Daily writing prompts from June 9th, 2008 to December 31st, 2022
Monday May 28th, 2018
The exercise: I've got another theme week in store - this time around it's first line prompts all week long. Today, you writing shall begin with: "You're not allowed in here!"
Mmm, theme weeks, and the added challenge of guessing what inspired them. Clearly today's prompt was inspired by you being stopped at the doorway to one of the public bathrooms you clean in this job and being told you're not allowed in... so I'm guessing that you were stopped by a homeless guy who just didn't want you evicting him :)
You're not allowed in here "Well, it's different", said Bill. He was wearing an artist's smock, a steel blue plasticized poncho with smears and daubs of dull-coloured paint here and there. He was looking up at the lintel of the Temple of Communist Farmers on which a small white placard had been pinned. The text -- in Bulgarian -- read You're not allowed in here. "Normally it's 'Abandon all hope ye who enter,' or 'Here be dragons'." "We had dragons once, right?" said Ben. He was wearing jeans and a soft, grey pullover and carrying a golf-bag over his shoulder. In one hand was a cup of coffee from a national Bulgarian chain store and in the other was a pen-torch. "We had the warning about dragons," said Bill. He placed a hand on the doors of the temple and pressed gently. The doors cracked open, hinges squealing in protest, and a musty, mouldy smell came out in waves. "There were bones in there, as I recall." "Oh yes. Did we ever sort out if they'd starved to death or eaten each other?" "I don't... wait, I remember we picked up some bones to take back and analyse, and then..." "Oh that's right! We bumped into Donald on the train when we were coming back from Folkestone-" "-and he borrowed them from us-" "-and we got them back as cups and plates!" The doors were fully open now and Ben shone the torch inside. A simple entrance hall, lined with mouldy, rotting wood, led inwards. Shadows hinted that there were doors on the left-hand side, and they could just about make out rectangular shapes that might be paintings on the right-hand wall. "What did we do with the plates then?" "Gifted them to Melissa and Tim for Christmas," said Bill. "That was just before they died in that house fire." "Snore-y Melissa?" "Don't say it." "Melissa, I don't miss her." There were a few moments of strained silence, and then Bill walked inside the Temple. "Shine a light," he said. "Let's see what we've got in here then."
Maria and Mariah turned to Ana. "You're not allowed in here!" said Maria. "It's too dangerous," Mariah echoed. "You know that!"
Ana spoke softly. "I know that, but we need to figure out what is going on here. The mayor wants to tear this place down and repurpose it. You know the public can never be allowed in here."
Maria and Mariah looked at each other in alarm. "We had not" "Heard that."
David stirred on the floor. "Echoes. Why are there echoes?"
====================== Couldn't resist incorporating the year-long prompt. I'll post it there, too.
Greg - heh, I think most, if not all, of these prompts had no inspiration relating to my work. But I shall enjoy reading your guesses all the same :)
Always a treat to have a visit from Ben and Bill. And this one seems like you intend to continue it, so I'm extra pleased about that!
Morganna - nicely incorporated! Feels like a natural part of Empires, though now I'm feeling like a} I should really go re-read things, and b) contribute to May's entry before I'm even more ridiculously late to the party.
3 comments:
Mmm, theme weeks, and the added challenge of guessing what inspired them. Clearly today's prompt was inspired by you being stopped at the doorway to one of the public bathrooms you clean in this job and being told you're not allowed in... so I'm guessing that you were stopped by a homeless guy who just didn't want you evicting him :)
You're not allowed in here
"Well, it's different", said Bill. He was wearing an artist's smock, a steel blue plasticized poncho with smears and daubs of dull-coloured paint here and there. He was looking up at the lintel of the Temple of Communist Farmers on which a small white placard had been pinned. The text -- in Bulgarian -- read You're not allowed in here. "Normally it's 'Abandon all hope ye who enter,' or 'Here be dragons'."
"We had dragons once, right?" said Ben. He was wearing jeans and a soft, grey pullover and carrying a golf-bag over his shoulder. In one hand was a cup of coffee from a national Bulgarian chain store and in the other was a pen-torch.
"We had the warning about dragons," said Bill. He placed a hand on the doors of the temple and pressed gently. The doors cracked open, hinges squealing in protest, and a musty, mouldy smell came out in waves. "There were bones in there, as I recall."
"Oh yes. Did we ever sort out if they'd starved to death or eaten each other?"
"I don't... wait, I remember we picked up some bones to take back and analyse, and then..."
"Oh that's right! We bumped into Donald on the train when we were coming back from Folkestone-"
"-and he borrowed them from us-"
"-and we got them back as cups and plates!"
The doors were fully open now and Ben shone the torch inside. A simple entrance hall, lined with mouldy, rotting wood, led inwards. Shadows hinted that there were doors on the left-hand side, and they could just about make out rectangular shapes that might be paintings on the right-hand wall.
"What did we do with the plates then?"
"Gifted them to Melissa and Tim for Christmas," said Bill. "That was just before they died in that house fire."
"Snore-y Melissa?"
"Don't say it."
"Melissa, I don't miss her."
There were a few moments of strained silence, and then Bill walked inside the Temple. "Shine a light," he said. "Let's see what we've got in here then."
Maria and Mariah turned to Ana. "You're not allowed in here!" said Maria. "It's too dangerous," Mariah echoed. "You know that!"
Ana spoke softly. "I know that, but we need to figure out what is going on here. The mayor wants to tear this place down and repurpose it. You know the public can never be allowed in here."
Maria and Mariah looked at each other in alarm. "We had not" "Heard that."
David stirred on the floor. "Echoes. Why are there echoes?"
======================
Couldn't resist incorporating the year-long prompt. I'll post it there, too.
Greg - heh, I think most, if not all, of these prompts had no inspiration relating to my work. But I shall enjoy reading your guesses all the same :)
Always a treat to have a visit from Ben and Bill. And this one seems like you intend to continue it, so I'm extra pleased about that!
Morganna - nicely incorporated! Feels like a natural part of Empires, though now I'm feeling like a} I should really go re-read things, and b) contribute to May's entry before I'm even more ridiculously late to the party.
Post a Comment