This happy loving couple Will make a tasty treat A ride around the park To tenderize the meat We’re going to live forever The Family and me Because Father Divine wants to grow His twisted family tree Taking tourists in a carriage Makes me think of caviar Little do they know The tour includes an … Read moreCarriage Ride Before Dinner
Hormones, pheromones Blue eyes or brown Mouthwash and breath mints Silk fabrics and down The mystery of attraction Some folks claim to know Touch and taste and sight and smell Converge to make love grow. But how to know when something’s real It could all just be seduction Someone plucking at your heartstrings Like a … Read moreHeart of Glass
The Prompt: Write a piece of dialogue only (no description) and under 500 words between 2 people who are waiting for something that never arrives. One of them knows why it won’t. The other keeps guessing wrong. Each guess should get closer to the truth but never quite reach it. “What time is it now?” “Three-fifteen. They’ll be here … Read moreThe Force Might Not Be With Us
As many large things do, this one started small. Those working to lose weight noticed the pounds coming off more easily. Parents noticed carrying their babies and toddlers didn’t tire their backs as quickly as before. Hairdressers’ feet hurt just little less than usual at the end of the day. These and thousands of other … Read moreLIGHTWEIGHTS
The car horn had been going off and on for days. Intermittent without external stimulus. Neighbors called the police who tracked down the owner and knocked on the door. “Is this your vehicle doing the honking?” “Oh yeah, sorry about that. I’ve been meaning to fix it.” “You need to fix it now. Getting lots … Read moreGame Over
The Prompt: Choose a song that mattered to you at sixteen (or invent one, if you prefer). Write a braided piece (900–1,100 words) that alternates between: You may quote no more than one lyric, and it must be six words or fewer. Include one sentence that appears exactly three times in the piece, unchanged each time. (Place it … Read moreCar Wash
A Green Giant Jamba Juice precariously jammed in the crook of her arm, her purse and keys in one hand, and her phone in the other, Jenny scrolled distractedly before she entered the elevator. The AI voice announced, “Doors are closing” and asked, “Where would you like to go?” The voice had a youthful, relaxed … Read moreReboot
In a fog of diesel fumes machines surrounded the bushes, shaking their bases and whapping their stems with spinning tines to loosen every morsel of fruit. Blueberries bounced into hoppers and down a funnel to the flats waiting below. Bush told Bud this day would come. &&& “The Great Gatherer returns each year to collect … Read moreFaith in the Trenches
Prompt: Use the onion headline “Unexamined Life Lived” as a tile and you piece. Write a story of 850-1200 words that takes this headline literally. Constraints: The protagonist has reached a natural pause point (end of a job, relationship, era, or routine). Reflection is available but actively avoided –no journals, therapy sessions, confessions, or mono … Read moreThe Unexamined Life, Lived
The writing prompt: A group of friends breaks into a museum to steal a single, legendary macaroni noodle. Write a one-page comedic story about what happens when they find out why it was locked away. &&& Three thieves crept quietly up narrow, spiraling flights of dark, urine-soaked stairs. Inside a tiny attic room waited a … Read moreThe Great Macaroni Heist