Cedar Sanderson

Week 34 of Odd Prompts

Stop the world, I want to get off. Not for long. I just really want to sit down and write this story that’s in my head, and finish the art piece I started at the end of last week, and all these other annoying things like eating and sleeping keep interrupting me.

If you aren’t like that, and you need a little nudge to get there, here’s the prompts for the week! Join me in nospace and nowhen and we’ll create things together.

PrompterPromptPrompted
AC YoungAfter a long search he finally found a phoenix egg.Cedar Sanderson
Fiona GreyWithin the cauldron was…Leigh Kimmel
BeckyJonesThe rain fell sideways as you stared at the rushing river that used to be your street. As you stared up the street you saw something huge swimming toward you.BeckyJones
Leigh KimmelYour dream job turns into a nightmare when you arrive at the gate only to discover you’re just going in circles.nother Mike
nother MikeShoppers were surprised to hear the announcement, “Fireballs in Aisle 4! Cleanup mops on Aisles 3 and 5!”AC Young
Cedar SandersonOne step too far, and there’s no turning backFiona Grey

If you didn’t send in a prompt, but you’d like to get away from it all, there’s always spares.

SpareThe vice clamped on his head was the source of the headache, all right.
SpareJust like that weird Earth lizard, Jack discovered the aliens operated just fine without their tails.
SpareThe feather was dyed black, and speckled with drops of rust that she refused to believe were blood.
SpareWhen the Bears football team started playing that season, the center was a real bear…
SpareA witch, a sorcerer, and a vampire walk into a bar…
SpareWhen the teenage werewolf came out of the closet, the biggest problem the school had was deciding which changing room he should use…

No pressure. No wordcounts. It doesn’t even have to be in words. Just creativity…

Remember to come back to earth and check in on the prompt responses in the comments. Then send in your prompt for next week to oddprompts at gmail dot com. If you can’t commit to a challenge, put spare in the subject line.

See you next week!

19 comments

  2. In this week’s prompt rearrangement I got nother Mike’s offering: Shoppers were surprised to hear the announcement, “Fireballs in Aisle 4! Cleanup mops on Aisles 3 and 5!”

    Interesting. It proved a little tricky to find a set-up that I thought fitted the prompt. I eventually went with the following short offering.

    —

    Sophia was rushed off her feet. She was nearing the end of her five-hour shift as floor manager at CFS (widely mis-expanded as ‘Cheap Food Supermarkets’), and was exhausted.

    CFS paid their floor managers well, but also systematically under-staffed the rest of their stores. It meant that she spent her shifts constantly fire-fighting, always rushing to solve the last problem before the next one appeared on her plate. If it wasn’t for the pay she’d have resigned months ago – but no-one else would match her current salary, and she had bills to pay.

    She was just reaching for the microphone to inform the customers that the store had a brand new type of heavily overspiced meatball for sale – brand name Fireballs – when a customer ran up and informed her that there had been a spillage in aisle 3. Yes, someone had dropped a couple of cartons of eggs, and they’d smashed all over the floor.

    Sophia reassured the customer that she’d get someone onto it quickly, and started to pick up the microphone again. The next thing she knew another customer was complaining about smashed jars of pickles in aisle 5.

    Having dealt with that complaint she finally managed to pick up the microphone. “Ladies and gentleman, we have Fireballs in Aisle 4! Cleanup mops needed on Aisles 3 and 5!”

    As she put the microphone down she realised that she’d messed up the announcement, and it probably didn’t make any sense to any of the customers. Oh well, she could see the flashing light denoting a problem at the checkouts. Better deal with that before the next issue arose.

    Only another half-hour to go…

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  4. After a bit of juggling, Becky Jones suggested…

    The rain fell sideways as you stared at the rushing river that used to be your street. As you stared up the street you saw something huge swimming toward you.

    Okay, one quick draft…

    The newscaster chuckled as she assured us that it wasn’t the end of the world, just tropical storm George, dumping rain and winds on us all. Henrietta shook her head, and looked out the bay window. She loved that window, but it was creaking and groaning in the winds. The rain fell sideways as she started at the rushing river that used to be the street in front of the house, in the little suburb where she lived. Then, as she stared up the street, she saw something huge swimming toward her.

    She blinked, and looked again. It was still out there, tentacles flailing, pushing a small wave of foaming water ahead of it, as it swam toward her. And when it hit the corner of her driveway, it turned, letting the water flow away, and started humping across her swampy front yard towards the house.

    Now she screamed. But she could hardly hear herself, over the wind moaning around the house, and the rattle of rain pounding down everywhere. She grabbed the phone, but then she stopped. Who do you call when a tentacled monster is swimming up to your front door?

    (Or maybe…)

    She blinked, and looked again. Then she laughed at herself. It was a VW bug, gamely pushing through the river of mud filling the street. She wondered just who would be idiotic enough to be out in this… then the bug turned into her driveway and stopped. After a moment, the driver’s door popped open, and a large black Umbrella poked out and opened. Then someone got out, huddled under the umbrella, and slowly fought their way towards the house. It couldn’t be…

    (Who the heck would it be? Okay, what about…)

    She blinked, and looked again. It couldn’t be, could it? She remembered those old movies, with Godzilla swimming out of the ocean, and destroying cities. This wasn’t quite that huge, but it was still that same craggy face and body, a dinosaur torn out of time by nuclear waste. And it was coming her way…

    (Or what about…)

    She blinked, then ran to the door and pushed it open against the wind whistling in. She ignored the rain splashing into the house, and yelled.

    “Get in here right now! What are you doing out on a day like this?”

    Garvey quit paddling against the river, and shoved himself up, shaking his head and sending muddy water flying every direction. He lifted his arms, and laughed.

    “This is a great day for me! I love rain, and the wind just helps make it fun! Besides, no one else even noticed me.”

    (Hum, maybe…)

    (Drat, this is too much fun pushing various monsters or non-monsters into the river and seeing what happens. Which monster do you like?)

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  9. Argh. The crazy little commentator in the back said, hey, why don’t you try a poem? Well…

    It’s raining, it’s pouring,
    The road out front is roaring,
    The monsters come, they’re chewing gum,
    Our home is flooded, it’s so dumb,
    What can I say, they’re here to stay,
    Everyone’s sitting down to play…

    Hey, I didn’t say it was a good poem!

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