Alarmed: March 2019 Prompt

Slept through…

Barry/Brenda had three alarm clocks in her living area and kitchen and five in the bedroom. The five in her bedroom, with moving hands, not digital numbers, began with the signal with turning off her iPhone and charging it that signaled getting ready for bed at 9:30 pm. A music alarm to be asleep by 11 p.m. An alarm at 1 a.m. to go to the bathroom and check on her aging dog’s breathing. One at 3 a.m. to check all the doors. A radio alarm at 6 a.m. telling her/him to put on the coffee and snuggle back in bed, listening to the news. And a final 7:30 Must Be Up Alarm.  For naps, she/he used a kitchen timer limited to sixty minutes.

It was the first Friday morning in April, when new flowers were blooming, that the 1 a.m. alarm didn’t go off.  So, …..

Popularity: February 2019 Prompt

Who are they now?

Write a description of the most popular person or the best athlete from high school or college. Write at least 4 lines describing them physically and their personality style, way of being. Were they your friend? Did you like them? Were they a bully to anyone? To you?

Now imagine them as a completely different person. Opposite sex, different physical description. If they were a friend before, this new person is not. If they were kind, this new person is not.

Be sure and include how you felt, in both instances, your own feelings in these scenarios. Which one would make an interesting character in a short story?

Try writing a short short and feel free to post it here for all of us to read.

Cracked Pot: December 2018 Prompt

Window of Understanding

I was dusting the fronts of my bookcase shelves when I accidentally knocked off the  pot made by the head of the art department where I went to college so many years ago. A piece of the flared lip broke off. I could have glued it back carefully. I don’t know what came over me, but I threw the pot on the floor and it smashed into triangles and shards. The “Window of Understanding” on the pot, as he called the blue square outlined on the grey clay, was now in three pieces.

I remember what he said when he gave it to me. He whispered…..

$5,000: November 2018 Prompt

Spare change

Your main character Chelsea (or Thomas) has $5,000 they have saved or inherited. Given these 3 choices what would your character do with the money and why? Some backstory might help you make the decision and help the reader understand their reasoning. We always need to remember that our characters are not us. What would they do if they were a different person than you? Maybe even totally opposite.

1. Pay off their credit cards and put the remainder in the  bank.

2. Give some money to the local legal service which provides legal help such as landlord, overcharges on debts, Spectrum and owing the hospital for surgery for low income people.

3. Give money to a Food Bank or “clothing closet” at a shelter for clothing and warm jackets to benefit the homeless.

The Bully: September 2018 Prompt

Then I said…

Describe the person in your whole life you most remember as a bully.

• Tell the reader about their ears, eyes, brows, chin, shape of face, hair, voice, feet, shoulders, posture.
• If the bully verbally attacked you, write down the phrases still in your head.
• Why after many years do you still remember this person?
• Imagine that you see each other in a bookstore or supermarket or restaurant or on Facebook.

Have a dialogue with your bully in which you begin the conversation.

Source: image pixaby.com

The Envelope: July 2018 prompt

Memories

Bill's mom was on the phone.  She had received an envelope from his wife's mother, Susan.

The envelope, with way too many stamps on the front, was full of small pieces of paper with inked memories of his wife's early years. Should they be alarmed they wondered?