On Time Now!

Alright, here's all of them up to the 26th! From here on out, it'll be one a day, every day, until December 31st! Oh, and wonder of wonders, after eons spent searching the internet for sentence prompts, I remembered something--National Novel Writing Month. The NaNo boards are full of writing prompts, in fact, every year there's a thread dedicated to them in one of the forums. Since family members have been somewhat less than forthcoming with the prompts, most of the following ones will be taken from the NaNo boards.

*Side note to Abbie: I love your prompts! I'm thinking about starting February off with them...



1/20/10

Prompt: “I met somebody new…” (NaNo)

“I’ve met somebody new.”

The words reverberated through her skull. He had met someone new. How could he have done this? What was wrong with him? Didn’t he know she was perfect? Didn’t he know that Lana LaShane never got dumped, especially for some two-bit tramp from the Lower East Side.

Lana fingered the small pistol she held cradled in her lap. No, no one dumped Lana LaShane. Ever.

Total Time: 3 minutes
Word Count: 69



1/21/10

Prompt: “The puppy was a cute little ball of fluff…” (Me)

She smiled as she walked into the pet shop, her eyes immediately drawn to the little labradoodle puppy in the kennel right be the door. He was adorable. The puppy was a cute little ball of fluff, with floppy ears and curly beige fur. He looked like a cross between a dust mop and a fleece throw pillow. His little pink tongue lolled out of his mouth as he jumped up behind the fence, as if begging to be held.

She went over to a clerk and pointed. “May I see him, please?”

Total Time: 2 minutes
Word Count: 93



1/22/10

Prompt: “No, not right now,” she said, exasperated.” (Me)

“Mommy! I wanna cookie!” The sounds of the petulant child were all she’d been listening to all day, and she was exhausted.

“No, not right now,” she said, exasperated.

“But Mommy!”

“Cara! That’s enough! You’ve already had a cookie!” She turned away and ran a hand through her stringy ponytail. She hadn’t had time to shower yet, and it didn’t look like it would happen today. Suddenly, the phone rang, a loud disruption among the sounds of the whining child.

“Hello?” She answered the phone tiredly, the exhaustion evident in her voice.

“Hey, Honey, it’s Mom,” came the voice on the other line. “You sound exhausted, sweetie. Hey, I’m coming through town, why don’t I pick up Cara and take her for the night? You could use a break.”

Caroline had never before heard such beautiful words. “Mom, you’re an angel, I love you.”

She could almost see the smile on her mom’s face as she answered. “I know, I’ll see you in a bit, love you!”

Total Time: 5 minutes
Word Count: 146



1/23/10

Prompt: “A butterfly flew overhead…” (NaNo)

It was a beautiful summer’s day. The sky was clear and blue, with not a cloud to be seen. A gentle breeze wafted across the field, and a delicate yellow-winged butterfly flew overhead. Tiny creatures scurried to and fro, going about their daily business, gathering food, and making nests. Songbirds sang among the tall grasses, and the calm buzzing of bees added the bass line. All in all, it was a wonderful day.

Total Time: 2 minutes
Word Count: 73


1/24/10

Prompt: “The tattered stuffed animal on the bare mattress seemed to scream ‘Find her! Find her!’” (NaNo)

Detective Peterson looked around the grungy apartment. The sobs of the girl’s mother echoed in his ears as he scanned the small space for any clues, anything that would help lead to the girl’s whereabouts. He moved into her room, a place little more than a closet. It was Spartan, with only an old mattress and a battered dresser. Then his eyes fell on something. It was small, a mere detail, but the tattered stuffed animal on the bare mattress seemed to scream “Find her! Find her!”

The detective took a deep breath. He would find this child. There was no doubt in his mind. Already, his team was working furiously to come up with a list of suspects, one the mother had said would be fairly short. She had a good idea who had taken her daughter, and now it was up to the police to find her. And they would. So help him, they would find her.


Total Time: 3 minutes
Word Count: 159



1/25/10

Prompt: "The coding flew over the monitor like a serpent with wings…” (NaNo)

Hunched over an ancient monitor in a dark, cave-like room, the young man known only as Jefe, typed furiously as he watched the numbers scroll across the screen. The keyboard he used was old, stained, and several of the key caps were missing, but it didn’t matter. Jefe could type blindfolded if he had to, and not lose a single word per minute. An alarm sounded, but he didn’t seem to hear it, and it continued, adding to the sound of whirring machinery. The alarm grew louder, more insistent, and finally, the young man looked up. When he realized what the alarm was for, he stumbled out of the ramshackle computer chair, setting it back on its three wheels when it tipped over. Fumbling his way through a maze of blue and red computer wires, he managed to find the microwave hidden beneath a pile of coding. He shoved a plastic bowl in it and punched the numbers in, setting it to warm up his meal before he made his way back to the precarious chair.

He began typing almost immediately, his eyes flicking back and forth as the coding flew over the monitor like a serpent with wings. He was almost finished. Once he completed this line of code, then the uplink would be established and the group would be able to access the government satellites. There were other hackers in Beijing, Taiwan, even Iceland, who were working with him, working to get the uplink established, hidden, and trapped. Anyone who found it would be left with a nasty surprise that would cripple their computer systems long enough so that the group could erase all traces of their uplink. Jefe was in charge of this portion of the mission, but he didn’t know who else was on board. He only knew their handles, there was Ice, the one who designed the viruses, there was Bolthole, the one who set up the escape hatchways, and there was Hex, the one who ‘armed’ the viruses. Together, along with several other hackers, they were close, just a hairsbreadth away from total power. They would be able to see everything, not just from one government, either, they would be able to tap into the satellite systems of all the major players in world politics, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Japan—no one was safe from the hackers. They were the best, and they would triumph. No one could catch them, because no one knew they existed. They were invisible, and they were masters. They would control these countries, and no one would be the wiser.

Total Time: 10 minutes
Word Count: 434



1/26/10

“I dreamed I was nobody…”

Once I dreamed I was nobody. It was very strange, to be in a room with someone, to hear them announce “Nobody’s here!”

I would try to say “Yes, yes I am!” but they didn’t hear me. Nobody heard me, for I was nobody, and only I could hear myself. But it had it’s perks. When things went terribly wrong for someone, and they were asked who could help, they replied “Nobody.” That was my cue. As nobody, I could do anything. I could walk through walls, I could be in the middle of a crowd and not be seen. I was the ultimate investigator. All I had to do was gather the evidence. And I did, I gathered it, and put it where somebody would find it. Because Nobody can do that, Nobody can find out anything. And I was Nobody.


Total Time: 3 minutes
Word Count: 142