5 Mintue Freewrite - Prompt: ducks
He sat on the bench, watching the fowl swim little circles, occasionally dipping their heads under, and then coming back up. He assumed they were either bathing or fishing, he was too distracted to focus on that.
Instead he was marveling at the word. He could feel it. It wanted to be spoken. It needed to be heard.
He couldn't figure out why. Over the past few days he could feel certain words. Like they were being whispered without being voiced. And once they were voiced, they felt good.
He wasn't trying not to say the word, exactly, he was just feeling the shape of it before he spoke it. A few of the words he spoke in the presence of others, and he could see they inspired people. Some of the words he had spoken privately, and they still felt wonderful, but they weren't as fulfilling.
Something was driving him to take the words to others. He was beginning to understand the prompts now. It wasn't a conspiracy, they weren't clues, they were pure inspiration. Of all the words he had felt, none of them were emotionally weighted in any particular way and on their own, they all seemed innocuous little things. But when he voiced them, or shared them, he could see that they inspired people.
How could they have such power? Such influence?
He could feel the pull of the words again, so he stood and started walking. He passed an artist that had their easel facing the horizon, possibly waiting to catch a sunset?
As he passed the artist he caught her eye for a moment. "Have you seen the ducks today? What remarkable little creatures."
He could see the word take root in her mind, her lips parted slightly, she turned her head to the pond, stood up, adjusted the easel and started painting. Not frantically, but wistfully and happily painting.
These words, these prompts, he mused, they're such whimsical little things, but they truly inspire, sometimes little things, sometimes substantial things, but they always inspire.
The original post with today's prompt from @mariannewest is here.
Here are the other freewrites I wrote that are related to this one, sorted chronologically so it's easier to start with the first one:
- 5 Minute Freewrite - Prompt: Toilet
- 5 Minute Freewrite - Prompt: Flash
- 5 Minute Freewrite - Prompt: feet soft as fog
- 5 Minute Freewrite - Prompt: callous
Image is my own.
There's a sort of sick atmosphere in your story which is interesting. Talking about words, putting the italic words in the text together comes out "word good not always" ;-)
That's a funny coincidence, thanks for pointing that out. I don't plan these well enough to accomplish something like that, so that's really funny.
I'm sure it's meant to look like a good thing, but that sort of ability is kind of creepy to me.
Also, I'm sure there's some sort of clever comment to be made regarding your username and the fact that you're writing about ducks, but it's far too early in the morning for me to make the connection, heh.
There's nothing creepy about being manipulated by other worldly forces in ways that the human body can't fully cope with...
I would think it's fairly straightforward, as my user name has nothing to do with ducks, except, perhaps, the assertion that I cannot possibly be one.