11 January 2014

Today was a spectacular day with the Book Bandits. It got off to a bit of a rocky start, as you will see below, but the output from everyone was spectacular.

The prompts are:
1. My muse is silent but, the siren beckons.
2. They say that we were poor but I never noticed
3. Turns out he never said that at all

Begin Writing
This is a prompt writing group. The prompts are meant to be inspirational. Today’s prompts are mine. I brought them. I have no one to blame but myself. My muse is silent and I haven’t even spotted the siren yet.

My comrades here are all non-judgmental for the most part but, there was some good natured judgment directed my way by almost everyone when they heard these prompts. I thought I heard Tom say, “These are the stupidest prompts I have ever encountered.” I glared at him but, it turns out he never said that at all. I guess I owe him an apology for all the things I was thinking. Sorry Tom.

I often jump to conclusions and act out irrationally. My therapist says it’s how I was raised. You see, we had three rules to live by growing up:

Act now! You can always apologize later (Sorry again, Tom).
Always cover your back and the backs of your family (OK, that’s sort of a two part rule but the parts go together).
Never play cards with a man called Doc.

We never had much when I was growing up. Probably this was because my dad played cards with Doc Thompson every Friday night. Always waiting for that one good hand. Folks said we were poor but I never noticed because we always had each other.

OK… there was a fourth rule too. It was also a compound rule though. You know, like two rules in one. It was my granddads rule:

4. Never admit to being intelligent or having a driver’s license.
Time is up. Put down your writing implements and step away from the paper.

Well, that was a challenge. But, it was an amusing challenge. Kudos really go to the others for their stories as well. Most of the stories were kinda short (undoubtedly a direct result of the convoluted prompts) so we still had a lot of time and decided to have another go. As is usually our custom, we got one prompt and 15 minutes.

The prompt was:
1. And then, his trousers burst into flames
There was a secret prompt too. Not official, not written down, but most of us worked it in anyway. It was “Snotty bitch”

Begin Writing
Governor Periwinkle concluded his speech and opened the floor to questions. This town hall meeting was crucial to his re-election campaign and he was nervous. He could afford no slip ups. Without exception his aids and advisers had cautioned him against taking questions. ‘Too risky’ they all said, ‘Too easy to lose control of the message’ they all warned. But, they had screened and vetted all the attendees.

“If you guys have done your jobs well,” Periwinkle said, “there should be no one with an axe to grind in the house. The questions should be friendly and nothing more than political fluff.”

He felt it was a risk that would really be no risk at all. A risk well worth taking.

The beautiful brunette reporter in the front row raised her hand and Governor Periwinkle immediately acknowledged her. He had been watching her the entire evening. Large eyes, sensuous lips, full breasts, long legs – she had it all. It would be good to hear her voice and he anticipated music.

“Governor,” she opened, “can you comment on allegations that you authorized the bridge closure in Anytown as political retribution against the mayor of Anytown for his refusal to endorse you in your last election?” She smiled slightly.

Periwinkle’s face fell. She was beautiful but toxic, and a snotty bitch to boot. He quickly recovered his composure and said, “Of course that is not true. Why would you even think that?” Then his trousers burst into flames.
Time is up. Put down your writing implements and step away from the paper.