Welcome to the second 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 second week, so it’s time to do it again! Will your story take place in the past? In space? Underground? Whatever you decide, we can’t wait to see how you use this prompt.
So, without further ado, here’s your next prompt!
Week One Prompt – The Setting Prompt
Write a story that takes place in a
Forbidden Garden
Wait…what’s a setting prompt?
A setting prompt is a prompt that takes place in a specific setting. It doesn’t matter who’s there, what happens, or what’s said. The only thing that matters is that your story must take place in a forbidden garden.
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. 🙂 You’re all doing such a great job!
Happy Writing!
Team 1! Sorry if there are typos or grammar mistakes, I’m posting this a minute before the deadline haha <3
When my brother became king, he sealed all entrances to the palace garden. He put his best guards around the perimeter and ordered anyone who strayed close to the entrance to be arrested.
My brother was only in that garden for minutes on the fateful day he watched my parents die, but his eyes are now hollow, his once chocolate brown hair streaked with gray. He told me, and I honestly can’t recall if he has spoken to me since, that he would die before letting another person set foot in that garden.
I pull my hood tighter around my head as the frigid wind bites my cheeks. I have no desire to be the reason for my brother’s death, but my need for answers is becoming suffocating.
Tonight, the moon hides behind the clouds, helping me stay undetected. I zig-zag between the shrubbery that once lined the path to the garden. The guards around the perimeter have become more lax with the rotations since no one has yet tried to break in.
I hide behind a bush and count sixty seconds between when a guard disappears around the corner and another one comes into view. I try to relax my muscles while I wait for the next thirty-second gap. When no guards are in view, I run towards the garden hedge and push off the ground to jump. In the split second I’m in the air, I realize the hedge is taller than I remember. I ungracefully land somewhere in the middle, grasping wildly for purchase.
I’ve almost managed to make it almost to the top when the next guard rounds the corner. My traitorous body freezes in fear, fingers going slack. The guard doesn’t see me until he’s right below my perch. I watch my presence register on his face, but manage to keep my grip. I swing my legs over to the other side as the guard opens his mouth to sound an alarm.
I hit the ground ungracefully, rolling onto my back. Then I’m up and running. I’m not sure if the guards will try to chase me, but I’m not taking any chances.
As a child, I found gardens tedious and stuffy due to the parties of that sort my parents hosted here. Now, I wished I’d spent more time in the garden as I blindlessly race through it.
After putting a good distance between me and where I climbed over the wall, I pause to catch my breath. The palace garden is essentially a maze, somewhere designed for people to become lost in.
For the first time, the layout seems sinister, not romantic. A chill creeps down my spine as I take in my surroundings. The tall hedges are healthy and pruned, even though my brother had the gardeners relocated after his declaration. The leaves are so green they appear black, and instead of the colorful flowers I remember, glowing silver blossoms adorn the hedges.
What happened here?
The flowers start to slowly grow, their petals reaching toward me. I back away, blinking. And that’s when the music registers.
I’d thought it was the wind in my ears as I ran, but there’s a haunting melody floating through the air. It seems to grow louder after I acknowledge it.
Ignoring the fear in my gut, I start following the sound. I’m here for answers, and this impossible song seems like a good start.
I always try to be brave, but this garden is haunting. Vines strewn the ground, and some are splattered with red. All I can think about is my parents and how they spent their last moments here. Was it quick? Were they scared? I feel nauseous.
The music is now so loud it’s almost deafening. It doesn’t occur to me to think about how I know exactly which path to follow, and how the music seems to be tethered to me, reeling me in.
Suddenly, I come to a clearing. In the center, was something that tugged at a childhood memory. A wishing well.
I approach the well in a daze, ears ringing and eyes stinging from the blindly bright flowers. I came here as a child several times, but only made a wish once.
“Careful,” my parents had said. “The well can only hold so many of your wishes before it takes in return.”
I lean over the edge, a terrible feeling crawling up my throat, causing my earlier nausea to return. The water in the well is splashing about, and there, in the waves, I can make out the resemblances of my parents’ faces.
I reel back, horrified. My legs give way, but the well is pulling me closer again. I fall against its rim, shutting my eyes so I can’t see the water.
In one terrible moment, the melody morphs into a voice.
“Elora. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Eye of the Storm – A. W. Morisseau – Team A
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
Tirzah gasped and spun around. The Watcher glared at her with suspicious, knowing eyes. She hated those eyes—hazel, radiant, eternal. She’d been a fool for hoping she’d slip into the forbidden garden undetected. “Are you going to report me?”
The Watcher chewed his bottom lip, an unreadable expression on his ageless face. “I’m only a watchman, not the Warden. Why are you here?”
“My daughter.” As Tirzah spoke, images of little Hannah straining for breath flooded her thoughts. “She has the sickness. If she doesn’t take the elixir, she’ll be dead within a week.”
“Woman, there are worse things than death.”
“How could you possibly know? Your kind never dies, never gets sick.”
A shadow fell over the Watcher’s countenance. He took a long time to reply. “Your burden is not like our burden.”
Tirzah huffed and turned back toward the Alacritus bush. With a determined snap, she pulled off a branch of purple leaves and white flowers. “I’m taking this. Hand me over to the Warden if you will.”
“Fool!” The Watcher’s eyes burned like crimson fire. “You’ve violated the sacred garden!”
“My child is sacred! Not this wretched place.” She hurried past the Watcher even though it was hopeless to run.
“Stop!” The Watcher drew his flaming sword and laid it before her path.
Tirzah froze, eyeing the flickering blade. “So, you’ve made your decision. You’ll serve the Wardens and let my people suffer.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Don’t I? My entire life, I’ve watched how you Watchers cower before the Wardens. You act like gods, but you’re cowards at heart.”
“The Wardens prevent Chaos from returning. There is more at stake than one child. If Chaos returns, it would drag this entire world under its curse.”
“To save my daughter, I’d light the sky on fire.”
“If you leave with that branch, you just might.”
Tirzah gripped the branch tighter. A thorn pricked her skin, drawing a bead of red from her finger.
“The Alacritus bush is not to be trifled with. Heal your daughter, it may, but at what cost?”
“A mother would pay any cost for her child.”
The Watcher shook his head. “Powerful magic has dangerous consequences. You are treading in places mankind is not meant to venture.”
Tirzah swallowed. The Watcher spoke the truth. Before hatching her scheme, she’d visited the Seer and glimpsed the things to come. Every path led to perdition—every path save one—the path through the eye of the Chaos storm. “I’ve made my decision. If you will not allow me to leave with the branch, you will have to take me to the Wardens yourself.” She stood tall, hoping against hope that the Watcher would relent.
“I take no joy in handing you over, but you have chosen your own fate.”
“Chosen my own fate?” Tirzah laughed joylessly. “You give us no choice but to die like animals while the Wardens dominate this land. When will the Watchers do something? You could throw them off if you had spines.”
The Watcher narrowed his gaze. “Things are not as simple as you pretend.” He grasped her bicep with his powerful hand.
Tirzah’s skin prickled beneath her mage cloak as he pulled her away from the Alacritus bush. She clamped the stolen branch to her chest, a futile gesture. Her fate was sealed. The best she could hope for was a quick death for her and her daughter if this failed. “They’ll throw me in the abyss, you know that.”
The Watcher looked away as he pulled her through the garden toward the silver tower where the Wardens stayed. “I fear they will.”
“You fear? You’re handing me over to them. This is on your head as much as theirs.”
“Silence. You’ve spoken enough. You knew the sacred decrees before you set foot in this garden.” With an abrasive tug, he pulled her along.
Tirzah fought back tears. She’d hoped it would never come to this—her last desperate play, the one the Seer had shown her—the play that would restore the Chaos. Hands trembling, she dropped the branch and pulled the black shard from her pocket.
“Where did you get that?” The Watcher released her and jolted back. The glint in his eye betrayed abject horror as he stared at the blacker than black object. “You shouldn’t be able to wield that!”
“I’d do anything to save her.” Tirzah raised the shard, aiming the point at the Watcher. “I’d burn the sky and raise the earth. I’ll send you to the fires if you try to stop me.”
“No! What are you doing? You’ve invited the Chaos back into the land!”
“Then pray Chaos will be a better master than your Wardens.” Lightning jumped from the black shard and consumed the Watcher. With a scream, he fell to the ground. Tirzah picked up the branch and ran. “I love you, Hannah. Not even Chaos can stop that.”
As Tirzah ran, the sky blackened with storm clouds. Chaos was coming. The thought sent a chill through her blood, but there was no time for regret or second-guessing. She’d made up her mind before she’d sneaked into the garden. Her daughter would heal fast. She had to. If the prophecies were accurate, she’d be the one to ride on the eye of the storm.
Cool! I’m getting Adam and Eve/Pandora’s Box vibes from this piece. Feels like a prologue to a longer work. (:
Team A
“There once was a forbidden garden. Guarded by an old troll with green, wrinkly skin. When the little children knocked, she would yell- you cannot come in!” Finn huffed and knocked over the troll he set up on the table and it went hurtling to the floor with a thump.
May, a tot with those cute, spiky, toddler-wisp pigtails on top of her head, bent down and picked up the doll, petting its head. Then she put it in her mouth.
Finn sighed.
“May, give me that back.” he said, holding out a hand.
May shook her head no and her mouth hardened into a pout.
“Mine.”
“No, it’s mine. I need something to be Old Lady Crandall.”
“Mine.”
His little sister could be so stubborn.
“Fine. You can play with it. See if I care.”
“Finley.” His mother’s admonishing, but gentle voice carried over from the kitchen where she was cooking. “Be nice to your sister. She’s little.”
“Okay.” He got down to May’s height. “Sorry I was mean.”
“It okay.” She gave Finn a hug and he hugged her back. He couldn’t be cross at her for long. May didn’t understand his frustrations.
His mother set their pasta dinner on the table and Finn was asked to clear up his creation to make room for his plate. He did- tearing down the Lego fence and removing the dandelions he’d placed to represent the neighbour’s flower garden.
He gathered those in his hands.
“You can have them.” he said, and his mother, a slender blonde woman, set his plate on the table, picked up his sister and settled her into her high chair, and then accepted them.
Pasta was good, like usual. Finn liked it very much. What he didn’t like was the way Old Lady Crandall had looked at him as he walked past this morning on his way to school. He always stopped by her fences and always stood on his tippy toes to peek over the fence into her garden. It was real lovely in there- roses and buttercups, stone walkways, even a pond.
He liked the pond, with its splashy fountain and huge koi. He’d sometimes see frogs over the fence too. Most often, he saw Old Lady Crandall. She looked like a prune and she had a voice that scratched when she yelled. She yelled whenever she caught him watching her. She made Finn feel worse than dirt or an ant on the road.
“Finley, what’s wrong? You seem upset.”
“Sorry.”
His mom smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s okay to have feelings.” she said with a smile.
“Old Lad- Mrs. Crandall hates me. Today she forbid me when I asked to see her fish and garden.” Tears began to spill over, so his mother reached for her napkin and began to dab at his face, cradling him close.
“Maybe I should talk to her.”
“No.” He pleaded with his eyes. “She’ll be more mean when I walk past to school.”
“We’ll see about that. How about we go talk to her together?”
“I don’t know.”
“Some people are mean for lots of reasons. You got upset at May because you were having a bad day. Maybe she’s feeling bad because of her day.”
“Or years.” Finn muttered, a bitter note seeping into his little voice.
His mother patted his head and then directed him to eat his dinner.
The next day was a Saturday, and Finn wasn’t going to school. He was almost glad because he wouldn’t have to see Old Lady Crandall again, but then he remembered Mom’s words. Yes, they were going to see her and talk to her. Big gulp.
He put on one of his Sunday shirts just in case, and brushed his hair real nice. If she thought he was a good boy, could he see the fish?
Only one way to find out.
Finn put on a determined gaze and waved good-bye to his Dad and little sister May. Then he took his mother’s hand and they both walked down the street. Finn’s mom had a soft, warm hand, and a basket of cookies in the other. She said cookies could help anyone remember their manners, and Finn believed her. Unless some people were too cranky for cookies.
His breath hitched as they came into sight of her house, and he had a vivid picture in his head of her scowling face, but she wasn’t in the forbidden garden today.
She must be home.
Finn and his mom came up the driveway beside her car. She was home. Finn gripped his mom’s hand tighter and hid behind her once they were on the doorstep.
The doorbell chimed a beautiful sound, like church bells. What Finn was worried about was the shrill noise that would remind him he was a terrible boy. So, when the door began to open, he wished he was invisible and shut his eyes too, hoping it would work.
“Hello, Mrs. Crandall.” His mother said.
“Cheryl. Your boy’s been trying to ruin my flowers.” She said, fixing Mom and the cookies with a harsh stare that made Finn quake in his sneakers.
“I thought Finn could explain himself if you’d give him a moment.” Mom said, holding out the basket of cookies.
The old lady took them.
“Fine. Speak up, young man. Yes, I see you there.”
Finn stepped out from behind his mother. His eyes threatened to fill with tears.
“I like your garden- I wanted to visit.” He said, and then the tears came.
“Oh. Oh.” The old lady almost dropped the cookies, but managed to bend down a little, so she was looking into Finn’s face.
“You really should have just asked.” She said. “I’m so sorry. I thought you were one of the boys who threw toilet paper at my house last Halloween.”
Finn looked up into the old lady’s face and wiped away his tears.
“It’s okay.” he said.
Then they walked into the garden together.