Day three of the story a day challenge for May 2016. As usual there were two prompts that we could use and so I am going to combine them once again.

The first one is quite simple:

Today you’re going to write a were a story in 100 words. This also known as a Drabble.

The Prompt

Write a story in 100 words

The second one will give me a bit more of a challenge as I have written many 100 word stories in my time 🙂 The second one is:

Today’s prompt comes from the Chief Instigator of the DIYMFA program, Gabriela Pereira. Always full of writer-craft goodness, you should definitely be checking out DIYMFA.com, always full of writer-craft goodness, and the wonderful weekly DIYMFA Radio podcast.

The Prompt

Famous Last Words

Most prompts give you a place to start and let you take things from there. Today we’re going to flip the equation. I’m going to give you a last line and you need to write toward it. In other words, your assignment will be to write a piece that leads you to that last line.

The reason this prompt is so useful is that it exercises your brain in a new way. As writers, we’re used to taking a kernel of an idea and running with it, but it’s a totally different proposition to have a fixed ending and finding your way to it.

You may someday find yourself in a situation where you need to use this skill, like if you know your ending but haven’t figured out yet how to get there. This prompt is great practice for doing just that.

Take the last line from your favorite book or choose one from the list below. Now write a short piece that ends with that line.

1. No one has claimed them yet.
   2. “Let me tell you about it.”
   3. Everything must go.
   4. “Make me pretty.”
   5. And it was still hot.

These are all last lines from actual books. Can you guess which books they came from? Answers are below.

1) From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
2) Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
3) Feed by M.T. Anderson
4) Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
5) Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

So, here we go with what comes out of my mind. I hope you enjoy.

 

Menopause

I looked at the doctor and waited for a response. I am not sure why I was so nervous about it because his diagnosis seemed obvious as did my answer. However, my hands were still sweaty.

He coughed. Obviously not used to giving bad news. “Mrs. Johnson, I am very sorry to tell you that your blood test came back positive. You are starting to go through the change.”

My response was probably the most unexpected for me to come out with. I looked him square in the eye and said my rehearsed answer. “Rip it out, everything must go.”