Daily/Weekly Writing Prompts

[ShineCero]

I want to start thew New Year improving my writing and storytelling abilities. So at least weekly, I'll be posting prompts and my attempt of creating a story based it. If you're interested in tackling the prompts, go ahead! I'm curious to see what kind of direction you would go. Anyways, you can always react to my prompts if you want! Would love to see some feedback so I can improve my writing skills.

All the prompts are from 5-Minute Daily Writing Prompts by Tarn Wilson

 

[ShineCero]

PROMPT 1: A woman awakes in the early morning to see her shadow sneaking out of the bedroom door. She follows.

After opening the door, the woman pokes her head to see the dark hallways. There was hardly any light for her to see anything strange. Since no light was shining through, it was impossible to tell where the shadow had disappeared too, if there was a shadow at all. Was it pure imagination caused by the lack of sleep? For the past couple of nights, the woman stayed up late working on her project for an orientation next week. Sleep was hardly considered an option.

The woman rubbed her eyes and decided that it was best to go back to bed. If she was imagining weird things, then she needed to get some sleep. It’ll be futile to have a good performance at her orientation if she doesn’t have the energy to do so.

Deciding to go back to sleep, the woman returns to her bed to have a nice, long rest. Suddenly, the sound of shattering glass was heard from down the hall. Startled, she exited out her bedroom onto the hallway to investigate the source of the sound.

Taking one step at a time, the amount of shattering glass increases as she drew closer to the source. Eventually, she reached the slightly opened bathroom door and noticed light peeking through. She wondered if it was her wife but remembered that she was currently away on a business trip.

Anxiety began to grow, and a mountain of stress suddenly began to crush her chest. Did someone break into her home? She recalled the shadow that slipped away from her bedroom onto the hallway. Perhaps it was not her imagination? Nevertheless, pondering about it was not getting anywhere. Taking a deep breath, the woman opened the bathroom door to see the source of the shattering glasses.

The woman froze upon seeing a shadowy figure standing over the sink and checking themselves out in the mirror. The floor was littered with broken glass, the shower curtains were torn away from their handle and toilet paper everywhere.

The woman let out an audible gasp before quickly covering her mouth. That alerted the shadow, causing it to turn and face her directly. The woman couldn’t believe what her eyes was seeing. There was a living, breathing shadow in her bathroom. Not only that, but her appearance was inexplicitly identical to her in almost every way; the exception was the shadow’s hair was dark brown compared to the woman’s natural blonde. The shadow smiles, but the expression she makes oozes a terrifying image. Its eyes were completely void, as if merely staring at her billows them to see the abyss of nothing but pure darkness. She took one step towards her, paying no mind on stepping on sharp glass.

The woman fell backwards towards the hallway and spoke. “Who’re you?”

Approaching the woman until there was little distance between them. The shadow arched over until their faces were in proximity. “You’re my shadow. I’m here to reclaim my life.”

 

[ShineCero]

PROMPT 2: Create a character who is doubting (their beliefs, etc.). Write their interior monologue.

During nightfall on a distant planet, there was a warrior shaped by battles wandering around the barren lands. He was lost in thought, for his mind was focused on what it means to have self-worth. “What is worth…?” He asked himself that question as if it was a foreign concept. “She told me that I no longer must listen to anyone and craved my own path. The path what I want.”

The warrior, Spina, from the day he was born never decided anything for himself. Throughout his entire life until he met his mentor, Kai, all decisions were made for him. He came from a race of beings that dedicated their entire lives to battle. But their most important attribute was the sense of self-worth. They pride themselves on their power, ability, and intelligence. Spina was an odd case; he was born weak and couldn’t do the basics needed for survival. His mother abandoned him for feeling weak, his father did his best to raise him to become a proper warrior. However, their society explicitly shows that any weaklings ought to be banished from their world. For Spina, despite his weak status, it was revealed that he held a hidden potential that proven useful for his people. Rather banished, they force him to become their lackey and cannon fodder.

Having no experience in battle, Spina was raised in a hellish environment where he faced many near-death experiences. The many scars on his body are proof of such. From there, he had no say in the matter. His opinions were worthless in the eyes of his people. His only purpose of existence is to serve under the boot of his people. Nothing more, nothing less.

After the destruction of his planet, Spina was lost of his purpose. He was happy, of course, but he lacks the motivation to go on. It wasn’t until he ran into Kai who took interest in him. She offers to train him in the arts of battle. Furthermore, she offers friendship—not comrade, actual genuine companionship.

“So far it been years since Kai trained me. She constantly asked for my thoughts. My wants. I still don’t know how to respond. It is all new territory for me. Sometimes I wonder if she’s simply doing this for her own benefit. Her own ego…” Spina starts to smile slightly. “I shouldn’t even be thinking like that.” Spina struggled that anyone would even be remotely nice to him. “I always feel ashamed before, but this shame… is doubting her. She works so hard on trying to lift me up.” He laughed to himself and then decided. “I’ll find a nice gift for her. Show my appreciation.”

After some time, Spina held a pretty rock as a gift for Kai. However, he stumbled and overhears the conversation between Kai and her friends. Hiding behind the rock because he felt a little embarrassed and decided to wait until they were finished.

“Are you still hanging around that man? How long will you pull him along?” One asked. “Don’t tell me that you like him?”

“Never! It is just until he masters his training. Then everyone would be impressed that I managed to train a lost puppy. And bam, scores of new students, you know?”

Spina stood in silence after hearing that. His negative thoughts flooded his mind with bad memories. He was always used as a tool before because that’s all he ever knew, but this time, he felt a sense of betrayal. Dropping the rock, he held onto his chest. The stress and anxiety built quickly. “Of course…! That’s her goal…! I’m just a damn dog, haha.” Spina let out a hurtful chuckle. “I was a fool to think otherwise. I shouldn’t see this coming!” Spina rubbed his head, messing up his wild hair. “Damnit. Damnit!” He curses as anger starts to boil over. For the first time, his doubt shifted from sadness to pure, unfiltered rage. “Damnit!”