In this prompt from Maris McKay, there are two very distinct characters in just eleven words. That is commendable and I think she did well in conveying that as she did.
Rightly or wrongly, the first character has a high self worth. It could be situational. It could be a constant in their life. It depends a lot on who the first person is. They could be the head of a company or even a country who is being treated differently than they normally would expect. Or they could be someone temporarily put in charge of something. It’s also possible that they have earned respect through achievements or elegant words. What ever the case is, they are used to getting respect and they are confused as to why they aren’t getting it in this situation.
Then there is the second person. Whomever the first person is, there are well aware of it. How long they have known is unknown and even why they know doesn’t seem important. Mostly because they deem none of this to be important, so why should they allow any of the particulars to be important.
The first person may or may not be important in general, may even be important to the second person, but whether in general or just in that moment, they simply don’t care. They have something to do, somewhere to go, some sort of goal to accomplish and whatever it is, the first person is in their way. It could be as simple as not showing the deference the first person is owed or thinks they are owed. Or it could be more complicated such as not following instructions of someone in charge. Either way, the respect expected is not given and these two are at odds with each other.
With so little hear, it would be easy enough to slip this bit of dialogue into a story. Think of your own characters for your own stories. Are their characters whom this dialogue would fit? Can you see a situation where your characters would react this way?
