Happy “National Taxes Aren’t Due Today After All Day” (if you’re reading this on April 16th) or, if you prefer something a little tastier, how about “National Eggs Benedict Day”. I’m a big fan of Eggs Benedict. It is my traditional Christmas morning breakfast treat, although I make it with Béarnaise sauce instead of hollandaise and, in a name leftover from childhood, call them “saucy eggs.” Some of the local restaurants offer a wide variety of fancy eggs benedict styles on the menu, but I’m a traditionalist at heart.
Oh great, now I’m craving eggs.
Today is also “World Semicolon Day” which is not, as you might think, a day to celebrate an underappreciated punctuation mark.
“World Semicolon Day is “a day to celebrate those who chose not to end their lives because their stories are not over yet.” It pays tribute to those who have thought about or attempted suicide, and it informs people about how common suicide is.”
For now, since it’s NOT my Friday off, it’s time focus on some Day Job tasks. I’m hoping to clear out the work email inbox so I can go into the weekend with a clear conscience. Fingers crossed on that. Whether the email box is cleared out or not, I definitely plan to grab my favorite notebook and give today’s writing prompt and random words a try after diner.
Care to join me?
For those of you working away on a story (whether a first draft or a polished version on its way to publication), if you’re not feeling random, we’d love to hear a bit – whether it’s a scene, a paragraph, or even a phrase that you are especially pleased with and would like to share.
If you don’t have a story in progress, or just want to work on something new, I hope either today’s random words or writing prompt will catch your creative fancy.
Ready?
Prompt: A Brand New Normal
Feel free to interpret the prompt any way you choose (or ignore it completely) and include any (or all) of the following random words:
cloth ankle diary false
divine predict channel whisper
stage fold vision concrete
flight donut promised detox
I look forward to seeing your stories in the comments. If you’re not feeling in the writing mood today, or don’t have time, feel free to post suggestions you might have for future writing prompts. Ideas are always welcome.
Happy writing to all!
Eight Ladies Writing 
I’m sorry it’s not your Friday off, Elizabeth. But on the upside, another month to pay taxes!
I tried to work in a few semicolons for this sprint; however, I couldn’t quite manage it. Also, I couldn’t work in “fold,” which doesn’t seem like it should be that hard, but so it proved to be.
The Detox Treatment
When Chelsea woke, she was in a concrete box and had a monitoring device strapped to her ankle. This did not auger well for the luxury detox treatment she’d been promised. Talk about false advertising!
She put both hands on the bars of the door and shook the frame. “Hey!” she yelled. Where was everybody? Chowing down on donuts and watching porn somewhere, probably. “Let me out of here!”
“Be quiet!” whispered a voice from—Chelsea supposed—the next cell over. “Don’t bring the guards over.”
“Why not?” Chelsea asked. “I want to get out of here.”
“You won’t get out that way. We’re staging a coup tonight after dinner. Fight and flight, that’s the plan.”
Even channeling Shawshank Redemption, Chelsea didn’t see how that was going to happen.
“How?” she asked.
“We’ve got a friend on the outside,” the whisperer said. “A man of the cloth.”
“You’re hoping for divine intervention?”
“Are you in or not?”
When Chelsea had written in her diary months ago that she wanted to go for the full hot-rocks-and-toxin-sweat-lodge treatment, she hadn’t once considered that her vision would lead to incarceration. Although maybe she should have predicted that something was afoot when her evil stepmother asked her to sign over her trust fund.
One thing Chelsea knew for sure: she’d make her evil guardians pay for this outrage.
“We’re staging a coup tonight after dinner” – LOL. I love that bit. Good job, Kay.
I certainly hope things work out for Chelsea, though maybe she needs to be a little more careful about what she writes in her diary 🙂