5 Minute Freewrite - Prompt: Pen

Note: I decided to switch things up a little bit today. I did my usual 5 minute freewrite, but rather than cleaning it up and then posting, I thought I would take the time to flesh it out just a bit more. The original, unedited freewrite can be found at the bottom of this post.

I really enjoyed taking the extra time to edit this little story, especially since I'm feeling a bit under the weather and have found myself not doing much of anything today. I may or may not continue to post in this format, but for now I hope you enjoy!

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It was an unusually warm autumn morning and, also unusually, Mary found herself wielding a fountain pen and pot lid in the middle of Mr. and Mrs. Gable's kitchen. She wasn't sure how the imp had found its way into their perfectly respectable home, but she wasn't about to be caught unarmed as the creature skittered and scrabbled about. Not that the pen would be of much use against the creature's claws or magicks.

She crept slowly through the kitchen, watching for any sign of the little beast, listening for any scurry or scratch. All at once, the imp came bursting out of the pile of soot in the fireplace. It screeched and chattered as it dashed about, depositing soot and claw marks wherever it went, before finally finding the back door and fleeing into the garden. Mary could hear the chickens start clucking and squawking in panic as she ran out in pursuit.

As she hurried onto the patio, the imp came rushing out of the chicken coop with a brood of angry chickens on its heels. Using a cloud of magic smoke to distract its fowl pursuerd, it leapt up onto the edge of the swan pen and began running toward the gate.

Before she could even reach the edge of the patio's flagstones, the imp had somehow knocked open the pen gate and was now fleeing toward the storehouse. The swans, not knowing that their intruder had moved on, were in an uproar, the cob flapping his wings and hissing aggressively while the pen remained near the nest, busking and fluffing her feathers up. The chickens clucked and flapped their own displeasure and sent a flurry of feathers into the air.

Mary gripped her pen tightly and stared in horror at the chaos the imp had unleashed in the Gables' garden. The Gables, not to mention their well-to-do neighbors, were not going to be pleased.

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This prompt is from @mariannewest and can be found here.

Image sourced from Pixabay.

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Original Freewrite, Unedited

Mary found herself wielding a fountain pen as though it were a sword. She wasn’t certain how an imp had managed to make its way onto the farm, but she wasn’t about to be caught unarmed as it skittered about causing all manner of problems.

The last she had seen it, it had come bursting out from the soot in the fireplace and led her on a merry chase around the kitchen before ducking out through the back door. She had run out after it, grabbing the pen on her way, and could hear the chickens squawcking and clucking in protest as it ransaked the hen house.

Before she could reach the edge of the patio, the inky black imp rushed out of the chicken coop and bounced to the top of the nearby wooden fence. The swans contained in the pen raised alarm and the cob put on a threatening display, trying to ward off the intruder.

With a squeal like nails scratching against glass, the imp dashed for the gate in the fence and managed to break the lock, releasing the swans from their pen. The cob dashed out, followed by the pen, and Mary could do nothing but watch in horror as the imp wreaked havoc in the garden.