The Ink Well Fiction Prompt #158

_{Source: Andrew Poynton on Pixabay}

Welcome to the Weekly Fiction Prompt

Hello community members. Thank you for joining our weekly writing prompt! If you're new, be sure to check out our community rules before posting in The Ink Well. (You can find them at the top of our home page. And you will find all kinds of great resources for fiction writers in our catalog of fiction writing tips.

Stories from the Previous Week

Thank you to who posted a story for last week's prompt: "Love, wheelbarrow, dog":

• @kingsleyy
• @george-dee
• @mrenglish
• @iskawrites
• @marriot5464
• @somuchgrace
• @jeclyn60
• @treasuree
• @lara-bee
• @menace123
• @nancybriti1
• @rare-gem
• @loveth97
• @trexane
• @abigail04
• @chuksmeezy
• @hamez
• @rinconpoetico7
• @lightpen
• @moclassic
• @princess-dara
• @balikis95
• @emreal
• @popurri
• @amiegeoffrey
• @zyzymena
• @sabrinah
• @idlemind
• @minhajulmredol
• @amarachi22
• @kei2
• @diikaan
• @precab
• @jjmusa2004
• @kristowe
• @hadrianwild
• @rammargarita
• @wrestlingdesires

Author Shout-outs

We'd like to call out a few stories that got high marks from our curators.

@balikis95

Daniel's Questions

Curator comment:

This was a wonderful story from balikis95. A joy to read. It was so lovely to see the consistency of good writing from start to finish! It had a lovely story arc and character arc, an interesting conflict and resolution and Balikis used the triple prompt in such an original way. The story was cleverly crafted. Daniel has asked a girl to marry him but is perplexed by her answer. He reaches out to his sister for help in understanding whether it is normal. There is some great dialogue that moves the story forward. A good character and story arc, with interesting conflict and resolution. Just read it.

@idlemind

I Exist

Curator comment:

idlemind writes one of the most elaborate short story plots I think I have ever seen in The Ink Well. She tells the story of a young couple, Gladys and Andrew, whose apartments are right next to one another. One day Gladys goes to visit Andrew and someone strange answers the door and claims to be Andrei, Andrew's twin brother. Trouble is, Andrew has never mentioned a brother before at all, let alone a twin. The story progresses through split personalities, ghosts, and more. A must read though it's quite long! It's worth the time to read it!

@loveth97

Cupid's Arrow

Curator comment:

@loveth97 brings us a lovely story for the triple prompt. It is nicely imagined and structured. A young man seeks some respite from his hectic work schedule by spending time with his two aunties whom he regards as his moms since his mom walked out on his family. He almost runs a dog over on his way there and is privy to the antics of a young woman trying to chase the dog down to restrain him. She apologises to him for the incident. When he gets to his aunts, they tease him about not having a girlfriend and needing to think of settling down. On a trip to the shop to buy garden supplies, so that he can work on his aunts' garden, the dog lady accidently knocks into him with her wheelbarrow and it is love at first sight. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

@wrestlingdesires

How Will You Use It?

Curator comment:

@wrestlingdesires writes a "feel good" story for the fiction prompt. It is a super cute story about a teenager finding a dog he can't keep but giving it to an old lady who's lonely. Although he is saving up to buy his own truck, he uses some of the money to take care of a vet visit and to buy some food so the dog is not too much of a burden for her. It's a flawless story. Simple and sweet.

Fiction Writing Prompt of the Week

This week's prompt is: "Stealing."

What to do with this prompt?

Stealing is something we are all familiar with. Whether you have had something stolen from you or not. Theft is in the news. And many different types of things can be stolen! A robber can steal money from a bank. An accountant can steal money from the firm. A child can steal a cookie. A boy can steal a kiss.

We look forward to seeing what your imagination comes up with! Be sure to review the Writing Prompt Guidelines below.

Remember, as always, we are looking for the elements of story. These include:

• Great first lines
• Good settings
• Well-developed characters
• Integration of action, dialogue and narrative
• A conflict that intrigues the reader
• A "story arc" which results in the resolution of the conflict and brings the story to a satisfying conclusion
• And of course, we are looking for well-edited stories that are not littered with typos or grammatical errors

You can find more on all of these topics in the catalog of fiction writing tips.

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

Writing Prompt Guidelines:

1. See The Ink Well FAQ: Before you post in The Ink Well, we ask that you read our FAQ post to familiarize yourself with our important community rules and guidelines.
2. Story link: Please be sure to 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: When you post in The Ink Well, please be sure to 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. Please do use the prompt word(s) within the story.
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 and a *minimum of 350 (ideally 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!
8. Translations: If you post a story that has been translated from another language, please include both the English version and the translation.

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.) And do NOT use AI tools to write your stories. You must provide your own unique content.

Past Prompts

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; #118 Three words: wish, button, sky; #119 RSVP; #120 Objets d'art; #121 Soul; #122 Scuttlebutt; #123 Recall; #124 Doorway; #125 Beacon; #126 Seagull, Market, Box; #127 Window; #128 Terrified; #129 Dance; #130 Two endings; #131 Ghosted; #132 Treasure; #133 Taste; #134 Reunion; #135 I miss you; #136 Wonder; #137 Ruins; #138 Beach memories; #139 There was something in the wind; #140 Mask; #141 Halloween; #142 Photo album; #143 Dreams; #144 Crayon box; #145 Back of beyond; #146 Intuition; #147 Delight; #148 Anticipation; #149 Holiday memories; #150 Resolution; #151 Bicycle; #152 Flight; #153 Time Travel; #154 A trip to the fair; #155 Don't sell me a dog; #156 Gravity; #157 Love, wheelbarrow, dog}

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We invite lovers of creative writing to visit The Ink Well, a Hive community started by @raj808 and @stormlight24 and run by @jayna, @gracielaacevedo, @yaziris, @itsostylish and @samsmith1971.

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A big thank you to all of our delegators:
@jayna, @felt.buzz, @itsostylish, @selftheist, @blueeyes8960, @agmoore, @marcybetancourt, @marlyncabrera, @stormcharmer, @iamraincrystal, @preparedwombat, @gracielaacevedo, @timix648, @samsmith1971, @jackdeathblack, @josemalavem, @riverflows, @generikat, @mineopoly, @hazmat, @treasuree, @innfauno12, @kingsleyy, @popurri, @nancybriti1, @marynn, @jjmusa2004, @universoperdido, @juniorgomez, @rinconpoetico7, @nathy33, @marriot5464, @kingworldonline, @morey-lezama, @evagavilan2, @moneykeep, @mrenglish, @stuartcturnbull, @marilour, @funshee, @amiegeoffrey, @balikis95, @cool08, @rukkie, @raymondpeter, @emreal, @tomiajax, @kushyzee, @rare-gem, @ricurohemi28, and @benwesterham.

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