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San Diego Momma

Sharing some humor, a bit of writing and way too much information

Home / Etcetera / PROMPTuesday #43: The Firestarter

PROMPTuesday #43: The Firestarter

Etcetera

I’m writing this in bed, listening to the occasional rain, trying not to barf all over you.

See, somewhere between noon and 1PM, I suddenly and violently came down with a burny stomach/bloody sinus malady, and it’s not been attractive nor amusing.

 

Still, PROMPTuesday must not suffer. No instead my husband will bear the brunt of my weak calls for toast and the putrid rice yogurt I bought in a dairy-free fit, while I compose the lamest PROMPTuesday ever.

 

And with that illustrious introduction, here it is:

 

Start a story with the sentence, “It was a dark and stormy night.“

 

Why?

Because it is.

 

Meanwhile, let me just prop myself up and extend a fever-soaked fingertip toward the keyboard to type out the rules:

 

  • Try to write your entry in 10 minutes. This encourages top-of-mind, primal thinking before the ego and judgmental brain kick in. Just set a timer, make your kid count to 600 slowly, whatever. It’s an honor system. And I trust you.
  • Aim for 250 words or less.
  • Please have fun. Don’t put pressure on yourself. Together, let’s rediscover the simple joy in the writing process.
  • Post your submission in the comments OR post in your blog and leave a link to your blog in the comments.

 

Wanna catch up on the PROMPTuesdays archive? It’s here.

 

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February 16, 2009 · 21 Comments

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  1. stoneskin says

    February 16, 2009 at 11:16 pm

    It was a dark and stormy night. Phil “The Fish” Robertson was battling the storm with a tacky umbrella and some holed canvas shoes.

    Picked the wrong day to wear these buggers, he thought. Picked the wrong day to give this bloody umbrella another chance, he grumbled. Picked the wrong day to give up my bottle-of-red-a-night habit, me mused wryly, and staggered homeward.

    Hellman’s Mayonnaise, he swore.

    “The Fish” picked the wrong day to lock himself out.

    Reply
  2. Cheri @ Blog This Mom! says

    February 17, 2009 at 7:19 am

    Blog This Mom! has posted “It Was a Dark and Stormy Night.”

    Feel better, dear Deb!

    Reply
  3. Janet says

    February 17, 2009 at 9:43 am

    Cheri’s post reminded me to play…but I had two stories in me: It was a dark and stormy night…

    Reply
  4. Slouching Mom says

    February 17, 2009 at 9:56 am

    Mine is up and called Hyperbole.

    Feel better, Deb!

    Reply
  5. Heather says

    February 17, 2009 at 12:12 pm

    It was a dark and stormy night, although the weather was perfect.

    How’s that for a short story?

    Reply
  6. Jennifer says

    February 17, 2009 at 12:31 pm

    I’m just going to say it right now, I am no good at writing this in 1 minutes. With all the interuptions I loose track of time and once it is quiet I loose myself in the story. I hope you enjoy it anyways.

    Reply
  7. Susan says

    February 17, 2009 at 2:06 pm

    Short and silly.

    Reply
  8. San Diego Momma says

    February 17, 2009 at 2:49 pm

    It was a dark and stormy night. Just the way she liked it. She lay light as a feather, stiff as a board on her cushy mattress, and the comforter tickled her chin, but just below, because she hated when the irregularly washed fabric crept up toward her nose. She twisted toward the barely open window, clacking her toes, just listening to the rain throw itself down the gutters. At its best, the torrents sounded like fingers tapping a keyboard, prolific and sure; at its worst, an angry knocking at the door.

     

    A moment before, as the electric atmosphere charged through the crack in the window, she’d withdrawn her iPod earphones, all the better to imagine the wind whip, the trees bend. Such apt reflection. Or was it projection? She couldn’t tell anymore.

     

    The creaking stairs foretold his approach, and she shut her eyes tight against the storm; its comfort, its telepathy. But he walked by her with a light step, just closed the window with a teeny sigh not meant to wake her, and took his place beneath the cold sheets, seeming careful to leave the comforter just under her chin.

     

    Reply
  9. Vixen says

    February 17, 2009 at 4:32 pm

    This just sounds like a fantastic way to spend a rainy day. Thanks for the prompt and the inspiration to write.

    Feel better. Mine is posted at my site:
    vixensden.com

    Reply
  10. Blognut says

    February 17, 2009 at 7:20 pm

    http://blognut-moremindlessrambling.blogspot.com/2009/02/promptuesday-43-same-girl-different-day.html

    It’s up – feel better Deb!

    Reply
  11. Blognut says

    February 17, 2009 at 7:21 pm

    By the way, your story rocks.

    Reply
  12. g says

    February 17, 2009 at 7:53 pm

    OK, I’ve got mine up. I, too, get lost in the writing and take more than 10 minutes – maybe 1/2 hour. But I always start right after I read the prompt, and don’t go back. I look for a picture after I’m done.

    http://www.doves2day.blogspot.com

    Reply
  13. San Diego Momma says

    February 17, 2009 at 8:04 pm

    Great writing so far, everyone!

    And don’t worry about the rules, they’re just loosey goosey anyway. I’m just glad we’re all writing and sharing.

    Deb

    Reply
  14. foolery says

    February 17, 2009 at 11:47 pm

    Jiminy Christmas, Deb — you wrote THAT when you’re hurling all over the place?! That would have taken me a week, and then — well, I could never have written that. You rock.

    But I did write, and I plugged what you do. may it send some creative souls your way. I know many creative souls. : )

    http://foolery.typepad.com/foolery/2009/
    02/it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night.html

    Plus, I hope you feel better, and until you do? OC Housewives, baby.

    Reply
  15. vodkamom says

    February 18, 2009 at 3:41 am

    It was a dark and stormy night. It was a smark and normy night. I swas a shark and dormey night. ” Honey, wheres my drink? I’m trying to WRITE over here……….”

    Reply
  16. Jennifer says

    February 18, 2009 at 8:03 am

    This was great. So many outcomes from just a dark and stormy night. I confess, I love dark and stormy nights. I know I lost a few of you in my post. I took an idea from Ray Bradbury’s book, Farenheit 451. It’s a good read, if your into books that make you think.

    Reply
  17. tinsenpup says

    February 18, 2009 at 4:05 pm

    I think I can categorically state that this is the finest

    piece I have ever written about frolicking rainbow ponies. Get well, Deb!

    Reply
  18. Karelle says

    February 19, 2009 at 1:43 pm

    There is something decidedly depressing about mine, but it’s what came to mind. Sorry.

    http://alwayshisangel.wordpress.com/2009/02/19/622/

    Reply
  19. Kathi D says

    February 19, 2009 at 3:28 pm

    Pssst! Foolery sent me!

    http://www.ithinkwereallbozos.com/2009/02/19/it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night/

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Fond of Snape » Blog Archive » It was a dark and stormy night… says:
    February 17, 2009 at 9:36 am

    […] Cheri’s post reminded me about PROMPTuesdays! […]

    Reply
  2. It was a dark and stormy night | I think we're all bozos on this bus says:
    February 19, 2009 at 3:27 pm

    […] 19, 2009 I found this story challenge via Foolery’s blog. It seems to be a weekly event at San Diego Momma. […]

    Reply

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