Ad Astra…bucks Sara hadn’t had a customer in two months, which was a-okay. Her cafe on the Harmonie asteroid was the only one within a million miles, so she could afford to charge $1000 for a coffee and pastry if anyone came. If not, she had time to read. * * * Sara watched the…
Muse on Monday – September 16, 2024
It’s getting into the fall when I usually start traveling for work again. This week, I thought I would look back and take a picture from one of my trips to Mongolia a few years ago. This is from the Chinggis Khan museum near his birthplace. Story Prompt: September 16, 2024 Write a story based…
The Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion I had just moved in. My books were finally unpacked. The next morning, they were back in boxes. Ghosts, I assumed. That night, I sat in darkness to see what would happen. The window creaked, then opened. I flipped the lights. A boy stood there, frozen. “Hey,” I said. Nothing. “Did you…?”…
Muse on Monday – September 9, 2024
Normally for Muse on Monday, we give you a general topic or challenge to write a story around. However, this week’s prompt is what I call a super-specific one. Story Prompt: September 9, 2024 Write a story where the main character is running a business whose only employees are monkeys. It’s kind of a silly…
Muse on Monday – September 2, 2024
A few years ago, one of the Muse on Monday story prompts was to write a story that was nothing but dialogue. Today’s is similar but it is combative dialogue: an argument, a fight of words, an attempted persuasion, perhaps. With this kind of dialogue, the conflict is obvious. It is like a fencing match…
Honk vs Honk
Honk vs Honk “We could just fly over to the other side.” “And not disrupt traffic? No way. They built their road on our land, and we’re going to make them suffer for it.” “They could just run us over.” “They could, but they won’t. Humans would never admit it, but they secretly fear us….
Eldritch Cutie
Eldritch Cutie Why did people automatically associate a writhing mass of tentacles with the word “horror”? Jesse thought. It was cute. She pushed a scrap of sausage towards a questing pseudopod. It disappeared with a slurp. She wasn’t sure if it would grow legs, but she wanted to bring it to school. She’d been having…
Muse on Monday – August 26, 2024
What is the most alone you have ever been? I remember one day when I hiked up a snowy mountain in Korea and did not see another person the whole day. This is not loneliness, just being alone. Ironically, the loneliest I have every felt is when I was in a crowd of people where…
Muse on Monday – August 5, 2024
The bedrock of a story is conflict. In a lot of stories this is something external like someone trying to kill the main character, or the characters trying to find some object or other, etc. However, conflict can also be something that no one can see. A few weeks ago, I left work to catch…
Muse on Monday – July 22, 2024
I remember when I was young, I got lost in the woods. It was probably only for 10-15 minutes, but it was one of the most terrifying experiences I had ever had. Being lost in the wilderness is a great plot for a story (Lost in the Barrens, by Farley Mowat was my favorite book…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 