All Out: Microfiction
Miriam's refrigerator was empty and the last nonperishables were gone.
Calling her son got only that blasted answer machine. Again.
"John, I'm out of food. How dare you neglect me? You always were a worthless boy."
She stared out the window, banging her rickety cane into her aching knees.
My previous fifty word stories (this one is 49 according to Google Docs) were written to word prompts. This one is inspired by an image prompt from @eveningart on Steem.
Writing to prompts like these isn't always easy. It can take a lot of time to come up with an idea and sometimes we worry whether our work is close enough to the prompt. For me, the prompt image became the view out Miriam's window.
The good thing with working with different types of prompts is that they can push us to write stories that aren't what we usually write because the prompt invokes something else from us. I've written a lot of stories I'm proud of to image prompts in the past.
A prompt can also be a great tool when we're feel stuck for ideas, especially if we snag a few friends and talk through our brainstorms. I know some people worry with brainstorming that they'll "give away" their ideas, but every writer is different. Even if two of us start with the same brainstorm discussion we'll end up with very different stories because we each interpret the idea differently.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://www.rjeanbell.com/2018/08/04/all-out-microfiction/
This really packs a punch, @bex-dk. And it demonstrates what I love so much about good micro-fiction. As I read this, the whole story bloomed in my mind. I came to understand how Miriam continually bit the hand that fed her. And her son John, fed up with a lifetime of abuse, has abandoned her completely. The reader can put all that together from a few well-crafted sentences and one line of dialog. Well done.
Thanks! I had been nervous the negative arc wouldn't come through as clearly. :-)