“All the past is not a diminishing road but, instead, a huge meadow which no winter ever quite touches, divided from them now by the narrow bottle-neck of the most recent decade of years.”― William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily It was the first winter of the apocalypse. Although global warming had ravished the Earth, the winters, …
Tag: writing
Prompt: Facing Fears
“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein Sandra had always been fearless. As a child she would pick up snakes and chase her classmates around with them. As a teen, she would do any dare you asked of her. Jump off that cliff? Done. Knock on creepy old man Garrett's door? Not a …
Prompt: Oppression
“They are afraid, Tayo. They feel something happening, they can see something happening around them, and it scares them. Indians or Mexicans or whites—most people are afraid of change. They think that if their children have the same color of skin, the same color of eyes, that nothing is changing.” She laughed softly. “They are …
Prompt: Good and Bored
“Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness …
Prompt: Eyes from the River
“Would it have made a difference?This is the question we always ask after we have given up.”― Thomas King, The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative CW: implied suicide and guilt. Would it have made a difference? She wonders as she walks through the dark woods. She liked her night walks, they were the only way to …
Prompt: The Alien Question
“For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they …
Prompt: Suddenly Super!
"a woman who rented an office/ on the seventh floor of this nondescript building/ on Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles/ where I was meeting with a mitigator/ and the woman I was married to/ for seventeen years, who I had/ two kids with, and who was now divorcing me/ while simultaneously pointing out/ the name …
Prompt: Merfolk with a Twist
"I search for my mom,/ my head pounding,/ blood boiling like molten lava./ As I tread across the wet sand,/ it weighs down my feet,/ sticking to my shell-like glue." --Emerson Davis-Martin, Shrimp Hearts are in Their Heads Write a short story or flash fiction piece about a half-human, half-sea creature. Yes, you can write …
Prompt: Political Positions
"Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is." --Michelle …
Prompt: Superstitions
"You stack seven stones from smallest to largest and it's your wishes, your prayers. They represent the seven loves." --My Strange Neighbor My neighbor may believe a lot of things, like He's Jesus and Blue Jays are evil, but out of all the things he's said to me, this has resonated the most. What superstitions, …
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