DEFLECT

by Matthew Bockholt

Sid kept blabbing about what happened in last night’s game. I’d never seen her so animated in real life before. Preoccupied, neither of us noticed Bruce approach until his foot sent my sandwich flying.

“Hey!” I reflexively shielded myself from his boot probing to try and get at my head.

“Stop it!” Sid jumped to her feet…

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Prompt: A combat scene appropriate for younger audiences.

Max Words: 225

Max Rating: G

POV: Writer’s Choice

Tense: Writer’s Choice

Forbidden Words (any tense): Hurt, attack, fight, quick, sudden, almost, scary, kick, punch, scream, bite, scratch

BACKUP PLAN

by Matthew Bockholt

Grimrod groaned, doubling over.

I searched my pack, red glow leading me directly to a potion. “Hold still,” I said, but failed to pry its cork free. “Oooo!”

He choked and swayed.

“Ah! Got it!” I hurried to hand it to him, but my giant companion collapsed. “Of course.” Sighing, I cringed and knelt between blood…

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Prompt: In a moment of desperation, the protagonist seeks divine intervention.

Max Words: 150

POV: 1st Person

Tense: Past

Challenge: Forbidden word: the

Dawn’s Arrival

Joey and Johnny sit placidly on the worn out couch in the dressing room of CBGB’s while Marky taps his drum sticks incessantly on the carved up coffin used as a makeshift coffee table. Dee-dee’s pacing nearly wears a hole in the concrete floor.

“You might as well relax, man,” Joey says to Dee-dee.

“Can’t,” Dee-dee…

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Calculated Catastrophe

By: Michael Koontz

Kenten watched, with vibrant eagerness, the evil, calculator-stealing Ferox as he passed the device, laughing at Kenten to one of his cronies. If Kenten didn’t get it back soon, he’d never make it to his entrance exam for the Genesis Space Station Advanced Engineering school. He could abandon the…

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Discovery

As the shuttle approached the minable asteroid, Spencer noticed a thin, glistening substance on the rough, porous surface. At first he believed it a rich mineral, one they did not seek but would gladly add to the harvest. Then it moved.

“Something on the surface, sir,” Spencer said over the comms.

“Scanner. Report,” the commander said.…

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BLUNDER

by Matthew Bockholt

Reginald set down his breakfast and walked over to one of the more common plants. “I think it moved.” He turned to us for confirmation and clarified. “I don’t mean in the wind.” When the botanist knelt we all gathered around. “See!” He pointed to now obvious tracks in the mulchy dirt.

The “bush” looked like a…

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Prompt: First contact with an alien species. Describe an incredibly non-earthly lifeform!

Max Words: 150

POV: Writer’s Choice

Tense: Writer’s Choice

Challenge: Forbidden words (any tense):

ugly, large, big, long, small, short, weird, strange, bizarre, odd

IMPACT

by Matthew Bockholt

Everything turned vibrant green. The ooze filled my mouth, nostrils, and ears, silencing the ghastly whispers. Yet I couldn’t breathe in or out. Crisp panic bristled through my veins, but I could only watch as parts of the ship fell away, burned up in the glowing form of Lycaonia devouring the night sky. Lungs begging to…

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Prompt: A scene with at least 1 “Yes, but…” or “No, and…” writing technique.

Max Words: 300

POV: Writer’s Choice

Tense: Writer’s Choice

Challenge: Must use the following words (any tense): vibrant, gloomy, crisp, serene, fierce, wander, ignite, sculpt, whisper, devour, horizon, echo, compass, veil, oasis.

LIMBO

by Matthew Bockholt

Harry checks his watch.

“Stop that.”

“Hour. Tops.”

Suzy frowns and hugs herself.

Kicking another piece of rubble from the rooftop, the unnamed businessman stares at the reddening horizon.

“Can’t we do… something?” Suzy mutters, watching the stranger as if expecting him to jump before returning her glare to Harry with a…

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Prompt: Four survivors anxiously await dawn.

Max Words: 200

POV: 3rd Person

Tense: Present

Challenge: No “be” verbs.

FORTUNE

by Matthew Bockholt

The coin missed my pan and clinked into the alleyway, rolling beneath a discarded advert with ostentatious letters promising twenty platinum—enough for an economical drifter to retire—and bearing The Society’s notorious logo, who offered the bounty to any group of fools—named adventurers—willing to escort an…

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Prompt: Write the first sentence of a story. Introduce the protagonist, main plot, and major conflict.

Minimum Words: 75

Maximum Words: 100

POV: Writer’s Choice

Tense: Writer’s Choice

Challenge: One sentence only. Commas, semicolons, and em dashes for the win!

If you click on the “Discussions” button on the left of this thread, you don’t see any discussions?

Just joined. How do I discover the writing prompt? I do not see any discussions.

DUG

by Matthew Bockholt

Borin Stoneshaper licked the pickaxe for luck before making first strike. As blazing sun crossed cloudless skies, he dug deeper, chasing the glint of quartz into the cool mountainside.

“Started without me, eh, ye dung beetle!”

With an enthusiastic roar, Borin and cousin Thalda struck a toast, pickaxes ringing through the…

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PART TWO OF A TWO PART SERIES

Prompt: Rewrite last week’s scene, but now do some research! Include at least 1 (one) quirky detail that professionals know. Use your extra words to add context and flavor learned in the research.

Max Words: 275

POV: Writer’s Choice

Tense: Writer’s Choice

Challenge: The prompt is the challenge.

DIG

by Matthew Bockholt

Borin Stoneshaper licked the pickaxe for luck before making first strike. As blazing sun crossed cloudless skies, he dug deeper, chasing the glint of gold into the cool mountainside.

“Started without me, eh, ye dung beetle!”

With an enthusiastic roar, Borin and cousin Thalda struck a toast, pickaxes ringing through the…

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PART ONE OF A TWO PART SERIES
Prompt: Write a scene about something real, which you have no personal experience with, and have never researched. Car repair. Flying a jet. Using a firearm. Anything! Don’t do any research. Make it up the best you can.

Max Words: 250

POV: Writer’s Choice

Tense: Writer’s Choice

Challenge: The prompt is the challenge!

SHATTER

by Matthew Bockholt

“I’m sorry, David.”

His confused expression made me hesitate. Could I do this?

Did I have a choice?

The Source flickered. I pulled the lever.

His mouth moved, but alarms drowned David’s final words. Wispy arms of purple light wrapped around my friend.

Gasping, I sprinted for the door, opening to three techies. I shoved past,…

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Prompt: Song Prompt!

https://soundcloud.com/2weimusic/what-a-wonderful-world

Max Words: 300

POV: Writer’s Choice

Tense: Writer’s Choice

Challenge: Include a sci-fi technology.

Very powerful and sad. Thank you for sharing, Barbara!

Nice one, Michael! I love self-fulfilling prophecies.

Watch the copy paste into the replies, it does weird stuff with the formatting. I suggest doing ctrl-shift-V for paste, as that only pastes the next, not the formatting, then you can redo it within the website.

The box. Where did I put the box? I remembered putting it here. I know I did.

I slowly turned in circle. The place always remaining the same. I recognized the room and the things in it. But how did I get here?

My hands. Where did the wrinkles come from? At twenty-two, I should have no wrinkles. The mirror by the door showed a young girl with…

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The Prophetess of Doom<div>By: Michael Koontz</div><div>
</div><div>I closed the door of my foretelling hut, shutting out the sunshine. The spirits did not lie; the last client would live long.</div><div>A fortune teller, yet I couldn’t foresee terrible events. If only I could warn people.</div><div>Knock knock.</div><div>I opened the door to a… Read more

BEFORE AND AFTER

by Matthew Bockholt

I’d seen that car before.

It passed by already.

Hadn’t it?

Lucy pulled the soda from my hands and took a sip.

I glared dramatically at her.

She winked back. “Something bothering you?”

“Red car. Did it drive by a minute ago?” Come to think of it, hadn’t Lucy already taken my drink?

Leaning into the window, she…

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WEEKLY WRITING PROMPT

TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2025

Prompt: An ominous déjà vu.

Max Words: 200

Max Rating: PG-13

POV: First Person

Tense: Past

Challenge: No “be” verbs (be, being, been, were, was, are, am, is)

SANTA

by Matthew Bockholt

Christmas morning offered a traffic-less drive home. I climbed from the car and glared through the dark pre-dawn at the trash cans beside the sidewalk where I left them three days ago. I walked to the entry, keys in hand, then stopped and stared at it, knowing I hadn’t locked it. My brain refused to focus on why. Too…

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Prompt: Christmas morning goes terribly wrong.

Max Words: 250

Forbidden words (any tense): Sparkle, glitter, present (as in gift), paper, surprise, unexpected, shock, cheer

Extra Super Christmas Challenge: Do not repeat any nouns or adjectives. Proper nouns are safe.

Brutally sad.

Thanks for sharing anyway! 😄

Screams permeate a jungle of wind-flapped oxygen masks. Thirteen passengers, two pilots, eight chutes. Seven to die in a nighttime fiery shell, all from a torn off wing. Got to save whoever I can.

I call over the roaring din, “Chute up and grab a child!” None listen.

Four kids, eleven adults. Twelve out of fifteen could live. Three die.

I’ll be…

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WIND
by Matthew Bockholt

THUMP!

I watched the right engine rupture into a blaze. The plane lurched and rolled, sending Kade sprawling into his attacker. I held tight to the seat beside me. Lights flickered, masks dropped from the ceiling, and alarms whined through the cabin.

A second boom erupted into a roar of wind as the left wing…

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DECEMBER 10, 2024 WRITING PROMPT

Prompt: The plane is going down without enough parachutes to go around. The passengers have mere seconds to decide who lives and dies.

Max Words: 150

Forbidden words: Hurry, quick, fast, speed, suddenly, swift, scare, fear, panic

Please post your submission as a reply to this discussion.

Very teenage. Much angst.

I appreciate the rise where we think things will work out, then the fall back to disappointment.

Thanks for the submission!

Teenage Girl’s (Un)Thanksgiving Journal Entry

By: Michael Koontz

Thursday, Nov 28, 2024

Thanksgiving went as it always did; terribly wrong. Right from the start. I’ll explain, but you won’t like it.

Grandpa showed up to our house drunk, grandma let him drive. Mom just shook her head at her parents and my older brother Tom phoned the police on…

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