The Ink Well Fiction Prompt #118 - 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 "chocolate" and the skill challenge was to choose a genre for your story.

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.

• @universoperdido
• @kinganny
• @ricardo993
• @morey-lezama
• @alexlight
• @mrenglish
• @clemenp
• @deraaa
• @marynn
• @dianelson
• @nelson-george
• @blessworld
• @lightpen
• @inessita
• @timix648
• @faitz007
• @fantom22
• @wrestlingdesires
• @ubani
• @kemmyb
• @katleya
• @rinconpoetico7
• @aloysiusmbaba
• @popurri
• @amiegeoffrey
• @jhymi
• @smc.arike.oba
• @philomenob
• @balikis95
• @marriot5464
• @yuki-nee
• @blackalbino1
• @kingsleyy
• @gracielaacevedo

Honorable Mentions
Our honorable mentions of the week are:

• @popurri: Doña Mercedes' Cocoa
• @morey-lezama: Elite
• @nelson-george: Chocolate Tales from Grandpa
• @faitz007: Clux the Tooth Fairy
• @kemmyb: The Valentine's Day Illusion
• @yuki-nee: A King's Chocolate Obsession
• @ricardo993: The Chocolate Beings

Third Place: Wins 2 Hive

• @jhymi, with the story The Boogeyman's POV

I knocked on the window. Twice in succession and ducked. I knew they had turned to look and that they had gone deadly still. After years of doing this, I knew how long it would be before they turned their eyes back to the screen. And then I lifted my head and knocked again. Now I could hear the hysterical voices clothed in a mask of bravery.
“Who’s there?” The first child rasped.
“I said who’s there?”
Now for my entry, I raised my head with the coloured lights from the screen casting an eerie glow on my face. I added a chuckle for good measure.

Second Place: Wins 3 Hive

• @deraaa with the story Alone

That train of thought ends quickly because I'm walking to the window to lock it. Again. When I turn around, my heart lurches. Something or someone just ran towards my room. My feet halts, my blood roaring in my ears. I must be seeing things. I shake my head and return back to my room, shutting the door behind me and…going still as I stare at my open windows.

My breath catches in my throat, my heart racing. My phone pings on the bed. A distraction. Good. I don't want to think right now. I pick it up and it's a message from Lillian. A cryptic one.

"P…your door."

First Place: Wins 5 Hive

• @dianelson, with the story Who Did It?: A Chocolate Mystery

Antonio checked his phone, "It's 11:5-". He was interrupted by Lily's phone.
"I'm sorry it's Aunty Melissa. I have to take it".
Lily rushed off with her phone into the house.
"It's 12:00". They all raised the chocolate to their mouth and then Lily came back panting, "Poisoned. She was poisoned. The chocolate was the last thing she ate. Someone poisoned Chloe".

They all dropped the chocolate quicker than the speed of light and then turned to Sophia who continued, "Aunty Melissa just called to say they got her autopsy report. Guys someone murdered Chloe", Lily said leaving everyone in shock.

Congratulations to @dianelson, @deraaa and @jhymi! Your stories were wonderful, and you did great with the chocolate prompt and the genre!

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 three words: "wish, button, sky." Our skill challenge is create a great story setting.

What to do with this prompt?

From time-to-time, we use three words as a writing prompt. The idea is that these three words can inspire completely different ideas for everyone. Your task is to write a short story that includes each of these words: wish, button, sky.

Story setting: Be sure to read the article about story settings in our catalog of fiction writing tips to learn more about settings.

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; #117 Chocolate}

Thank you for being a part of The Ink Well!
@jayna, @gracielaacevedo, @yaziris, @itsostylish, @millycf1976 and @grindan

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