The Ink Well Fiction Prompt #117 - Plus Weekly Challenge and Prize Announcement

_{Source: Pixabay}

Hello and welcome to the The Ink Well weekly fiction prompt and prize announcement! The Ink Well is a Hive blockchain-based social media community of creative writers. If you love to write short stories, we invite you to join us! Or just peruse and enjoy the work of our community members.

Special Reminder: Check out our monthly contest for the month of May, 2023, ending May 31! And be sure to honor the countdown timer! 10 Hive to the winner!

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Weekly Challenge and Prize Announcement

Time for the prize announcement and new challenge!

Last week's prompt was "date" and the skill challenge was dialogue.

Stories From the Previous Week

Thank you to everyone who posted a story for last week's prompt!

The Ink Well is fortunate to have many members who are rising talents! We would like everyone to think of these weekly prizes as a showcase of just a few of the very best stories, as well as an opportunity for our members to be inspired by reading some polished stories that demonstrate excellent storytelling skills.

• @lightpen
• @pearlsuddy
• @dianelson
• @bemier
• @mrenglish
• @cool08
• @princess-dara
• @inessita
• @djoi
• @jetta.amaya
• @marriot5464
• @abigail04
• @deraaa
• @lara-bee
• @universoperdido
• @jhymi
• @ricardo-lopez
• @mhizrutty
• @kemmyb
• @balikis95
• @rinconpoetico7
• @marynn
• @timix648
• @jjmusa2004
• @rammargarita
• @esbat
• @popurri
• @sublimethoughts
• @seki1
• @mharieland
• @marilour
• @diikaan
• @nelson-george
• @kingsleyy
• merit-ahama
• @george-dee

Honorable Mentions
Our honorable mentions of the week are:

• @dianelson: A Picture with the Date
• @jetta.amaya: The Attempt at a Date
• @universoperdido: Sweet Trap
• @jhymi: The Think About Dramatic Beginnings
• @kemmyb: The New Moon of 1077
• @jjmusa2004: A Date with My Wife
• @diikaan: The Applicant

Third Place: Wins 2 Hive

• @seki1, with the story The Date That Shouldn't Be Forgotten

I looked through the glass windows and indeed noticed that all the customers were indeed men.
In actuality I wasn't the only one looking at them as there were quite a few girls all ogling at the display of abs and manliness.
I felt sick with nausea as I fought my way through the growing mob of girls.

I ran across the street and sat down at the street bench there trying to catch my breath.
"Annoying, isn't it?" I looked at the man sitting across from me.
"What is that?" I say in between gasps.
"The annual Men's Gym Retreat" he says with a dramatic yet sarcastic flair of the hands.
"Although they say it's annual I can swear that it's happening every 4 months now."

Second Place: Wins 3 Hive

• @deraaa, with the story Bai-Li-Mei

"I am Wang Feng. The first and only son to the prestigious Wang family. The favorite of Minister Wang Lei. Loved and adored by all. I have no flaws, no dent on my reputation. I have never known a woman. I am just perfect. And you...you are not. Not worthy. Is that what you want to hear?"

Li Mei's eyes snapped to his, confusion lacing her features.
"I don't-"

"Well, now you've heard what you wanted to hear. So listen to what I have to say."

Li Mei, perplexed, watched her best friend take a deep breath and then close his eyes to release it. When he opened them, the amber liquid pierced her soul.

First Place: Wins 5 Hive

• @marilour with the story Emotions Sip by Sip

The last order puzzled me. The request was unusual in its characteristics: intense, dominant, full-bodied coffee with an imposing flavor. He was probably describing the consumer.

The waiter returned with the order from table 12 and said. "The gentleman refused to receive the coffee. He said that whoever had prepared that coffee, needed to be trained to prepare it correctly."

His hands were numb and his pulse was racing. I was obfuscated and very upset. I picked up a tray and placed the protagonist, the coffee, and went to table 12.

"Good afternoon... Ah, it's you." There he was, with a mischievous look, watching me. I was immediately intimidated. He was dressed in black, elegant and enigmatic, unflappable and unintelligible.

Congratulations to @marilour, @deraaa and @seki1! Your stories were wonderful, and you did great with the dialogue skill challenge!

This Week’s Prompt

COUNTDOWN NOTE: Be sure to submit your entries before the countdown ends. You must submit before the end of the countdown to be considered for the prizes and honorable mentions.

Prompt of the week!

This week's prompt is "chocolate." Our skill challenge is writing in a genre.

What to do with this prompt?

Ah, chocolate! It could be the reason for a family outing on a Saturday afternoon, or the impetus for someone to travel to a county known for its exquisite chocolate. And of course, you can work chocolate into any genre. A chocolate egg could contain the code to thwart a war. A chocolate thumbprint on a surface could be the clue that helps a detective solve a mystery. Space travelers could discover a planet where chocolate is so valuable the inhabitants use it as currency.

How to choose a genre. Be sure to read the article about genres in our catalog of fiction writing tips to get ideas for writing in different genres like mystery, romance, thriller or sci-fi.

Ready, set go!

A week from now, we will select winning stories that demonstrate the skills and utilize the prompt. Of course, we will also be looking for overall quality in the winning stories. Good luck! Be sure to read the contest rules below.

If you don't feel inspired by this prompt or the featured image, feel free to peruse any of our past prompts or our collection of idea-generators:

• 50 Loglines
• 50 Story Ideas
• 50 Imagination Ticklers

Weekly Prompt Rules:

1. Deadline: You have SIX DAYS to write for the prompt, and you must submit your story before the end of the countdown to be considered for prizes and honorable mentions. You can find the countdown timer at the bottom of the prompt post on The Ink Well home page.
2. Story link: Post your story in The Ink Well community, and post a link to your story in a comment on this post.
3. Hashtags: Please use these hashtags: #fiction #writing #inkwellprompt #theinkwell — as well as #dreemport, if you are also posting your story to the DreemPort site.
4. COMMUNITY SUPPORT: Visit the work of at least two other community members and comment on their work.
5. Title: The title is up to you. You can come up with any title you wish. You do not need to name it after the prompt or include the prompt word(s).
6. Images: Please only use images from license free and creative commons sites, like Pixabay, Unsplash and Pexels. Images you find on the Internet are copyright protected and cannot be used. Be sure to provide all image source links.
7. Length: We request that story word counts are a maximum of 1,500 words in length (preferably 750-1000 words). This is just a guideline. Longer stories are okay too, but they tend to get fewer readers. Additionally, The Ink Well admins appreciate keeping to that maximum story length for our time management. Thank you!

Reminders: Be sure to also read our community rules. As always, please avoid violent, gory, bloody, brutal, sexist or racist themes and language, NSFW (not safe for work) stories like erotica, stories with a political or religious agenda, and stories featuring abuse of any kind. (We have a complete article about The Ink Well stance on violence and brutality for more information.)

Here are the past prompts if you would like to use them or refer back to them:
_{#1: Heart and Soul; #2: The moment when...; #3: Beauty with a twist; #4: The Way Home; #5: A Matter of Time; #6 50 Story Ideas; #7 The Library; #8 All the way to tomorrow; #9 Legend; #10 Three Words; #11 World Building; #12 Childhood Summers; #13 50 Imagination Ticklers; #14 Railroad; #15 Cats - 750 words; #16 Your Birthday; #17 Action, Dialog and Narrative; #18 Change; #19 Tea Time or Tee Time?; #20 Summer Camp; #21 Main Street; #22 Fireworks; #23 Picnic; #24 Run; #25 A word of advice; #26 Winding road; #27 Mirror; #28 Shipwreck; #29 School Notes; #30 Three Words: Scooter, River, Midnight; #31 Flash Fiction Contest; #32 A Fork in the Road; #33 Shadows; #34 Three Words: Island, Witch, Cake; #35 Full Moon; #36 Graveyard; #37 Jack-o-Lantern; #38 Family Ties; #39 Longing; #40 Feast; #41 Gift; #42 Season of Light; #43 Believe; #44 Elf; #45 Holiday; #46 New Year; #47 Unlikely Hero; #48 Inheritance; #49 Under the Light of the Moon; #50 Three Words: Shoes, Mood, Adventure; #51 They're Here; #52 Artist; #53 Headlights; #54 Tomorrow; #55 Lense; #56 Perfection; #57 Making and Breaking Rules; #58 A Reckoning; #59 Blossom; #60 Temptation; #61 Happiness; #62 Footprint; #63 Frequency; #64 Sailing; #65 Fortune; #66 Worry; #67 Adventure; #68 Shadow; #69 Motor; #70 Embarrass; #71 Proud; #72 Guide; #73 Impression; #74 Lost; #75 Wonder; #76 Tear; #77 Splash; #78 Brilliant; #79 Sinkhole; #80 Exhaust; #81 Roll; #82 Wishbone; #83 Chatterbox; #84 Foil; #85 I can't believe you said that; #86 Boo; #87 Midnight; #88 Hunger; #89 Light; #90 Spirit; #91 Fire; #92 Tend/Tender; #93 Cheer; #94 Appearance; #95 Ambition; #96 Trust; #97 Fly; #98 Comfort; #99 Fate; #100 To Create; #101 Vision; #102 Sympathy; #103 A Special Time; #104 Suspense; #105 Bride, stairs, illusion; #106 Reality TV; #107 Things the Go Bump in the Night; #108 First line: Two strange things happened that day; #109 What if that loose floorboard was actually a hidden passageway?; #110 Footsteps; #111 Mess; #112 Cards; #113 Elephant; #114 Crystal; #115 Phone call; #116 Date}

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