting any real commitment into any of them. They’re pretty boring, but it’s better than watching the trees go by. As, time passes, my phone tells me ‘10% battery remaining.’ A warning, but I don’t listen. My battery should last till I get to Mike’s house and I can just charge it there. Mom did tell me to call her when I want to get picked up, but he’ll have a charger, I’ll be fine. We arrive at Mike’s house. I’m so excited! I tell Mom ‘bye’ and run to the door. The next few hours are great, but eventually I realize I need to call Mom. I pull out my phone, but it’s dead! ‘Mike, do you have an iPhone charger I can use?’ He replies, ‘Nope, our family has Samsung.’ My heart drops. I call mom off of Mike’s phone, but she doesn’t pick up (probably not recognizing the number). I’m in deep trouble, I should’ve listened to my phone’s warning.”

The first 3 sentences are the start to the exposition of the story. Later, we find out the full details of the story, in that our character is visiting his friend Mike’s house. The “10% battery” warning is an example of foreshadowing. It is a warning that perhaps our character’s phone may have issues later in the story. As we observe our character arriving to Mike’s house, this is the rising action. He’s having so much fun playing around with his buddy. However, his fun will soon end. Situation A is “Calling Mom to get home from Mike’s house” Due to the protagonist’s choice earlier in the story though, his phone is now dead. This is the change in the story. Once the protagonist finds out about this, the falling action begins. His phone being dead scares him and ruins his mood. Situation B is “not being able to get home from Mike’s house.” This story doesn’t have a resolution, as it is up to the reader to create the resolution how they believe it happened, in their own mind.