HEKnoway's Writing Prompts

World Building

This one will be a little tricky since it requires multiple steps and is not one prompt at a time. Try and bear with me and it should turn into an amazing short story, or maybe even the start of something bigger. 

remember to try and keep each part to about thirty minutes.

Prompt 1- Working on descriptive, world building and the emotions from earlier, follow the instructions and set the stage for your character. Note- try not to outright say what the character is feeling, show the emotion through the words you use to describe

Step one: Your character walks into a living room. Describe your character's appearance and the room. Then have your character pull something out of their pocket. What is it and what do they do with it?

Step two: Have your character leave the room. You can have them continue moving to another room or stay where they are. Where are they now, what does it look like? 

Step three: Add a sense of three dimension (i.e. look on top/under of something, going up/downstairs, laying on the floor, staring at the ceiling) Have your character do something that seems meaningful. Then add another character.

Step four: Have your characters return to the living room. Is there something different from earlier? Have your character reach into their other pocket this time, what do they do with it? (pull it out, leave it, crush it)

She walks into the dark living room, turning the lights on doesn't help much. The dark oak wood walls seem to absorb the light. The bookshelves loom in the corners next to three doors. The couches are the only thing lit by the light from above. The young woman quietly walks to the short wood and glass table in the center of the room and kneels on the tan carpet. Her shoulders hunched as if a giant weight is pulling her down. She takes a deep breath through her nose trying to find comfort from the smells of the room, the woody scent from the walls, a hint of smoke from a candle recently blown out, the faint perfume that forever lingers in the two couches. But none of it helps this time. She reaches into her right pocket and pulls out the small bottle. She gently sets it on the table and pulls forward a blue china teapot that forever sits on the table. Her heart beating in her ears. For once she is glad that person is so old fashioned. Opening the bottle she empties the contents into the teapot.

Putting the lid back on the bottle she hears the floor creak from another room. Her heart stops. Her ears straining to hear if anyone in coming. She quickly puts the teapot back in the center, careful not to clatter it against the table. She stands up and rushes out one of the doors. Hearing movement to her right she runs up the stairs. She avoids the creaks and squeaks with a grace and ease that can only come from years of practice. At the top of the stairs she turns and goes into her room. Closing the door behind her she looks around. Her face fills with disgust at everything. The vanity with fashion magazines, the closet full of outfits he had only worn once, the "hidden" box of pictures of cute guys. None of it was her, it was all a face she put up for that person. She sits down on her bed and looks at the picture on her nightstand. Her family, before her dad died at least. She grabs the top of the frame and lays it facedown. Standing up she walks to the foot of her bed, crouches down and looks under her bed. There is nothing there.

"Looking for this." She hears behind her. Jumping, she hits her head on her bed frame. She pulls back and rubs her head, looking at the door and her mother that stands there with a box in her hands. It's the box that her eyes focus on. It's small and simply decorated but what stands out is the broken and mangled heart shaped lock on the front. Her mother slowly lets it tip out of her hands onto the floor in front of her daughter. Her face a cold mask as she says "It seem we need to talk, my dear." She turns and walk out of the room, leaving her daughter to gather the shredded remains of the letters that were in the box. She stands and her face morphs into one of determination. She walks out of her room, back down the stairs and into the living room again. Her mother sits on one of the couches pouring herself a cup of tea. Glancing up she gestures to the other couch. The daughter sits, reaching into her other pocket and fingers the object found within. Finding the much longed comfort she had been lacking last time she was in this room she slides it onto her ring finger where it belonged. Meanwhile, her mother was saying "I told you to forget about that boy and focus on getting into a good collage. It seems you ignored me so I took the liberty of sending in the applications to a school out of state. Hopefully the change in scenery will snap you out of this ridiculousness." Pausing she takes a long sip from her cup. Her daughter gently smiles and says "Just what I was thinking. Goodbye mother." The cup falls as her mother passes out from the sedative. 

A/N: I cheated a little. I went over my time right at the end because I couldn't leave it at putting the ring on her finger. It seems wrong.