It’s a common misconception that a great idea makes a great story. The truth is that most great stories come down to execution. A great idea with poor execution rarely works, but a great writer can breathe new life into even the most tired tropes.
Like any writer, I have my own treasure trove of ideas that might end up in a story…someday. But why horde them? Instead, I’m opening the vault and setting them free.
Use these ideas as a writing prompt, or come up with your own twist and reply in the comments.
The Thing and the Voice
I never see either of them. Thank God.
The Voice wants to help. It knows how to survive. It whispers, always in my right ear. The Voice gives me warnings. It protects me from the Thing.
The Thing is terrible. It is sound and stench. It can come at any time. When it comes, I crouch down in a corner, as low as I can, and I stay very still so I can’t be seen.
The Voice tells me what to do. Stare at the corner, the place where three edges come together. The triune shape. Holy. Safe.
Today, the Thing comes when I’m in the shower. It sounds like construction machinery tearing through the roof of the apartment. A crunch in the hallway, the sound of wood and plaster shattering, clear even against the wash of water and the muffling steam. The crunch of bathroom tile. The tub has no corners. I have to make do with the grouted tile wall.
The creak of metal and glass, the explosion of the shower doors. The safety glass cascades harmlessly over me as clear pebbles. The water is scorching hot. The Thing is pressing on me. Its presence like a doubling of gravity. Tripling, quadrupling. I’m on Venus or Jupiter. The atmosphere is hot poison, unbreathable. Heavy, indistinct pressure.
“Lower, lower,” the Voice whispers. The pressure on my back increases. I stare at the corner of the shower. I do everything right. I listen to the Voice. The Voice protects me. The Thing always goes away. Everything returns to the way it was before. Always.
But not this time…
Words Deferred 