I Know I'm Not the Only One

`
My latest post is up at the humor blog, An Army of Ermas. Come read about my secret...
`
photo courtesy theflowermillflorist

I'll Take a Prompt, Please

In the last few weeks I've discovered how much I enjoy writing prompts. That is, when you take the one-word or sentence suggestion from someone and write something about it.

I first followed a prompt here, coming up with a short fiction piece called Shayna's Secret. That particular exercise was a lot of fun, and I got great feedback.

And earlier this week, Angie Ledbetter posted a picture on her blog. In the picture was a brightly painted bus and, if you looked closely at the sign, you could see its destination was a cemetary. Angie called her readers to write a plot blurb about that bus, or the people on that bus, and why they may be going to the cemetary. She considered it a contest, and I found out today I share the trophy with a few others. Thanks, Angie! It was another exercise I really enjoyed. Here's my blurb...

She knew the bus ride was significant, for it represented her transportation between two lives. The destination awaiting her, the cemetery, meant the end of one life, the beginning of another. She’d say goodbye to the woman she used to be, there, at the small headstone engraved with her given name. And there she’d take on her new name, embrace her new self, begin the new life she had no choice but to live...

So it's now that I want to ask my readers for more prompts. Do you have any ideas you'd like to see me flesh out? Give me a word or phrase, or a sentence, and I'll do my best to come up with something. I only ask that you keep in mind what you already know about me, and keep your requests wholesome and clean (scary or offbeat is okay). Depending on the response, I may not be able to use all the prompts, but I'll span them over the course of several days.

So. Have any good ones for me?

Shayna's Secret

I mentioned in this week's Stuff and Things (see two posts down), that kimmirich tagged me with a writing prompt. The idea was to start with the word or concept of secret or laughter or tears, etc., and expound upon it, in whatever way I wished. I chose secret, and here's what I came up with...

Shayna's Secret

She was sitting with her knees drawn to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. Her ear was tuned to what lay beyond her confines, but, for the moment, she could hear only the rapid beating of her heart. She took a few deep breaths, willing a calmness to envelop her. And as her pulse slowed, her eyes began to adjust to the darkness of the closet in which she sat.

She deftly reached for the penlight she’d tucked into the back pocket of her jeans. Once the beam illuminated her small surroundings she grabbed for the book, the one tucked into her husband’s hip-wader boot. She flipped through the paperback, finding the dog-eared page from her last reading. Repositioning herself to Indian-style, she laid the book over the cross of her legs, letting the thin ray of light rest upon its words.

Her free hand moving with grace, she pulled the chunky coffee mug to her lips. She tasted a sip, not even trying to suppress the small sigh that escaped her lips.

Ahhh. This is it, she thought.

She’d been looking forward to it all day. It was her moment of peace. In this little space, this secret place her family hadn’t yet realized she’d claimed…



If you feel an idea stir, write your own piece following the guidelines above. And let me know what you come up with.