Welcome to the fifth week of the Spring Writing Challenge!
You all did so well with your stories last week! There were so many interesting and unique ways you interpreted the prompt. It’s now the fifth week, so it’s time to do it again! Will your story have fairies? Time travel? Ghosts?! Whatever you decide, we can’t wait to see what you come up with.
So, without further ado, here’s your next prompt!
Week Five Prompt – The Sentence Prompt
Write a story that includes the following sentence:
Needless to say, this wasn’t the first time…
Wait…what’s a sentence prompt?
A sentence prompt is a prompt that uses a particular sentence. It doesn’t matter where your story takes place, who’s in it, or what’s said. The only thing that matters is that your story must include the sentence, “Needless to say, this wasn’t the first time.”
Before you start writing, we have some important rules for you to follow.
Writing Rules
1. Please keep the content of the stories you post to a PG rating. Please avoid real curse words. Violence/fighting should be limited and purposeful. Please do not include any spice.
2. Your story must be 1,000 words or less, and must contain the prompt to be counted for the challenge. You’re not required to post it in order to “win” the challenge, but if you want it to count for your team, your story must be posted by Sunday at 11:59 PM ET, and you must include your team name.
Remember to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and post your story as an “answer” to this question, not a “comment”. 🙂 You’re all doing such a great job! I’m so proud of all the stories you’ve posted.
Happy Writing!
(Team 1)
“Again, Giorgio?” Kalina looked up into the apple tree from where she stood at its base, her hands fisted at her hips. “This isn’t part of my job, you know.”
Unsurprisingly, Giorgio made no response, nor did he look the least bit guilty as he clung to a high branch in the tree. The squirrel he had been following had long since disappeared, and Giorgio had cried out in alarm upon realizing his precarious position. Kalina shook her head in exasperation.
Needless to say, this wasn’t the first time he had gotten stuck in a tree, and naturally, as Royal Orchardist, Kalina was called upon to rescue him. Though frankly, she wasn’t sure why. Her job was to harvest apples from the trees, not cats.
Yes, Giorgio was, in fact, a cat. If he was just any cat, she might have been tempted to leave him there, but unfortunately, he wasn’t just any cat. He was, in fact, the queen’s cat.
Kalina stared long and hard as she contemplated the potential consequences of abandoning the queen’s cat. It wasn’t that she was in favor of abandoning helpless creatures, only Giorgio tended to be more troublesome than anything. Last time she had rescued him, he had left a great scratch above her eyebrow. Moreover, she was allergic to cats and had to take the rest of the day off as she recovered from the itchy rash that came from carrying him. Unfortunately for her, however, the queen dearly loved her cat, and ridiculous as it might seem, Kalina could lose her job if anything happened to Giorgio on her watch. She heaved a sigh. There was nothing for it. She would have to undertake a rescue attempt.
Giorgio growled as Kalina turned away to retrieve her gardening gloves.
“Oh, hush now, I’m coming,” she scolded the yellow tabby. “Only if I have to do this, I’m going to mitigate the risks to my own health.” Thankfully, she was already wearing long sleeves. Now to protect her face. Kalina looked around, finally spotting one of her gathering baskets resting under an adjacent tree. Perfect. Instead of carrying the ornery creature in her arms, she could set him in the basket and keep him a safe distance from her face.
Satisfied that she would sustain minimal damage, Kalina set off to retrieve her ladder only to come to an abrupt halt. “Oh, no!”
She had forgotten that her ladder was in the shop for repairs.
Giorgio mewled impatiently as Kalina once again contemplated her options. Though she was rather good at climbing trees, she would prefer not to take the risk of climbing with an irate cat.
“Miss Kalina? Are you alright?”
Kalina spun around to find the head chef looking at her in concern.
He must have noted her surprised expression as he explained, “I was gathering herbs and heard you shout.” He gestured to the wall separating the orchard from the herb garden.
Her surprise hadn’t stemmed from his appearance so much as the fact that he knew her name. She had only met him briefly once since his arrival the month before and did not have many opportunities to interact with him, working as she did primarily outdoors. Add to that the fact that he was remarkably young for such a position, not to mention handsome and unmarried, and her opportunities to engage were lessened even further as the young female staff jumped at any chance to gain his attention. Unfortunately for them, Chef Colin, while kind, seemed to be entirely focused on his work.
Kalina shook off her surprise and offered a rueful grin. “I am well. Only trying to figure out how I am going to retrieve Giorgio without my ladder.” Chef Colin’s gaze turned to the treebound feline, whose meows had grown even more impatient by this point. He looked back to Kalina, taking in her gloves and the basket in her hands.
“I would be happy to assist,” he told her.
She clasped her hands in relieved delight. “Oh, would you?” His mouth quirked up in amusement. “It’s just that I am allergic to cats, and well, Giorgio and I aren’t the best of friends in general, you see…” Kalina trailed off and twisted her hands nervously. She talked to her trees all the time without a problem, only people were so much different.
Chef Colin’s smile grew brighter. “It would be my pleasure to rescue the fair maiden from the dreaded task of retrieving the Royal Tabby Cat.” His teasing was gentle rather than mocking, immediately setting Kalina at ease.
“My hero!” she clasped her hands to her heart and blinked her eyes dramatically. Chef Colin snorted a laugh and deftly climbed the tree. With seemingly little effort, and no protest from the finicky feline, he retrieved the cat and returned to the ground. Once on the ground, he let loose the now squirming Giorgio who darted off, to cause more mischief no doubt.
“How do you like that for gratitude?” Chef Colin pouted in mock indignation.
“Well, you certainly have my gratitude, kind sir.” In impulse, Kalina rose up on her tiptoes and placed a swift kiss on his cheek. Chef Colin stilled, and Kalina blushed as she realized the boldness of her uncharacteristic gesture. He was just so easy to be around, she hadn’t thought anything of it. “I – I’m sorry, I –” she stammered in embarrassment.
Chef Colin smiled and swept into a bow, echoing her earlier dramatics. “It was my pleasure to assist. Though I believe I am now indebted to His Royal Cattiness.”
Kalina’s brow scrunched in confusion. “For rescuing him?”
“For providing me with the opportunity I have long sought to meet the fair Royal Orchardist, who converses graciously with trees.” Kalina blushed again. She didn’t think anyone had noticed. “Might I have the honor of walking with you after dinner?”
Kalina nodded in response to the kind chef. Perhaps she was indebted to the tireless tabby as well.
Your story is very enjoyable to read!
She was very brave to kiss him like that 🙂
TEAM A
SUSAN BY ADELAIDE RIGGS
Near the local dirt road in a lush field, there was an abundant variety of grasses, wild flowers, and small creatures. All who dwelled here lived their lives with simplicity and gratitude. This included Susan, a beautiful flower whose color reminded everyone of a ripe summer lemon (but she was not quite so sour).
One morning, Susan was in the clearing enjoying a soft breeze when suddenly the air rapidly changed direction. Fragile as she was, Susan fell on her face, unable to get up. Panicking, she tried calling for help but the ground muffled her voice. Susan was helpless.
Just a minute later, a tiny, round old woman wearing a bright red cloak with black polka dots came into the clearing. It was Mrs. Dotty! She noticed the girl laying on the ground.
“Oh my!” exclaimed Mrs. Dotty as she hurried over to Susan. “What ever happened to you, dear?”
“I fell and ca-can’t move,” replied Susan quietly. “Could you he-help me?” Then she began to cry.
“Yes, yes of course! Be patient my dear. I’ll go as fast as I’m able to the house of Dr. Chippy.” And with that, Mrs. Dotty turned and quickly scuttled away, her red cloak fluttering behind her.
Susan was alone again, and very anxious. She wondered if she would never rise to see the blue sky again. Despite these thoughts, she tried to focus on her respiration. After what felt like months, she heard a pitter-patter, and out from the tall grass appeared Dr. Chippy with little Mrs. Dotty riding on his back.
“There she is, Doctor!” said Mrs. Dotty, pointing with one hand while the other five hung on tight. Needless to say, this wasn’t the first time he had been summoned, however this was the first time he had dealt with little old woman riding on his back.
“I see, I see! Please do not yell, you’re already near enough to my ear!” replied the doctor. Dr. Chippy was tall, dapper, orderly man, with a decent amount of good humor. They approached Susan.
“Hello?” asked the girl.
“Hello! So sorry about your condition. I’m Dr. Chippy, and we will help you get up.” These words made Susan feel better.
“Pardon, but where is the other one?” inquired Mrs. Dotty.
“Well, Perk should have been behind us. Excuse me for a second.” The doctor filled his cheeks and gave a couple sharp whistles.
In a moment, a boy appeared next to them. He looked rather lofty, and had a smirk on his round face. Mrs. Dotty jumped up and landed in a ball, her arms and legs tucked in.
“Perk!” said the doctor sternly as his son began to laugh. “This is a serious matter. I did not ask you to come along to play games!” Susan thought it was quite funny, but would have enjoyed it more if it weren’t for the condition she was in.
“Ok, let’s get to it,” said the motivated doctor. “Madam, you fetch some water from the brook and grab some witch hazel on your way back. Perk, you’ll need to climb onto my shoulders so we can lift this poor girl up.” Immediately Mrs. Dotty flew down the hill to complete her orders.
Just as Perk was about to climb upon his father’s back, Dr. Chippy noticed a break in Susan’s back. “Oh my, we will need some long grass to bind that wound. Got it, Perk?” “Sure, dad!”
Overhearing the doctor’s concern, Susan’s nerves were on the rise. “A-am I going to be OK?”
“I believe you’re going to be just fine,” consoled the doctor.
Perk made quick work of gathering some long grass and wasted no time in hopping up onto his father’s shoulders. They worked together to lift Susan up off the ground and stand her upright, Dr. Chippy encouraging Susan throughout the process.
Mrs. Dotty arrived not a moment too soon with the water and witch hazel, the latter of which was applied to Susan’s fracture.
In a jiffy Dr. Chippy had bound her wound with the green bandage and all was well.
“Oh, thank you all! I feel so much better, except it feels like my eye might be bruised,” said Susan.
“Well miss,” Dr. Chippy responded, “it does look pretty dark.”
“Black, I’d say,” added Mrs. Dotty.
Dr. Chippy applied the witch hazel to Susan’s bruise, but it did not seem to work.
“I’m sorry, but there is not much else I can do. What’s your name, miss?”
“Susan.”
“Susan,” Dr. Chippy looked her in the face. “Your black eye is beautiful.”
“Black eyed Susan.” said Mrs. Dotty….