Welcome to a brand new week and a brand new Muse on Monday story prompt. The challenge is to write a short story and use the elements listed below. If you’re 18 years old or younger, you can submit your story 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: May 17, 2021

SETTING: in a bank

CHARACTERS: a homeless man

CONFLICT: any

GENRE: horror/suspense

TONE: any

OTHER ELEMENTS: any

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

• Conflict: kidnapping a clown
• Tone: absurd
• Other Elements: a pitchfork, black clouds

The Boingo Job

“Put me in jail,” I said. “Throw away the key, I don’t care. I just don’t to see another clown again.”

The policeman across the table looked unimpressed. “Okay, start talking. What was the plan?”

“It was simple,” I said. “Break in and grab Boingo the Clown. Everyone knows he is worth millions of dollars. We ransom him off for half a million. Simple.”

“But . . .?”

“We picked the darkest night we could, when clouds totally covered the sky. But the moment we stepped onto his property, things started going wrong.” I was trying not to cry now. “This little guy in clown makeup jumped out and started chasing us. He had a pitchfork.”

“A pitchfork?”

“Well, a rubber pitchfork. When we saw that we weren’t scared, but it actually made you rubbery when you got hit. Hazel and Gustaf were flopping around the lawn like fish out of water after ten seconds. We couldn’t wait for them so the last I saw, they were rolling down towards the fence. Did you find them, by the way?”

The policeman shook his head. “Then what?”

“The remaining three of us lost the pitchfork guy and broke a window. Jenny got hit by a cream pie on the windowsill and went down but Vince and I crawled in. We found ourselves in a hall of mirrors. There were dozens of us all around.”

“Seems normal for a clown house,” the policeman said.

“But the other versions of us were dressed like clowns,” I said, shuddering. “It was creepy. But the balloon animals were what broke me. That’s what got Vince.” I closed my eyes, remembering the colorful balloon giraffe that had towered over us and the squeak of latex as it scraped across the floor. Then the terrible pop. I felt like I was going to pass out.

“I’m just glad you got there so fast,” I said. “I don’t know how you did it.”

“Well for one thing, we’re not the regular police,” the policeman said. He pulled off his uniform. Underneath was a brightly colored costume. “We’re the clown police. And we take care of our own. Hey Jojo!” he called to the next room, flashing me a menacing grin. “Bring in the balloon animals.”

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