dream: novel's last line

[trochee]

"What are you in the blimp?", he asked.

"I'm the girl next door."
***
In my dream, this was very clearly the last line of a novel. It's also the only piece that I remember. I awoke, knowing that I needed to write it down. And now that I look at it, I think it must be a happy ending to steampunk SF.

Apparently, the Language Log articles on the subject (and the collection they reference) had more of an impact than I thought.

Comments

[boobirdsfly.livejournal.com]

We had a discussion with the theatre bloggers a while back where we quoted our favorite last lines from plays. Of course , endings of plays are very very important.
The last words to the audience....

Do you remember what the people looked like at all ?

That's a cool dream!

[trochee.livejournal.com]

Do you remember what the people looked like at all ?

The funny thing is I remember this as text -- the last few lines of the last page of a novel. That's the visual image I have.

And yeah, I think there was definitely some reflection on "this is the last thing the author is saying to me". Ending a novel with a piece of dialogue is tricky that way, too.

It was a cool dream.

[bwb-archive.livejournal.com]

Don't expect one of the writer friends you know not to "borrow" this little bit of dialogue in something :)

So, it's you, Boo, writeanya, monagrrl and me that all had strange and vivid dreams last night.

[trochee.livejournal.com]

why am i not reading about all your strange vivid dreams?

And if you're going to use it, I want to know! I particularly like the choice of pronoun in "what are you in the blimp?"

I mean, why is it what? Is this a question of "what role do you play?" Or perhaps -- since it's steampunk SF "what mechanical part do you take the place of?"

In my steampunk imagination, she's hive-minded with the clockwork blimp.

[bwb-archive.livejournal.com]

Well, I *did* post :)

Yeah, that language is why I liked the line too. Not sure it fits with my genre though, but you never know. Sounds like a good theatre line too!

[boobirdsfly.livejournal.com]

ICAN'T HEAR YOU !!!!

[bwb-archive.livejournal.com]

IT'S A NIGHTLIGHT!

[boobirdsfly.livejournal.com]

Ooh... it says DREAMING on it....

[lunacow]

It made me think of the line from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which I recalled as "Who are you when you're at home?" But it looks like I've misremembered, and it's actually "What's your name when you're at home?"

I think you're going to have to write the story that leads up to this ending.