Welcome back to Muse on Monday!

The challenge is to write a story of your own based on the prompt below. If you’re 18 years old or younger, you can submit it using this link for a chance to have it published next Monday when the new prompt comes out. You just need to submit it before 12:00pm EST next Sunday.

If you have an idea for a prompt for a future week, please send it to me at greenwalledtreehouse@gmail.com! It can be in this form or anything else.

(click the headings of each prompt for a description of it.)

Story Prompt: April 19, 2021

SETTING: any

CHARACTERS: a beautiful astronomer

CONFLICT: trying to open a door

GENRE: comedy

TONE: any

OTHER ELEMENTS: any

And now, a story based on last week’s prompt:

• Genre: science fiction
• Tone: conversational
• Other elements: fruit, glass

The Usual Table

“How about this one?” the used table salesman asked. He pointed to a red and brown thing that looked like a flattened mushroom. “Got it last week. It’s the newest technology.”

“Is it a table?” I asked.

“Usually.”

It was a strange answer. “I’ve always thought that one of the best things about a table was how consistent it was at being a table,” I said.

He gave me a pitying look. What a table noob, it seemed to say. “Fine. I’ll give it to you half price.”

That was good enough for me. After all, I usually didn’t even use the table, so it should be more than enough. I put it in my kitchen. It sat in the corner like a mutant mushroom. I put a tablecloth on it and some fruit.

The next morning, I came down for breakfast and found the fruit on the floor. The tablecloth was under it. The table looked the same.

I called the store. “What does usually mean?” I asked. I heard a sigh and then the sound of flipping pages.

“It means typically, ordinarily, most of the time,” he said. “Happy?”

“No, what does it mean for this table? How often is it not a table?”

“Rarely,” he answered immediately. Then, “Look, just don’t leave anything on it for a long time.”

Fine. It was cheap, so I would just have to live with it. That evening I was eating my dinner at the table when suddenly my glass fell through the table and shattered on the floor. Water and glass went everywhere.

I called the store the next day. “How much for an always table?” I asked.

“An always table?” The man seemed shocked. “Like 100%? That’s going to cost you. But look, I just got in an almost always table that pretty nice. It’s a table 98-99% of the time. And it’s on sale.”

Wow, that sounded pretty good. “Can I trade in the table I just bought?”

He seemed thoughtful. “Usually,” he answered.

Good luck and happy writing! Come back next Monday for another story prompt.