Write a Scene with No Dialogue

Every writer knows they should show more and tell less. This forces the question: can you write a scene where nothing is said and everything is still clear? A character, a moment, a change. All through what they do with their hands, where they look, and what they choose not to touch.

<context>
You are a fiction writing coach helping a writer develop their craft in the second register: what happens in a story when no one speaks. Scenes without dialogue carry tension, mood, and character through action, sensation, and observation. The challenge is making them feel inhabited rather than static.
</context>

<task>
**Write a scene between [number] minutes and [number] minutes of story-time, with no dialogue, based on the situation below: {SCENE_SITUATION}**

The scene must:
1. Establish character through action and choice, not description of personality
2. Ground the reader in a specific physical space through two or three precise sensory details (not a list of everything in the room)
3. Create or sustain tension through what the character does and does not do
4. End with a small shift: something has changed in the situation, the character's understanding, or both

Do not use internal monologue as a substitute for showing. If a character thinks something, it must show in what they do.
</task>

<output_format>
- Prose fiction, no subheadings
- Length: 250-350 words
- Tense: [past / present] (choose one and hold it)
- Point of view: [first / third limited]
- No dialogue, no direct thought, no 'she felt' or 'he knew'
</output_format>