Meeting the Muse

No prompt! My mind went blank. But the clock was ticking and I had 6 minutes.

Here is today’s Six Minute Story.

Today (being Friday) there is no prompt.

Freeform prompt. Every Friday, writers face a blank page without any prompt. They write whatever they want in six minutes or less.

No prompt! My mind went blank. But the clock was ticking and I had 6 minutes. I started off, meaning to write about NaNoWriMo. But the story just evolved into something a bit different. Thank you muse!

Here it is, below, in case you can’t be bothered to follow the link. And yes, I resisted the temptation to edit.


Meeting the Muse

This was the month she was going to do it. Yes, really. This time.

Sitting down at the keyboard she faced the blank screen. First things first, time for coffee.

Now she could start. Come on, come on, come on. Where is my muse?

She strokes the keboard, searching internally for inspiration.

PUFFFF!

At first she thinks the computer screen is broken. Or maybe a virus has hijacked her software. She peers in astonishment.

A green face is forming in front of her eyes. At first the details are vague and hazy. Then it grows clearer. Yes, definitely a face. The nose may be a little large and there may be horny outgrowths on the forehead and, maybe, the eyes should not be that vivid red colour. But, all these things considered, definitely a face.

“Who, on earth, are you?” She didn’t mean to say this out loud.

A smile spread across those green lips and a voice, crackled and gravelly, like an old gramaphone record with a dusty stylus, replied.

“I am your muse.”

“Good heavens. You are a ugly bugger!”

“Yes, my dear. A little like your writing.”

And that was when she gave up. Writing.

Microfiction Assignment 20101216

One of the challenges I have accepted, is to undertake assignments posted on the Microfiction Assignment web page.

Whether I will be able to keep this up, every day, is another matter!

Today’s assignment is as follows:

Given the character of a body builder, write a story in the overheard on public transportation genre, using the subject a short debate and the theme bizarre happenings. If you feel extra creative, use no words (besides articles and pronouns) shorter than five letters.

Your word limit is 65 words.

Well, not exactly easy. I did my best, see below.


Mounting the platform with an effortless stride, his muscular presence fills the double-decker. The pretty conductor approaches, hesitantly.

“Single or return?”

“Not single!”

“I meant your ticket.”

“Please don’t leave me.”

“Control your emotions for the safety and comfort of other passengers.”

“My heart is breaking.”

“It’s the hormones. You’ll feel better tomorrow.”

He leaps off the moving platform before we reach the next stop.

6 minute story – The Elephant Dragged its Feet

I am procrastinating, as usual. Instead of finishing my NaNoWriMo novel, I am finding other things to do.

Today I discovered the 6’minutestory site.

Here you get a prompt to start your story and you type directly into a text box on the site. The clock is ticking from the moment you start. At the end of six minutes, the story is finished. You cannot add any more words.

The prompt today was “The elephant dragged its feet.”

I love elephants. Could I resist? No.

Did I finish the story in 6 minutes? No.

I will do better next time.

Here is my (unfinished) 6 minute story, entitled The Defeated.

I am feeling sad today because my elderly father is slowly dying. This influenced the writing of this story.