Funnily enough... I want to do writing exercises again

While I did a bunch of writing/rewriting last year, I found that in the time between or when I'm not writing at all, I still needed to do something. So I'm starting up the writing exercises again. And I can also post all the SCBWI CenCal events going on with reports on how they went. Why not?!

I just did a writing exercise and wanted to post it. I feel a little out of practice but that's okay. They're not meant to be edited - unless they lead to a story. :-)
Please join in here or in the comfort of your own writing space, if you'd like.

Writing Prompt: console, gutter, recruit, snotty

     A snotty teen, thinking he knew everything, decided to join the army. With no knowledge of it, outside of movies and video games, he signed up at the recruiter's office.

     Wailing began outside in the gutter. The teen's mother was beside herself and couldn't bear to have her only child go off to war.

     A sergeant went outside to console the mother. He'd been through it enough. He knew exactly what to say.

     The teen watched horrified from the waiting room.

     Nothing the sergeant said could convince or quiet the grieving mother. She was certain she'd never see her son again.

     The teen, so touched by the love his mother displayed, decided to go home and discuss it some more with his family.

     The boy helped his mother home. When they got there, the remains of a bomb-destroyed house was all that was left of their belongings. Including the husband and father. Their whole street looked like a war zone.

     The teen's newly widowed mother stared in shock. Tears ran down the boy's face.

     They turned around. Together, hand in hand, they walked back to the recruiter's office.