Day 252 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Write about a magician who’s in love.

Shannon: “Pick a card any card,” Ron held a deck of cards in front of my face.

I sighed and did as he asked. “Now what?”

He smiled, “Put it back. Wherever you think it should go.”

I put it in the middle. He always tested out new tricks with me. I was excited to see where this one was going. I always thought he was so original, and I knew he’d have his own show someday.

He surprised me as threw the cards in the air and we watch them rain down over us. He turned one over that landed on my lap. “I believe this is your card, but there are words on it. That’s weird.” He shrugged a shoulder.

Somehow he got it right. It was my card. As I looked closer I read, “Will you marry me?”

Erin: “And say hello to my lovely assistant,” I opened the door and she was gone.

The crowd went silent, but so did my brain. I ran to the side of the stage. I pulled the stage curtains closed myself.

“What are you guys trying to pull,” my manager asked.

“Nothing,” I panicked. He had no idea my magic wasn’t just a show.

“Where the hell is she,” he started to lose his patience.

“I don’t know,” a tear dropped from my eye. I ran back to the box and tried to remember how I lived life before her. I needed my girl back, but didn’t know where I had sent her.

Other than magic what love is there?

Day 251 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Write about a haunted carnival.

Erin: I’m the sole survivor of the carnival. Those who were not scared away found their way to a swift death. Why am I okay? Because I don’t run when the transparents come my way. I welcome them, I go on rides with them, and slowly I maybe am becoming one.

Shannon: I covered my head as I burrowed into my boyfriend’s shoulder for protection. I wouldn’t let myself look up until I felt the ride stop, and even then I was hesitant to open my eyes.

“It wasn’t that scary, was it,” he questioned, as I looked around afraid of the image that might sneak up on me.

“You weren’t scared of the girl on the tracks. Her face was terrifying.” I tried to push the picture out of my mind.

“What girl?”

I felt my blood immediately rush through my veins, “Are you joking, because this isn’t funny?” He shook his head, genuinely. “We need to leave, now,” I demanded.

Reveal your spooky carnival.

Day 250 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Pick out a theme song for your character’s life.

Shannon: “Suddenly I See” by KT Tunstall

Erin: “Crying in the Club” by Camila Cabello

What song encompasses a day in the life of your character?

Day 249 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Write about a society that uses something unique as currency.

Erin: The thing about money is that it is only paper and cheap metal. When the value of it returns to just that, all prestige from wealth dissipated. When the value of the dollar was diminished to that of dust that’s exactly what happened. The only value of a citizen was the goods they could produce and the services they could provide. If one of ours couldn’t trade their value for what others could provide they were on their own. There was no easy way out. Life was hard and working to get work back was an exhausting cycle lacking rest.

The rich became poor and the poor became rich. The famous couldn’t get the time of day from anyone, and those who made a living off of their trade suddenly knew the only professions that counted in an eye for an ear society.

Shannon: In my town we pay for things with potions and spells. Magic is the currency because when you can conjure up everything you could ever need, who needs money? You do have to be good with spells, if you’re going to sell them. Keeping up a good reputation is very important. Otherwise, no one will buy your goods, and you have to come up with a different way to survive.

What type of bacon do your characters bring home.

Day 248 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Write a scene that addresses skin color.

Shannon: “You have spots on your skin,” the student next to me observed in a whisper. He seemed so aloof normally. I couldn’t believe I let him of all people catch me.

“I spilled some dye on it this morning. By the time I found it, I couldn’t get it off,” I recited the lie my family helped me come up, but that I never had to use until now.

‘Then why did you skin look the same way a week ago? You’re not supposed to be here, are you?”

Lying at this point didn’t seem smart, “Who did you tell,” I questioned, pleading for mercy with my eyes.

“I didn’t tell anyone, and I’m not going to, but you need to be careful. Don’t let them take you,” he warned, seeming to know more then he was willing to reveal.

Erin: “How come I can’t wear the dresses like the other girls in my class?” The youngest of my sisters was cute enough to be in commercials. She was made to wear dresses, we knew this because she owned some. My mother bought them for our family celebrations. I insisted that the cost was not worth the slim chance we got to wear them, but our mother found joy in those few days we could.

“You know we must cover our arms,” I tried to pull her right off the topic.

“Why? What’s wrong with purple,” she still didn’t know. She didn’t know that our arms were a sign of our past. Our mother’s contamination was a color that would be painted on our ancestors for years to come.

“There is nothing wrong with us sweetie. It just tells a story that not everyone is accepting of,” I tried to be vague.

“What story,” she continued to push.

“A story of choices, and places. You’ll learn more in time,” I promised. I could only hope the rest of society would as well.

How is skin color viewed in this society?

Day 247 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Write about a character who flips from harmless to dangerous.

Erin: My least favorite part of having Chris as a brother was the fact that no one ever trusted me. When I told them that he was a terror, all they could think was the time he volunteered at the school fundraiser. When I told them he scratched me, they remembered when he carried his hurt teammate off the field. They didn’t know about the force field of our front door. Chris at home was a beast completely disconnected from the angel he was to the public.

Shannon: “Calm down, you don’t have to do this. You’re not this person,” I reminded Eric as I watched him pace around the room, clutching his head. He was trying to stop himself, but I could see his claws growing and his teeth sharpening. He was already transforming, and I couldn’t stop him now.

I’d usually leave, lock the door, and pretend that would keep him from hurting anyone. Not this time. I had to face him, even if I was scared of getting hurt. I had to learn how to wake him up when he turned into this monster who couldn’t see what he was doing. Not just because he was terrorizing other people, but because it was haunting the good side of him too. That side didn’t deserve that kind of pain.

I watched his head turn slowly to focus on me with his red eyes. He let out a roar, and when I didn’t react he came running over to me. My heart was racing, but I’d fight him if I had to. “It’s me, it’s Amber. I’m you’re best friend,” I kept my voice steady as his breathing got heavier and he continued to growl.

“We used to walk home from school together everyday, do remember that Eric?” He lunged forward and I stepped aside. “I was there when this first started happening to you, and you were scared, but you got through it,” I spoke a little faster this time. He raised his hand, as if he was going to slap me. “You won’t hurt me Eric,” I kept eye contact. “Because you love me and I love you, and you’ll get through this too, because I know you’re in there. I know you can hear me.”

He lowered his hand and looked to the side. Though he flinched once to raise his hand again, he made eye contact and stopped himself. He was there, I was right.

Flip your character’s switch.

Day 246 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: What are your character’s main expenses.

Shannon:

1. Rent
2. Insurance
3. Food and Drinks
4. Bills
5. Toiletries and Cleaning Supplies
6. Pet supplies
7. Restaurant bills
8. Clothes
9. Makeup
10. Decorations
11. Crafts
12. Comic Books

Erin: Trading cards, CDs, Snickers bars, Arcade tokens, and Stickers.

Where is all the money going?

Day 245 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: What is your character’s life motto?

Erin: It ain’t over till the fat lady sings

Shannon: Don’t rely on the branch, rely on your wings.

Reveal some words to live by.

Day 244 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Write about the similarities in two very different characters.

Shannon: “The two of us aren’t that different, you know.” He looked as if he was holding onto something he could barely will himself to get out.

“I’m nothing like you,” my jaw tensed.

He took in a breath as has he looked up, “We both never eat the M&M’s in the trail mix, while everybody else is avoiding the raisins. We both have terrible memory of the past because we can’t ever seem to agree on that. You’re completely content with being alone, because you’d rather read a book, and as it turns out we have the same taste in those too.”

I didn’t know how to feel about what he just admitted. “You know all of that about me?”

“Don’t make it a thing,” he gave a quick shrug before walking away.

Erin: The only thing they had in common was their lack of any commonalities. Well that and their love of ice-cream.

What’s the one piece of common ground?

Day 243 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Be inspired by the Randy Pausch quote. “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the game.”

Erin: She was the kind of girl who never got upset. At least if she did she wasn’t the kind of girl who reacted when she got upset. She was stone faced no matter if everything was going to shit or if everything was going her way. She was the definition of stability.

Shannon: I was born with a desire to act, but I soon learned after many auditions that I didn’t have the look of a main character. I was always a sidekick, a buddy, or any other supporting character. Good enough to deserve a part, but never worthy of the best one, and there wasn’t anything I could do to change it.

Then one day I decided to stop auditioning to fit into their roles. I started searching for characters like me, and not the ones hiding in the background. They had to be the lead. It wasn’t an easy search, but my characters where out there. I could shine a light on them, and I did.

What’s in your character’s cards?