Today’s is a fun little piece coming at you. I seem to always thing the newest one is the best. Obviously I have been really enjoying this endeavor, even if I don’t always feel like writing them! This piece is particularly fun to me, because I could so see this being my parents.
Today’s Prompt:I told you, my love, there’s a demon in the basement.
Today’s Story:
Honey-Do List
Bob just walked in the door, and his wife greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. “How was your day, honey?”
“Same as usual. I can’t wait until tax season is over and things slow down.” He reply’s. “What about you? Did you have a good day? Do anything eventful? Are there any chores that need taken care of before I relax?”
“It was a good day. I made a pie to go with dinner, caramel apple, your favorite recipe. I called our granddaughter for the recipe. Oh, and your package arrived from Amazon, I left it on the table. Also, there is a demon in the basement, thought you might want to know.”
“That’s nice dear. I will go down after a while and take care of it. I want to see if that is my new computer components first.” He wanders in to the dinning room and opens the box. “It is! I can’t wait to get this set up. I will do that after dinner, and pie! I can’t wait to dig in to that, she has such a great recipe… Alright, something about the basement you said? I will go look into it now.”
She smiles, knowing he didn’t really hear the conversation and starts counting down on her fingers, doubting she will even hit two. Five, four, three…
“AHHHHHHH! What the hell?! What happened?!” He comes flying up the stairs and slams the door behind him. Standing there, he holds the door shut, arms outstretched panting. “There is something not… That…” he can’t finish any sentences.
“I told you, my love, there’s a demon in the basement.” She answers calmly.
Well, there you have it, a fun little piece. I hope you enjoyed! What story does this prompt leave you? Do you ever write people you know? Or write stories and then the characters remind you of people and you totally see the story differently? And if you like what you find here, check out the anthologies I am published in, MN Emerging Writers and the National Edition!
I honestly can’t say I have read Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, I mean… you know me. I am all about tossing any and all rules out the window. They are not telling me what to do! I write however I want!
Speaking of writing how I want… we have to create our own rule. Because ~ there needs to be reasons to use ~ the tilde! And while we are on the topic of rules, you know… they are all made up anyway. I mean… just like words. They are all just a construct. And what is more, open to interpretation! Our perceptions shape how we perceive everything and how we understand anything.
I don’t think I have been lost in my stories, but instead drowning in edits and rewrites! With a submission deadline fast approaching I have had to put everything on hold, including writing new stories, to just get through these edits and rewrites! But I have to say, in the doing, I can see how much my writing has shifted! Things like, this flash fiction every day, I can already see how it is helping my writing improve. Writing is a practice and something you can learn, just like any other skill; but that is a rant for another day.
“Home” was actually written more as a joke for my husband. It is also the closest I have ever been to writing a fan fiction. It was inspired by our wedding vows, and a favorite series that we have both read. I am glad it allows you time to escape that academian pursuits you are locked in for the time being. As far as “Stimulus”, honestly… it was not even what I had planned to write. I was going to write something along the lines of a character going through a clinical trial that was a government conspiracy, but instead… instead something a lot more powerful and poignant came out, and I honestly think it is my favorite pieces to date. I don’t really think much about these pieces, I just look at the prompt and free-write and these pieces are usually start to finish written in around seven to maybe ten minutes.
Well, the edits are calling my name, but I will leave you with this… What of the rules? Are they actually important? Or should writing be a free for all, anarchy in the words?! Because me, personally ~ I lean towards anarchy and making my own rules!
Hey all, sorry I know this is coming at you late today, and I don’t have a story for you, but I will soon I promise! Please bare with me, as I have a submission due date fast approaching! I only have three more stories to finish rewriting and then the grammar edits. Then… I send them off, and hopefully I will be selected to have more pieces published! It is exciting. So that is why I sadly do not have any flash pieces coming at you.
I appreciate your patience! What about you? Do you find that deadlines sometimes make you miss other things that you really want to be doing? Do deadlines ever get you behind schedule in the rest of your life?
Every day I stare out the window and watch the others go about their day. What I wouldn’t give to be able to join them, just once. To just be able to do what every one does. Go to the store and buy some groceries, or just live a day with all of the same mundane things everyone else takes for granted. You know the things… running errands, going to the store, waiting in line at the DMV.
Turning away from everything that I will never do, I curl up with a book that is twice my size, hoping that at least for a few moments I can escape the reality that is. Trying to find some solace in the realms of faerie and high fantasy. I may not be able to do the things you do, but I have traveled more in my imagination than most people could dream of.
“ARGGGG…!” I scream my frustrations at the world. What I wouldn’t give to visit even one place in the books I escape in. Just stepping foot in my back yard is a lot like a high adventure. Danger lurks around every corner, waiting… to just eat me up. Think what you will of me, but you have no idea what it is like to be the size of a teacup.
I hope you enjoyed! What story does the prompt tell you? Please share your thoughts, comments and stories below! And if you like what you find here, check out the anthologies I am published in, MN Emerging Writers and the National Edition!
This is a sad, and yet very fun short little piece. Each time I write these, I can’t help but think each one is a favorite. I really do enjoy writing these and seeing where they take me next.
Today’s Prompt: With that, she walked into the rain and didn’t look back. That was the last time anyone ever saw her.
Today’s Story:
The Proposal
This is it, he thought. Tonight’s the big night, the night he pops the question. He had been planning for months. Every detail meticulously planned. The reservations were in twenty minutes. He had the ring in his coat pocket. As he drove to her house to pick her up, he felt the rising thrum of anticipation! His hands were slightly damp on the steering wheel.
Pulling to a stop in front of her house, he looked up in dismay as the first drops of rain began to fall. Not rain! He thought helplessly, but then, his eyes sparked. She loves the rain. He couldn’t have planned better if he could control the weather himself! Reaching in the back seat he pulled out the umbrella and walked up to her door. Ringing the doorbell he waited patiently. Looking at the house he started to get nervous, usually she would have answered by now. She knew he was coming to pick her up. What if…
The door opened and she smiled at him, a ray of sunlight that melted all of his worries away. “Sorry, was just finishing up. Are you ready?” She asks.
“You look marvelous, worth waiting all day!” He tells her, holding the umbrella, and sticking out his elbow for her to tuck her hand in to.
She laughs, taking his arm, and holding her dress with her other hand. He carefully opens the door and helps her in the car, running around and jumping in himself. Heading for their reservation.
Pulling up to the doors, he hands his keys to the valet and they make their way inside. After they ordered, and had their glasses of wine before them, he looked to the maitre d’ who signaled the musicians to start playing. As the music started to reach a crescendo, he looked to her and pulled the little box from his pocket.
“Lilly… you have become everything to me. Every perfect moment in my life, you are there. So I ask you” he carefully gets up and kneels by her side, holding the ring for her to see, “will you marry me?”
She looks at him dumbfounded. She thought he knew, that he understood. She couldn’t do this! Looking at him, a quiet cry escapes her, and he starts to smile. She gets up and backs away for a moment, staring at him. Fleeing to the doors, she looks back once more, her eyes sad. With that, she walked into the rain and didn’t look back. That was the last time anyone ever saw her.
I hope you enjoyed my take on that prompt. What about you? What story speaks to you when you read that prompt? Please share in the comments below. Remember that if you like what you find here, I am published! You can find my work in a couple of anthologies, MN Emerging Writers and the National Edition!
Another day, another doctor. Seems a never ending circle of tests. Today I was finally supposed to hear back from the last round of tests. Hopefully this will be the last set.
Looking around the waiting room, the faces blur like so much white noise. Looking around, I walk over and find a magazine and sit down with it. Flipping through I see page after page of ads, more white noise. Sometimes I can’t help but feel that life is just one big white noise event. The constant stimuli, the constant battering of information.
Hearing my name I jump a little. Getting up I walk to the nurse standing by the doors. “Sorry about that, seems I was lost in my own little world,” I say with a slight smile.
“Please, follow me.” Her voice yet another drone in the cacophony around me.
She takes me back and checks my blood pressure and pulse. “The doctor will be along momentarily.” She says and leaves me in the sterile room. Such a stark contrast to the noise of the waiting area. So much white around me, it is almost painful after the constant stimulus always coming at us. Almost makes you wonder if they do that on purpose, to unsettle you some.
The brief knock at the door pulls me out of my thoughts. The doctor walks in. “Hello Jordan. You are here for your results, correct?” He asks, shaking my hand.
“Yes. I am hoping that we finally have an answer…” I trail off.
“Well I am to inform you that I am sorry, but the test result is classified. There is nothing further I can do for you. I am terribly sorry.” And with that, he turns on his heel and walks out of the room.
I just sit there, mouth open. Now what?
What did you think? What comes to mind for you when you read the story? What story does the prompt show you? Please share in the comments below! And if you like what you find here, be sure to check out the anthologies I am published in! MN Emerging Writers and the National Edition!
A guest post coming at you from Dreamland’s Insurgents! I hope you enjoy.
Dear Ravyn,
Oh, punctuation! That mad devil. If there’s one thing more abused and misunderstood in our language, it could only be spelling. Have you ever read Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style? If not – don’t! Trying to append rules to the english language is like trying to give a constitution to a clowder of cats. In other words: only busybodies bother!
Emphatically – yes! – punctuation is one of the strongest and most overlooked tools of writers. ee cummings, whose very name causes Microsoft Word to fly into a tizzy, pioneered this direction. His levels haven’t been since paralleled! Every punctuation mark is a sign – telling you – how to read; they too convey inflection, emotion, intensity, speed. A sentence without punctuation is like a train line without stops. Direct, sure. Fast? Of course. Efficient. You know what else is efficient? Fascism. “At least they made the trains run on time.” No: Give me miles of countryside, picturesque towns, afternoons to wander strange foreign streets listening to foreign tongues, meandering, up the occasional difficult hill~ twisting – over bridges – gazing into rivers with the heavens*, reflected. I don’t want to get from point A to point B, I want to get … lost.
Have you been lost in your stories lately? I enjoyed “Home” very much (probably why the cat analogy came so readily). I appreciate how the imagination in your stories allows me the time and space to get away from the scholarly pursuits with which I’ve been laden lately. “Stimulus” is one of your stories that strikes me as a good merger of imagination and real-world experience. You managed to make a dreary setting feel literally abuzz with activity and sound and heavy with the burden of emotion. Can you tell me more about how such an immersive story occurred to you? Perhaps not a “muse” story (nor an “amusing” one, though one I’m musing over, for sure), but I’d like to know more about your inspiration.
Well, this insurgency must hit the books again. This uprising never ends! Be seeing you there, perhaps – in the table of contents! Ha!
Punctually yours,
Dreamland’s Insurgents
What do you think? Do you rely on punctuation for the tool it is? What would be found in your table of contents of questions? Please share your thoughts and ideas with us!
No matter where she went there were always cats. Her whole life had been that way. She just figured that she had some natural affinity for cats, seeing as they always found her. But it was never like this. Never in her life had she witnessed so many cats in one place.
Their eyes glowed brilliantly in the darkness. There were hundreds of eyes peering out at her through the darkness in the alley. How many she couldn’t even hazard a guess.
She took a careful step in to the darkness of the alley, allowing it to envelope her like a well worn cape, and that is when she first stumbled upon him. He stepped up to her, taking her hand gracefully and putting it to his lips, kissing it gently.
“Welcome to my humble home,” his voice a whispered caress. It was more than a welcome, she knew she was finally … home.
Short and sweet, just the way I like them. What do you think? What comes to mind when you read the prompt? What story speaks to you? Please share in the comments below! And if you like what you find here, consider looking into the anthology I am published in, you can find it in the MN Emerging Writers and the National Edition!
So this one could go either way… just depends on how you want to read it.
Today’s Prompt:“I like your hair.” He looked her up and down. “Can I have a piece?”
Today’s Story:
Just a Piece
Taking the subway home every night was better than finding parking for her car, but it meant riding with so many strangers. By the time she was able to head home at night, some of the crazies seemed to be the only ones on the train with her. Today was no exception.
Tonight though, he was there again. It seemed like he was there every evening and he spooked her. Not overly tall, yet burly with a presence that seemed to fill the train. He never got too close, but he was always watching. Not just her, but she couldn’t help but feel like he was giving her more attention than anyone else. Maybe that was just paranoia, but… a single girl, out after dark in the city, she needed to be paranoid.
As the train was slowing, she stood to get off, and noticed he stood as well. Moving close to her as she was about to get off the train he leaned close and said “I like your hair.”
“Ummm, thanks…” she croaked out. Her hair was her crowning glory, a beautiful shimmering copper that you could never get from a box.
“Can I have a piece?” He asked, just as the doors opened. There was a glimmer of something, deep in his eyes as she stared at him, her mouth open in shock. She couldn’t even step away, the shock holding her next to him.
After she stands there, frozen in a moment of time she will never forget the doors start to close. She sticks her hand between them, keeping them open long enough to dash through. Stopping on the platform she turns and watches him. He just stands where she had left him, grinning at her through the window on the doors, as the train starts to move once more.
Shuddering, she makes her way home, vowing never to take that train again.
There you have it. What does the prompt bring to mind for you? Please share in the comments below! We love to hear from you! And if you like what you see here, take a moment and check out the anthologies I am published in! The MN Emerging Writers and the National Edition!
So today’s Prompt is for a contest I stumbled upon. I know this is going to have some editing before submission because as I finished and came up with a title I totally had a marvelous idea! So I can’t wait to see how this piece grows, but here you have it in all its raw glory.
Today’s Prompt: As he stepped off the bus he paused and gave me a look. And, without a single word uttered, I understood his full meaning: “This is where you get off.”
I had followed him since fifth avenue. Don’t ask me why, he just seemed… intriguing. No, that isn’t right, but there was just something different about him. He was off somehow, not in a bad way, although I am sure he was dangerous, but more along the lines of I couldn’t help myself. There was just something about him that drew me.
As he stepped off the bus he paused and gave me a look. I got up and followed him, he went in to the cutest coffee shop. One I had never seen before, and I live in this neighborhood, so how had I missed this? After getting his coffee, nodded at me, waiting. Getting my own cuppa, I follow him back to the bus stop as we get on once more.
He waits till I find a seat and he settles himself next to me. I can’t help but keep glancing over at him. I know better than to say anything, there is just something about his presence that stops me.
We ride around this way for a time. With the final stop fast approaching, he slowly stands. Looking at me a final time he moves towards the doors. And, without a single word uttered, I understood his full meaning: “This is where you get off.”
As I said, this one I want to shift a lot… had some great ideas with this piece and really enjoy the challenge. What about you? Where does this prompt take you? Please share in the comments below! And if you like what you find here, consider picking up the anthology’s I have a story in; the MN Emerging Writers and the National Edition!
Random Acts of Writing 