Plot and Story Elements

Hmmm. My plot example seems kind of wimpy. I didn't really fall in love with the three sentences, three words per line idea. I mean, yes it is a concise way to tell a story but... it seems so... boring that way!!!

How did we get here?

The woman in the passenger seat of the Dodge Grand Caravan slapped her husband’s arm and he slammed on the breaks seconds before crashing into the car in front of him. Instead of watching the road his eyes had been taking in the chaos in the backseat. His four children were throwing goldfish crackers at one another and giggling hysterically. The man’s wife snapped at him, “Just watch where you’re going!” before opening a Parents magazine and starting to read. “We could have been at the beach if you hadn’t forgotten the beach bag.”

A man and woman in a silver Saturn Ion held hands across the consol while reminiscing about the past week’s events. Their seven-day honeymoon on the beach had been the perfect way to unwind after a year of hectic wedding plans. Now they were returning to the city with mixed emotions, sad to be leaving behind a bit of paradise but eager to get back to the city and begin their lives together

What was supposed to have been a mundane Sunday morning in her seaside getaway on the Delmarva Peninsula quickly turned into a nightmare for Beth. After her mother’s frantic phone call to her cell this morning to inform her that her father had suffered a heart attack while going out to get the paper this morning, she was in a hurry to get to the hospital to be at his side. She gripped the steering wheel with one hand and dabbed her eyes with a Kleenex with the other while recalling the day her father helped her move into her first home and kissed her good-bye. On that same day he told her how he wasn’t sure how he would ever adjust to her being so far from home.

Josh could hardly maneuver his black Ford Escape and keep his eyes on his wife at the same time. It seemed like a great idea to come to the beach to unwind a bit before the baby came next month. But now here he was, stuck in traffic with Liz curled up in the fetal position in the backseat. They’d just finished breakfast when Liz complained of sharp pains. They passed but four minutes later she was again doubled over, gasping for breath. Now, here they were, stuck in traffic, contractions coming every three minutes and Josh looking frantically for an opening in the traffic that could get his wife safely to the hospital before the baby came.

Plot in Three Sentences, Three Words
Mother loses Baby
Mother looks for Baby
Mother finds baby