Daily Writing Prompts Set # 1

So, I’ve decided to do daily 5-minute writing prompts to get myself back in the habit of writing daily. I’ll periodically post a few days worth here for your reading enjoyment.

Day 1 Prompt: A woman wakes in the early morning to see her shadow sneaking out the bedroom door. She follows.

Note: I misread this as “a” shadow, so that’s what I went with.

It was 4am. It was always 4am, for some reason, when she woke without warning from her nightly dreamless sleep. She never really understood why, typically just taking a quick bathroom break, splashing warm water on her face, and going back to sleep.

Tonight, however, was different. As she meandered into the hallway, she caught a shadowy figure out of the corner of her eye. Strangely, she wasn’t afraid, or even concerned. It wasn’t a burglar or any other corporeal threat. It was just a shadow, moving of its own accord through her small apartment.

That’s normal, right?

Of course she decided to follow it, as if she was only moving in a dream and following where it would take her. In her sleepwear, she followed the shadow as it flew into the hall, pausing slightly to let her catch up. It led her a short way to another apartment and vanished within. Slowly, yet unexpectedly, the door went ajar with an eerie creak.

Almost unconsciously, she pushed the door open and walked inside a strangers apartment…at 4am. Totally normal, yep.

As she entered, the shadow was gone, but an elderly woman was lying on the floor, unable to get up. After helping the woman to the couch, she confided that she had been lying there for hours, thinking she’d die that way, that no one would come. She had been thirsty, dehydrated, and could have sworn she saw her husband, gone 5 years now, run to get help. It was impossible, of course.

As she looked at the picture, though, the husband had the same height, build, and stance as the shadow.

Prompt 2: Describe your room through the eyes of an FBI agent who believes you have committed a crime.

Note: OK, so I went a bit off the topic on this one, but I think I captured the spirit of it.

It had taken months of stringent detective work, but I was finally here in the home of the Cotton Candy Killer. This was one of the hardest cases I’d ever worked. It was emotionally draining. Gruesome.

The killer had slain 17 professional clowns by puncturing their lungs with the cones that you put cotton on. The heartlessness and brutality was something to behold, yet not even a fingerprint was left behind. This serial killer had us all stumped until we found that follicle of bright blue and pink hair in the tiny car of the last slain clown.

Now to find undeniable proof to put this sick bastard away for life.

Most of the house was a bust. It seemed almost normal if you didn’t know the sick nature of this killer. There wasn’t even a single balloon or red nose in sight. The bedroom, however, was a different story.

As soon as I walked in, I knew I had him. I had to collect myself a bit as I stared in awe of the beautifully illuminated, signed first-edition copy of “How to be a less-creepy mime.”

Prompt 3: Your character is on a road trip when they discover an unusual museum.

It had been a long drive through the armpit of America when I saw a billboard. Well, I saw many billboards, but most were telling me, in varying ways, how much I’m going to hell or where I can find adult entertainment. This billboard was different. It read “The Great Museum of Bad Ideas Next Exit!”

Well, I figured I’d add one more example of “bad ideas” and check it out. The entrance itself was the first exhibit: a revolving door. That was a terrible idea.

As I wandered around, the “all too real” exhibits seemed to spring to life all around me. I saw people wearing pro-lifer shirts. Conservative politicians huddled chatting policy with each other. The 10 commandments hung on the wall. Clerks passed around laws that discriminated and subjugated. It was the most realistic museum I had ever been in.

It wasn’t until I left that I realized I had taken a wrong turn and had actually been wandering around the Alabama state house.