"Toksik Love" Narrative Outline

Professor Grantham

ENG 120 – 15710

Outline for “Toksik Love”

January 30, 2012


I. Introduction:

A. She had never thought of herself as violent—and still did not—but some events call for more drastic action than others.

B. Thesis Statement: Lying is never acceptable; cheating is worse than lying, and all cheaters get what they deserve: a cold, lonely end to their miserable lives.

II. Topic Sentence: He promised her that he would always share everything with her, that he would never lie to her; but that was a lie.

A. He worked long hours as an art gallery manager, but she worked from home as an artist.

1. He rarely invited her to any of the shows.

2. She pretended that she was not interested in the art shows.

B. She waited up for him every night, and always made sure he had a plate of dinner waiting for him.

1. She hated to cook.

2. She hated to wait even more.

III. Topic Sentence: One night he didn’t come home at all, and that was when she knew.

A. She waited all night, and finally, at six a.m., she slumped into an exhausted sleep on the couch, the glass of Pinot Noir slipping from her fingers.

1. The tinkle of shattered glass and splash of red wine were not even enough to wake her.

B. He did not even look at her as he stumbled into the bedroom at noon, drunk, his belt still unbuckled.

1. His snores were the symphony she woke to that afternoon.

2. She could smell the sticky sweet stench of another woman’s perfume on him, and it made her want to vomit.

C. Cold as ice, she blindly dressed and waited for him to wake up.

1. She knocked over the Windex while searching for the bleach.

2. The ammonia was already sitting at her workstation, waiting for her, calling for her.

IV. Topic Sentence: The desert is supposed to be hot, but she was so numb and frozen that she was oblivious even to the blistering sun; she was ready.

A. She told him she wanted to photograph him for a series she had in mind.

1. She had the gas mask in hand, the canister already filled.

2. It was to be a commentary on the mass murders of the Middle Eastern dictators.

B. They drove out to the desert in silence, he miserable and morose in his hangover, she simply striving not to allow the tears frozen deep inside her to thaw and run down her cheeks.

1. Her old truck smelled faintly of stale Starbucks and an ancient vanilla car freshener.

2. Her keys clinked in time to her breathing, until they turned off the road; the sand dunes brought the keys to a ringing crescendo.

C. She told him to take off his Van Morrison shirt and moccasins and handed him the gas mask.

1. She was amazed at her own resolve, not even trembling as she handed him the canister and calmly instructed him to walk thirty feet before putting it on.

2. Mechanically, she adjusted the lens on her Nikon, waited for him to put on the mask, and started shooting.

V. Conclusion: Never lie, never cheat, and never believe a man.
A. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”