Story Prompt: Don’ t Look

Prompt from waaaaayyyyy back in the day. But it’s a good one so here it goes:

Date:         Tue, 22 Mar 1994 18:35:01 JST
Subject: EXERCISE: Don't Look! Don't...

You looked! And now the demons in the message are going to run wild...

Another well-aged situation, but still timely. I usually remember it as
the Pandora gimmick (bet you heard of it, eh?)

Start by picking your character. Go ahead, anyone you like.

Now, the action starts with someone saying "Don't do this." Up to you
as to what "this" is - going downstairs, going out after dark, staying
home alone, hitchhiking, opening a box, looking in the attic, wearing
curlers in your sleep, voting republican, taking the sales sticker off
the mattress... that's half the fun.

The other half is coming up with the reason for your character breaking
the rule. Is it simple curiosity, accidental, or just time for youngens
to break loose?

Then you get another half - what happens? Do they get their just
rewards? unjustly overwhelmed? or perhaps nothing?



a simple truth

The thing I dread the most

is the day I tell myself

I never loved you, either.

Dread: Write about doing something you don’t want to do.

Sip

It’s “World Water Day”
The Angel of Death, poisoning a river, representing typhoid.

The Dance

The Hanging Tree situated on a mound above Finlarig Castle, Killin, Scotland . Used for those not of noble birth.

In all of the pictures I’ve seen of public hangings, the sun is always shining.

Most of the people  in the crowd are smiling,

their faces burning  bright and hot with excitement and expectation,

are tilted up towards the gallows.

Upon the stage, the Soloist  waits for their cue

and when it finally  comes

at  last

under a cloudless and blue sky

they begin their dance,

tapping their toes  to music that nobody else can hear.

Photographer Unknown

Sweets

The Unrequited love poem: How do you feel when you love someone who does not love you back?

Love

does to the Soul

what too much sugar does to your teeth

and all of the promises and gifts

can stop the rot it will cause.

Woman in front of Setting Sun
Caspar David Friedrich

The Perfect Day

Prompt:  What does a perfect day look like for you right now?

 

Any day when the sky is glowing orange

the air is quiet  and

 I am out walking my dog and it feels like we are all alone in the world

Is a perfect day.

Woman in front of Setting Sun Caspar David Friedrich

Best of 2024

Journal Prompt: Reflecting on the Past

  1. What are three moments from 2024 that made you feel truly alive?

Photo A.M. Moscoso

Last year I decided to take the guitar back up.

I haven’t played in an embarssing amount of time, so I knew it was going to be chore to get my hands back into shape. I had to go back and work on sight reading too. 

I practice when I’m waiting for my dinner to cook, for my laundry to dry, I practice when I feel like I want to feel connected to a world that breaks to bits day by day.

There are other times when I practice and play because it brings me joy .

Paws

Daily writing prompt
You’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, car, or bike?

If I could travel the world, I’d want to travel them on a set of cat’s paws.

 

Here Now

In some horror films, there is a scene when the monster pulls it’s mask off and everyone gasps in horror at what they see- they gnash their teeth and cry that they can’t believe someone they knew or loved was the horror standing before them.

I feel like that’s what happened after Convicted Felon Donald Trump was elected.

People looked at their friends and loved ones and neighbors and said, ” I can’t believe you voted for that hateful man”

But it’s time to call that out: Nobody was surprised by their loved ones voting for someoene like Convicted Felon Trump.

What people are surprised by was that they never thought that hateful bs would fly back and hit them in the face. They thought these people would just rant and rave about ” THOSE people ” getting above themselves at Thanksgiving and that they would make stupid comments about holidays like Kwanzaa on social media. No harm, no foul.

I think what most people are shocked by was that they never really had any idea how deep that hate in the people they loved went- and if that hate was so deep rooted and they were so commited to it- was there a chance, even a small one that their very own loved one, their dearest friend could turn that darkness on them.

The answer is yes.

That fact is being proven every single second of the day.