Story Ideas and Writing Prompts

Keara & Alannah

The man stood there, watching us, and saying nothing. Most of the other teens were getting fidgety, but Ali and I were quiet, calm, and still. 

He looked straight at Ali and I, shook his head, and started to speak. "Hello. I am the overseer for this installment of the tournament. I hope you all remember the rules, because if not, I'm not repeating them."

There were some angry murmurs and nervous chuckles, but he silenced everyone with a look. 

"Inspection begins. . ." He glanced at his watch. "Now."

Everyone turned around to face the arena. We stared in awe and confusion. There seemed to be three islands. One had a bridge, slick with oil, with no railings and a few tripwires. The island had a barn, presumably where the goodies were kept. The second one had a bridge as well, just as slick and also missing railings. It had more tripwires and a few pressure plates. The second island looked rather small, and was mostly covered by a small hut. On the opposite side of the island, there was a thin balance bar, not oiled, but thin and slightly treacherous. This bar led to the third island, which had a large barn on it.

Ali and I glanced at each other, making an agreement in a split second. We would be heading for option number two. We readied ourselves to bolt for it. 

"Ready. . ." Said the overseer. "Go."

We took off, noting the majority of people went for island one. We stayed side by side, and when we reached the bridge, moved fluidly across it, in the kind of harmony only twins could achieve. When we reached the end, I glanced back, seeing some people taking the slow and steady route. We entered the hut, and saw shelves filled with goodies. There were backpacks in the corner, watches on a shelf, consoles and video games on another, but the majority had weapons and ammo. I grabbed a bag, and we stuffed as much as we could into it. Pistols? In the bag. Tintendo bs's? In the bag. Retractable knives? In the bag. Once it was stuffed full, and the shelves were partially empty, Ali slung the bag over her shoulder, and left for the starting line. 

I, on the other hand, removed my shoes and stepped onto the beam. I shut my eyes, allowing my other senses to build the world around me. I kept my feet straight, and my arms in a T-shape, to stay balanced, and put me feet where the soft creak of wood could barely be heard over the rush of water. When I reached the other side, I opened my eyes and hopped off the beam, immediately heading for the barn.

 It was dark at first, but as I stepped in, the lights blinked on, revealing a pile of clothes, blankets, and duffel bags. Clothes? What a waste of time. However, I still glanced around, and grabbed the nearest bag. I stuffed some jackets in Ali's and my size inside, and caught a glint of light from the top of the pile. I climbed towards it and saw something amazing. There were three eggs in the middle. Not normal eggs, like chicken or duck. They were huge, about the size of my head. They weren't colored right, either. 

 I reached out towards the nearest one, it was eggshell white with a tinge of scarlet, and felt a rush of heat shoot up my arm. I jerked back, and stared at them. What had I stumbled upon? I glanced about, and grabbed some blankets. I wrapped each one around an egg, a green fleece around the bluish egg, a purple blanket around the egg tinged with scarlet, and a blue one around the egg that was tinged with yellow. I then carefully placed them in the bag.

 I quickly grabbed some pants and shoes as well, stuffed them in, and zipped the bag shut.

I left the barn, and crossed the beam again. This time I went faster, and got to the bridge in less than a minute. I then quickly slid across the bridge, paying no heed to the tripwires, and stopped beside Ali, panting.

"Have fun?" She asked, daintily sipping a juice box.

I waved my fist at her halfheartedly. "You're a sausage."

She gasped in mock horror. "How dare you? I'll have you know, I am a perfectly respectable young lady. At least I'm wearing shoes."

"Challenge one is over!" boomed the overseer. 

I glanced up, and could see someone struggle up onto his feet, and walk back to the overseer. He handed his bag over, and went to stand in line with a bunch of soaked and dripping people. Several more stragglers returned their goods to the overseer, and joined the line. Ali and I, on the other hand, were in a large circle of people, all of whom had bags slung over their shoulders.

The overseer turned to us. "Well done. Someone will be by your cabins in a short time, to make notes of the scores you'll receive."

Ali and I started walking, chatting quietly. 

"I think we got some good stuff."Ali murmured. "What was in the barn?"

"Clothes, mostly." I replied.

"What?!?!" Ali cried.

"Shhhh." I glanced around, seeing people staring at us. "Not so loud. I'll tell you more about it in our cabin."