Welcome to day two of the Winter Writing Challenge! Are you ready to get those creative juices flowing? I loved reading all your submissions yesterday. Let’s see what you come up with today!
Here’s your next prompt!
Write a vignette about waiting outside on the front porch.
Think you’re up for the challenge? We can’t wait to see what sort of vignette you guys come up with. Remember, it’s time to work together to unlock some of those awesome prizes, so post your vignette in the comments!
But wait…what’s a vignette and how do I write one?
A vignette is a brief evocative description, account, or episode. It doesn’t have any plot, backstory, or any elements that can move the story forward. For more on how to write a vignette, click here!
(Keep in mind, they should be less than 500 words!)
Before you start writing, we have some important rules for you to follow.
Writing Rules
1. Please keep the content of the poems and vignettes 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. Have fun!
Remember to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and post your story as an “answer” to this question. 🙂
You guys posted over 130 times yesterday, via this Q&A Board, Facebook, and Instagram! That’s incredible, and we’re well on our way for big prizes.
Remember, if at least 50 people post every day, we’ll all get one free month of Premium Membership to The Company. Premium Members get access to all of The Company’s live coaching groups, where you can get real answers from real professionals for all of your writing and publishing questions. Keep posting, and let’s get this!
Happy Writing!
Alli Prince
Stomping out onto the porch, slamming the door behind me, I fling myself into the corner overstuffed chair. The yellow and blue flowered cushions give way beneath me with a deep, muffled whoosh of air. Usually, I feel an instant sigh of relief and comfort when the cushions wrap their softness around me like a hug.
But not tonight. Tonight, it is different.
My tears come hot and heavy like the rain that is falling. They stream down my cheeks, and I taste salt drops on my lips.
All my mom asked was for me to put my stuff away, and like a menthos candy dropped in coke I spewed, “Duh! Mom! Why do you have to always tell me what to do? You treat me like a little baby!” My words splatter out of my mouth like a brown frothy foam soda explosion. I am mad at myself that I explode at every little thing lately.
I think about my dad, and about what Grami said last night, and wonder if my dad really is watching over me. The orb that flits around my head goes unnoticed.
I sit up and wipe my tears of frustration away. Looking at my phone, I think I’ll play a video game, that’s the only thing that makes me feel good about myself. Putting in my earbuds, I log into the game I play with other players from around the world.
I hear muffled thunder and its rumbles in my chest. I look out over the porch rail; it has grown dark. A crack of lightning hits the transformer box on the pole at the street. An arc sparks and flaming light flashes my eyes. The smoke bellowing a pungent electric smell fills my nostrils and lungs, leaving a metallic taste on my tongue.
I startle and jump, my phone slides down my legs onto the floor. The lights go out and it’s dark. Scary dark! Thinking quickly, my phone has a flashlight, I reach down, I feel it, the phone, and the hand that has gripped my wrist…
Gasping at the air that escapes me, I am frozen in fear with the grip around my wrist. As if he knows something is wrong, my dog Zues comes running and jumps into my lap. My arm instinctively wrapped around him; in the warmth of his fur, I searched for comfort. Flits of light, like little round orbs pass by in the darkness and in the adrenaline rush, I lose consciousness.
In a dreamlike trance, I feel as if I’m being dragged but pulling upward at the same time. I am hot and there is a tight cluster of bright points that I join into, and we are all moving in the same direction at similar speeds. The darkness begins to glow. A pale orange at first, glowing into yellow leaving a trail of bright dots like a string of pearls.
The glow is getting darker orange and turning red, I feel like flowing molten lava. The dazzling colors form a shield-like circle around the cluster of lights that I’m in, and I feel a pull on my body. The force is so heavy. It feels as if I have four people sitting on top of me. It is hard to breathe. I panic, because I can’t get any air into my lungs. I think I’m dying and floating to heaven. My body is swinging back and forth like a pendulum ticking away the time. But I am not floating up. I am floating down, gently like a leaf in the breeze.
Not like a leaf at all as I hit the ground with a thump. I’m afraid to open my eyes and I think I must be dreaming. My brain feels woozy, and my body feels like I got tackled by a two-hundred-pound linebacker. I hear footsteps and a voice echoing as if I were in a cave; Look…Look…Look…The footsteps stop at the sound of a door creaking open.
I open my eyes and blink. I try to clear my eyes by blinking again. There is a white marble ceiling with gold constellations that I feel a strange connection too. Maybe I am dead, I think. All I know is I am not on my porch. I rub my wrist, and the grip is gone, and so is my phone…
Late, but still wanted to write something, so I’m posting it as a comment, if that’s ok. (it’s also not my best work)
The red gingham pattern of her dress stood out starkly against the white siding of her picturesque childhood home. From my view, her life was pretty perfect. She had a loving family, friends that were with her through thick and thin, and everything a girl could want.
And as I stood here, in the street, my breath puffing out into great white clouds in the cold, watching her wait for me on the porch, I realized something.
I couldn’t stand here forever, watching her wait for me here on the porch. It was now I had to make the decision.