Writer's exercise: Convey these facts in the fewest number of sentences

No

I managed to get it into one sentence!!!!

Dan, who is white, wants to ask Meg, who is black, to the prom but he is afraid she will say no due to the fact that Dan's father, a member of the Klu Klux Klan, is in jail for shooting Meg's father with a rifle, which means that Meg's father walks with a cane now that was purchased from Dan's father's cane factory.

Okay, here is my own (lame) attempt: "Dan is afraid that Meg, a black girl, will not go with him to the prom now that his Klansman father shot hers with a rifle and got sent to prison for the crime, forcing Meg's father to walk with a cane which came from Dan's father's cane factory while the rifle in question came from Meg's father's rifle factory!"

Wicca: You forgot to mention the rifle factory.

*confetti bursts into tears* This is why I hate English. I hate it! I can't do it. But ask me to describe a demon that will fitfully keep you up awake at nights and I can.

White Dan's Ku Klux Klan, cane producing father, shot Black Meg's rifle producing father with a rifle from his own rifle factory and was sent to jail because Meg's father now must walk with a cane that came from Dan's father's own cane factory, which all serves to make Dan fearful that Meg will refuse going to the prom with him if he asks her.

One sentence!
*bows*

you write so nice

I like to write......as a wise wise man once said...It keeps my brain greasy...wait...no...that's not it...it was greased...mmm yes...greased!

In your case, it sounds as if the demon in question is an English teacher.

Okay, here is my second attempt. This one's better: "Dan is fearful that Meg, who is black, will not attend the prom with him now that his Klansman daddy shot hers with a rifle, went to jail for the crime, and is consoling himself in his jail-cell with the irony that the rifle he used to shoot the guy with came from the victim's own rifle factory, while the cane that the victim must walk with now came from the Klansman's own cane factory!"

--but I do like the compression of "White Dan's Ku Klux Klan, cane-producing father shot black Meg's rifle-producing father with a rifle from his own rifle-factory..." That really made me howl.

lol I do wonder.

This was a fabulous survey.

Pale faced and nervous, Dan looks upon the ebony features of Meg and dares to dream of love at the prom. His thoughts are interrupted with the knowledge of his KKK father rotting in jail for the gunshot wounds that leave Megs father with a limp. Ironically the cane he now uses was from his fathers factory - which doesn't quite match the irony of Megs father owning that gun factory.

Way to go Dino! Best one yet (I think!)

Damn. Puts mine to shame...

good survey - as usual! (damn I must stop it with the compliments already!)

Dan, the white son of a Ku Klux Klan member who owns a cane factory and is in jail for shooting a man, wants to ask Meg, the black daughter of the man he shot with a rflle from that man's own factory, and who walks with a cane from Dan's father's factory, but is afraid Meg will say no.

One can better say this in French, which is a more concise language. There, the entire sentence would be: "Dan apres Meg fis blanc elle noir rerche appres c'est va per jeche!"

Tip: Read Juli's out loud and you will howl!

White Dan is afraid black Meg will say no to his prom date request. Dan's KKK father is in jail for shooting Meg's father with a rifle from his factory and he now uses a cane from Dan's father's factory.

Good attempt, Joe, but you need to clarify: A rifle from whose factory, exactly -- Dan's father or Meg's? Also, by your wording, it sounds as if DAN'S father is the one using the cane.

Well, I'll try again later if I get time.

Hebrew is even more concise. In hebrew this would be, "Dan barucha Meg eskaba vocha!"

But Japanese is more concise still. In fact, they have a specific word for this very occasion. Over there, the Japanese would say: "Meg Dan khai-wa!"

hmmmmm wet and slippery?

I love you.

Dan went to prom with Meg. Boom. Voila. You know it happened...it's just prom

You're right! I read mine out loud, and it did sound funny, because I forgot the prom part.

too lazy. sorry.

Dan has no chance with Meg.

Dan, a white man, wants to ask Meg, a black woman, to the prom, but he is afraid that since his father, a member of the KKK, is in jail for shooting Meg's father, who now walks with a cane that came from Dan's father's cane-factory, with a rifle that came from Meg's father's rifle factory, she will say no.

One very long sentence. lol

You forgot to mention that Dan is white.

Okay, here are the awards so far. Lamest attempt--Magazineboy; Funniest attempt--juliw; Best attempt--Oscar.

Thanks for voting my attempt funniest. I really wasn't trying to be funny, but hey, I'm glad it made you laugh. I did forget the prom part, though. lol

Yeah! I've never gotten an SC award.

Dan paced nervously about his room. He looked at himself in the mirror, pushing his long straight hair back off his pallid face. "Damn!" he said aloud. He really wanted to ask Meg to the prom, but how could he now. His father was in jail for shooting Meg's father in the leg. He knew that Meg wouldn't blame him. After all, he wasn't in the KKK, that was his father's twisted politics.

Dan stood at the door as Meg's father opened it to his knock. His swarthy face had a stern look about it, and was leaning heavily on a cane. "How ironic!" thought Dan, "That cane came from my father's factory, and the rifle that was used to shoot Meg's father came from his own factory!"

I sacrificed brevity for elegance...I hope...

Holy crap! Zang, that was extraordinary! You managed to take what amounted to pure, mindless drivel (courtesy of moi) and turn it into something good... even compelling. Straw into gold, old man, straw into gold. Your name wouldn't happen to be Rumplestiltskin, by any chance, would it?

His face was leaning on a cane?

Oh! Gimme a break!

That's what it says! (There was supposed to be a "he" between the "and" and the "was".) Thanks for pointing that out!

*giggles*

Palid Dan, son of a Klansman jailed for shooting Meg's cane-walking-dad, wants to ask ebony Meg to the prom but fears rejection.

There you go. Got it on one line (with a bit of cheating)

Dan really wanted to ask Meg to the prom, but he was afraid she'd say no, as he is white and she is black, and his dad is a member of the Ku Klux Klan who is in jail for shooting Meg's Dad with a rifle that came from his own rifle factory, and not Meg's Dad walks with a cane from Dan's dad's cane factory.

Here are the facts: Dan wants to ask Meg to the prom, Dan is afraid Meg will say no, Meg is black, Dan is white, Dan's father is in the Ku Klux Klan, Dan's father is in jail for shooting Meg's father with a rifle, the rifle came from Meg's father's rifle factory, Meg's father walks with a cane now, and the cane came from Dan's father's cane-factory.

Dan, being white wants to ask the black Meg, whose father walks with a cane after being shot with a rifle from his own store by Dan's dad, to the prom. Dan, and his father who is in jail for shooting Meg's dad, think she will say no even though she may lose her job at Dan's father's cane-factory where she got her father's cane.

Okay, how's this for compression:
"Wh-an wants to prom Bl-eg. Wh-an's Ku Klux father shot hers with rifle from factory of victim, who walks with cane now -- cane from shooter's factory!"

Or even better:
"Wh-an prom Bl-eg? Now that Wh-an's Klan father shot Bl-eg's with rifle from victim's factory and limped him to use cane from shooter's factory, maybe not.

Back-forth, up-down, black-white, bad-good, here-there.
Stay home.

Dan, a white person, wants to ask Meg, a black person, to the prom, but might not because he is afraid that Meg will say no, and the fact that Dan's father, a KKK member, is in jail for shooting Meg's father with a rifle. Ironically, the cane that Meg's father now uses to walk came from Dan's father's cane factory, and the rifle that Dan's father used to shoot Meg's father came from Meg's father's rifle factory.

Dan, white son of a Ku Klux Klan's man, yearns asking Meg (black daughter of the cane-toting man Dan's father shot with a rifle) to the prom, fearing Meg's "no" because Dan's father bought the rifle from Meg's father's factory before selling that cane from his own factory!