"Pike is going to be home any minute," she said to the guest lined up in the cramped hallway.

A ring at the door lets everyone know that he is at the front door waiting for it to be opened. His sister took his keys before he went out to work for the day. He'd figured that he left them when he called earlier in the day.

Sara buzzes the gate. The only sound everyone could hear was their breaths moving in and out and Pike's feet hitting each step, which made a loud thump, thump, thump.

Expecting to hear the doorknob turn and the door swing open on the rusty hinges, they all held their breath in anticipation. The door did not open. Instead, they hear a phone ring, a voice saying "Are you joking? Today of all days. Okay, fine. I'm coming back right now," the steps leading back down the staircase and the screen door slamming.

Some surprise birthday party that turned out to be.

===

Freewrite brought to you by @mariannewest and @freewritehouse

If you would like to find out what freewriting is all about, go here.

# Badges

If you are enjoying my work, please -

• I'm asking for something a little extra for the next couple of months. Please, if you can, support me in getting to Afrika. You can find the page I set up on Fundition and gofundme. Your help is very much need and appreciated.

===

• Upvote my posts through steem auto and add the other people and groups you would like to support.

• Support me and others through steembasicincome shares. (This also helps you because you will also get a share for sponsoring somebody.)

• Click here --> Steemmonsters. This is an offical affiliate link. So, not only will you get awesome cards, but you will also be helping me out.

• Send steem directly to me! because you want to. 8-)

---

---

• Coming to you from arcange, a friendly warning to all who want to be successful on the steemit platform:

A bit of paranoia is the basis of security.
There are a few simple rules to follow in order to avoid having your account hacked:

Rule 1: NEVER, I repeat, NEVER use or give your owner key or password!

Rule 2: Use your posting key to login, post and vote on trusted websites like steemit.com or busy.org.

Rule 3: NEVER give your active key as this key allows to control your funds! Only use your active key for special operation like money transfer or account update on trusted websites like steemit.com.

Rule 4: Anywhere else, if you are requested to provide any of the above key: RUN AWAY!!!

---

---

Tools:

• The Most Dangerous Writing App - This program keeps me from getting to bogged down with what I think is the perfect way. It forces me to keep writing no matter what comes to mind.
• Grammarly - I use this app all the time to catch my mistakes. If I didn't have a spell checker, you would be lost in my world. haha!
• Hemmingway App: Another useful tool to help you make your writing more clear, comprehensive, and easier to understand.
• Steem World: After the @ symbol, enter your name or anyone elses name to see a host of information regarding what is going on with an account.
• Pixabay: Photo that you can use freely in your blog posts.

---

---

Ongoing Contests

• twenty-four hour short story - You gotta be quick to get this one posted in time. He posts the contest on Sunday (usually) and ends it about 48 hours later. This contest has a 2000 word limit.

• Finish the Story Contest - The contest begins on Wednesday (usually) and end 5 days later. This contest will test your write skills with something a little different each week. Pletty of time to write something around the 500 word mark.

• Random Games - Yes, random. She will put this contest out on Thursdays (usually) and end it after post pay out (usually). This is challenging because you don't know what you are going to get.

• Steem Monsters Common Card Fantasy Story Contest! - Coming out roughly every week. If you enjoy card games like Magic, Yugio, and others like it, you might like this game. Write a fictional tale about the card they present in the contest and your entry just might be the one they choose to showcase.

• Tell A Story To Me, And Win 5 SBD! Writing Contest - Kind of random when it comes out but don't worry. You will have two weeks to complete your work of art from the given prompt. Have fun!

• Haiku - These are coming out every couple days or so. If you stuggle with rhymes, no worries. Haikus don't have to rhyme. All you need to make a haiku is five syllable on the first, seven syllables in the second line, and again back to five syllable for the last line. So easy it makes me think I'm being super product. LOL

• Mizu No Oto - Every Image Has Its Haiku Contest - By reading the title, you should be able to guess how this haiku contest works. You're given an image and you write. I've really enjoy this contest because there are people here who've actually gone to classes to learn how to write haiku's; so if you want, you also can learn how to write quality haikus from reading the comments and critiques they and others give.

• 50-word Challenge - This is an interesting challenge and very challenging to say the least. You only get fifty words to tell a story or a vignettes. Here is a great post that will explain the difference between the two concepts. Good luck, Brave Story Writer!

---

---

My Completed Freewriting prompts:

---

Non-Fiction
Dude	Bittersweet	Hook	Housecoat	Nail
Faster Than Light	Sweater	A Ridiculous Amount of Fun	Mosquito	Bamboo
The Entryway	Party	Important	Her Homemade Jams	Back Pain
Mother	Milk	Swing	Bored Stiff	Monkey’s Wedding
Appetite	Travel	Frosting a Cake	Bones	Clouds
Scratch	Wet	Depression	Camping	Quadrillion
Describe the Room You Are In	Dew	Skinny	Mold	Herbs
Wood	Core Values	Players	Syrup	Sell-out
Spa	parachutes	Grapevine	Nothing	Mishap
Eagle Scout	Burning	Radio Show	Election	Desert
Iris	essence	Successful	Feeling the Love	Racket
You Walk Through a Door - What Do You See?	Visit	Coming Together	Remote	Freedom
Running in Place	Muscle	Pumped

---

Fiction
Cane (Bonus: Red Wine)	Basket	Parasol	Wire	A Kiss
Cherry	Miami	Lizard Cave	Phone	Prototype
Discord	A Jumble of Words	Suffers in Silence	Bath	Talking Dog
Grand Piano	Epilogue	Chalk	Food to the Table	Basics
Copy	Squash	Fried Chicken	Potbellied Pig	Cancer
Dog Breath	Movement	Breed	Fool	Drive
Flea Market Doorknob	Describe Your Shoes	Ducky	Sheep	Cracker
The Sky is Clear	Plug	Fever	Dirty Feet	Describe a Clock
Runny	Kit	Vinyl	Not Smart	Run For Your Life
Redemption

---

Ongoing Stories	Numbered in Order of Story's Progression
Detective Story	#1 Trolley #2 Flea #3 Awakening
Suspense/Horror	#1 Late #2 Banana #3 Paper #4 Tree #5 5 #6 Home Alone #7 Doctor’s Office
The Stall	#1 Medium #2 The Stall #3 The Stall #4 Mice #5 Detective #6 Homeless #7 Eyebrows #8 40 Percent Off #9 One Year #10 The Stall
Church	#1 Church #2 Ornate #3 Chips #4 State
Butterfly	1. Old Maid 2. Pitiful 3. Headache 4. coffee 5. Three Grapes 6. Helicopter 7.Helpless 8. Overslept 9. Smooth as Silk
Dragon Breath	1. Dragon Breath 2. Death on the Table 3. Washcloths
The Attic	1. The Attic 2. The Four Corners 3. Small Package
Damaged Goods	1. Well-being 2. Orange Blossom 3. Freedom of Personal Power

---

Poems
#52 Caterpillar	#85 Wildflower	Hardboiled Minds	Grief	Eat This Apple
Towels	See You on the Other Side	Tears	Light	Mask

---

Weekend Freewrites:
The Crooked Umbrella	The Picture	The Chair That I’m Strapped To	A Common Ending
Withdrawal	Richard’s Surprise	The Trap	Canyon Making You Crazy?
The Hawk	Emerge from the Depths	Marjorie's Alcohol Problem	The Run Around
Gene's the Quiet Type	Memories	Pulling Teeth	In a Strangers House
Reflections	Parasite	The Room and the Dominatrix	Mission Gone Wrong

---

We-writes (collaborations with community members)
Monster	Eagle Scout 1st Entry: 2nd Entry: 3rd Entry	Smooth as Silk	Torment of the Light Bulb
Pull the Plug	Death on the Table	The Farm House	Well-being

===

How can you make this table or create something even better?

• Go here and here to find other examples that may prove useful.

• stackedit.io, which is great for seeing what you are doing while you are building your page.