Day 338 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Write about the first glimmer of hope in the midst of destruction.

Shannon: Laughter. That’s what I remember. Days after our lives had been torn apart I thought I’d never laugh again. I imagined I wouldn’t find a reason to even smile anytime soon, I didn’t know if I could remember how. It turns out I did, and I didn’t laugh because of a good joke. I laughed at myself, because I had done something embarrassing. It was weird, because it felt so good I didn’t want to stop.

Erin: Mile 3 of walking I saw a glimpse of the gas station sign and for a second I felt not all was lost.

Things are looking up.

Day 337 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Write about the first time your character experiences something.

Erin: They always say that the first time that you hold your baby in your arms can’t be explained. After experiencing I found out it can’t, that immediate love that feeling of being whole, when you didn’t even know you were empty. It’s true magic, but the magician would not be able to give away the secrets of their trick if he wanted to.

Shannon: “You seem nervous,” the guy sitting next to me observed.”Is this your first flight?”

“It’s that obvious?” I cringed.

He shook his head, “A lot of people get nervous on planes. It was a lucky guess to find out if you were ok. Do you have any question I can answer to make you feel better?”

I guess this was my opportunity. “How do I know when I should be concerned?”

He smiled. “I find when something is out of your control, it’s best to only worry about what you can control and let the rest play itself out. But that’s up to you,” he winked.

“That’s hard,” I admitted.

“But it doesn’t have to be,” he shook his head wisely.

What has your character never done before?

Day 336 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Write about a puppet master.

Shannon: “I don’t really care what you want to do, you owe me. I own you, that’s how this works,” my mentor explained coldly.

“This could ruin his life,” I tried to remind him of his humanity.

“Don’t concern yourself with that. It’s my burden,” he stared, waiting for me to get going. Though it pained me, I did.

Erin: When I was handed the power from my father I knew I wanted to live my life differently. I was not going to abuse my decision-making privilege. It wasn’t until I was literally sitting in his throne that I understood how impossible of a feat that was. With only having a limited sky view knowledge of my subject how was I supposed to manipulate their lives for them. I could try my best to make majority rules decisions, but humans are so complex.

Give us a seat to your puppet show.

Day 335 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Write a holiday tale.

Erin: When the cherry bird went from being a treasured national bird to a threateningly overpopulated nightmare the power knew they had to take drastic measures. Forming a festival and celebration around the hunting season posed it’s challenges. Even they knew, as disconnected as they were, that turning the killing of a once held sacred animal into a holiday was out of the realm of reason.

Shannon: It was the year Christmas never came, and no one seemed to know but me. It was like I dreamed the holiday, but I couldn’t have. Why didn’t anyone remember? How had everyone forgot? It was up to me to remind them, it was up to me to save Christmas.

Tis’ the season.

Day 334 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Let Calum Scott’s “Dancing on My Own” inspire you.

Shannon: I felt like a ghost watching them from the other side of the room. I know I wasn’t supposed to be in the picture, but he said he loved me. Was it so wrong to believe he was telling the truth, even if he was lying to her? I wish he knew how much he killed me every time he left me dancing on my own.

Erin: There is an out of body experience seeing someone you love living out their life with someone who is not you. Your soul feels your still the one with them but your feet are glued to the floor 30 yards away. There is an emptiness. Like a turtle ripped from its shell sometimes all you can do is hope to survive.

Dance on your own..

Day 333 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Start with the sentence: Write about something that only your character likes.

Erin: He likes when his fingers are sticky and he can smash them together and pull them apart. He likes the resistance of the substance making his skin slowly peal apart. It’s oddly satisfying.

Shannon: I know it’s weird, but I’ve always liked waiting in long lines. It makes me feel like I’m part of something important, something worth waiting for. Plus I love finding company amongst strangers.

What does your character not hate.

Day 332 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Write about a mythical creature.

Shannon: “You’re tiny,” his voice sounded like thunder as he lifted me up in his palm.

“Or maybe you’re huge,” I had to shout for him to hear me. Everyone always says fairies small, but I always wondered if we were normal and everybody else was giant. Maybe no one was meant to be that big.

Erin: There was a time when people thought unicorns were a magical concept. Little did they know our world would change and the evolution resulting in them would be inevitable.

Time to get mythical.

Day 331 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Start with the sentence: “It all changed when they surrounded me.”

Erin: It all changed when they surrounded me. The ghosts had a way of making the real people disappear. They had a way of drowning out the world and eventually I was lost too. A speck in the chaos doomed to the same fate as my surroundings.

Shannon: It all changed when they surrounded me. “We’re on your side, don’t be afraid,” a woman stepped forward directing the others to stand down.

“You’re lying,” I kept my hands raised, ready to go down fighting.

“No, we came here for you Anna,” she explained, saying my name for the first time I’d heard it out loud in years. I must have looked surprised, because she smiled. “We still use names. Never stopped.”

The thought warmed my cold heart, yet I still wanted to run. Only how could I escape now? It wasn’t the right time.

One sentence to spark them all.

Day 330 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Write a story to go with the title “It All Happened on a Sunday”.

Shannon: It all happened on a Sunday and it all happened faster then I could comprehend. One minute everything was normal. The next I was in a world I didn’t recognize. They took everything, but left us behind.

Erin: It all happened on a Sunday is a story about a man who wakes up in the hospital after an accident time and time again on a Sunday afternoon. His friendly nurse needs to help him escape the last day of the week and move on with his life, before he gets to comfortable with his perpetual weekend.

Let the title lead the story.

Day 329 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Write a story to go with the title “Boyfriends Without Flaws”.

Erin: Boyfriends without flaws is about a woman of above average intelligence getting sick of the standard hounding about when she will find a husband. That’s why she decides to genetically mutate her current experiments to be worth the trouble of taking on as a mate. Only is too flawless really a flaw in itself?

Shannon: If you had the ability to make any man exactly who you want him to be, would you use it? I mean what could go wrong?

Let the title lead the story.