Page 7 of Love ad Lib
Everyone ignored him.
‘Let’s go again,’ said Claire. ‘Three… Two—’
‘Boing!’ Henry threw a clap to Libby.
She whooped and threw it to Carl who acted like he’d been tossed a live grenade and threw it over his shoulder.
‘Zip, Zap, Boing!’ Claire set claps running and flying.
James put his hands on his hips. ‘Come on, guys. Do it properly.’
But nobody seemed to care about getting it right. Men with egos even bigger than their bank balances were shouting, laughing and having fun.
As fast as Carl threw claps out of the circle, Henry, Claire and Libby started more going. Henry no longer had the headspace to analyse what was going on. He was in the moment and loving every second.
When the circle disintegrated into chaos once more, Claire and Libby whooped and ran around the circle high-fiving everyone. Henry couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so exhilarated.
‘That was awesome!’ said Libby. ‘Top job, everyone! Now let’s get you into pairs.’
Before any of them could think about who they might or might not want to be paired with, Libby grabbed Henry’s arm and put him with Troy, an American who’d been with Conqueror for about six months. Henry raised his eyebrows as if to ask what was going on. Troy shrugged and grinned in return.
‘Okay,’ said Libby. ‘You’re going to create a story together. It’s one line each so you have to collaborate. The only rule is that you have to start your sentence with the words, “yes, and”.’
‘On your marks,’ Claire began. ‘Get—’
‘Go!’ Libby yelled.
Troy and Henry stared at each other, eyes wide.
Henry leapt. ‘Once upon a time there was a magical kingdom.’
‘Yes, and there was a little boy called—um, you!’
Henry smiled. ‘Yes, and “You” went out one day, er, for a walk.’
Troy grinned. ‘Yes, and he met a man with a pig.’
‘Yes, and this pig was special because it could fly.’
Troy snorted, which set Henry off. ‘Yes, and You bought the pig from the man for five magic beans and set off on an adventure.’
‘Yes,’ Henry continued. ‘And then a dragon appeared beside them in the air and said, “fuck me, a flying pig”.’
Troy snorted again. Had he ever heard Troy laugh before? ‘Yes, and the pig replied “fuck me, a talking dragon”.’
‘Okay, great everyone!’ Libby interrupted. ‘We’re going to go again, but this time you have to start every sentence with the words “yes, but”. Off you go!’
‘Once upon a time there was a magical kingdom,’ Henry began.
‘Yes, but the magic had run out.’
Henry paused. ‘Yes, but they had a special well full of back-up magic.’
‘Yes, but, er, it had been a really hot summer so the well had run dry.’
‘Yes, but it was a magical kingdom so they went to the magic shop to get some more.’
‘Yes, but it was shut.’
