Writing something every day of October from a prompt.

I'm giving myself some rules/directions:
- prompts picked from random writober lists
- 131 characters including spaces (as in “from 1st to 31st” of October)
- written in about 10 minutes (as in the “10th” month)
- I'm giving myself freedom of style: poetry, micro-fiction, non-fiction...
- I will write in English mostly, but I might decide to switch to French sometimes

OCT 1 – TO BEGIN
October 6 already...
I'm always late. For everything.
Starting things is hard.
I guess I shouldn't fear the endings to begin with.

OCT 2 – SHADOW
“Don't you see them? In the shadow. They've been waiting.”
“For what? I don't see anything.”
“Yes. Exactly.” she said with a smile.

OCT 3 – CAFÉ
Alors comme ça, tu lis dans le marc de café ?
J'y noie plutôt mes pensées.
Et je le prends noir, sans sucre ni lait pour le diluer.

OCT 4 – MIST
Misty mornings had always been her favorites. Foggy remnants of what the night had tried to conceal. Maybe someday she'll remember.

OCT 5 – CHAOS
His head is buzzing. They're all shouting, each in their own echo chamber. He needs help. He's losing control of the others. Again.

OCT 6 – METAMORPHOSIS
Inside
the space of my body
and within
its periphery
subtle vibrations
From its core
transforming its margins
the smallest of dance

OCT 7 – MEMORY
Can you tell us what really happened? Not the alternate history.
Is it ok to store this? Won't they know, that erasure didn't work?

OCT 8 – INK
The Priest dipped his brush in blood darker than night, inking unfathomable life onto the talisman. Only then did the world unveil.

OCT 9 – HORIZON
When night falls
We are left hanging
Over the horizon's cliff
With the sun diving
Wondering if tomorrow
There will be a new morning

OCT 10 – RAIN
(A third of the way through, time for a cheat day. Quadruple serving with 524 characters.)

She rushed down the stairs and stopped dead in her tracks. Her son had managed to slip out of bed at the first light of dawn without waking her up. And now he was out in the rain, looking up in awe, laughing his innocent heart out, while she could only watch from the doorstep, puzzled and terrified at the same time.
The rain had no effect on him.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed a movement behind the curtains in the house across the street. Then she heard the sirens. The neighbour had already called the police.

OCT 11 – WHISPER / SILENCE / STORM
(Triple prompt, triple threat. But back to 131 characters.)

Heavy is the silence
of the instant before.
Filled with dread
when in the wind I hear,
electrified whispers
of the impending storm.

OCT 12 – ESCAPE
(Escaping my rules again... Another 524 characters.)

With each step, as I enter deeper into the woods, I feel the weighing burden of my life lifting off my shoulders. Soon, the hammering noise of the city is replaced by the hushed whisper of the trees. And at that moment, I know I might never turn back. The sudden fear of the complete unknown is gut-wrenching, yet my soul has never felt quieter and my heart more sure of the path forward. The moon, witness of my escape, comes to envelop the night. A soft glowing light to guide me through the maze of snarling inner fights.

OCT 13 – WILD + FRAGILE
Running Spiraling
Deaf blind Not caring
I hurt you You hurt me
You hurt us We hurt them
We collide We all die
All savage So fragile

OCT 14 – GLIMMER
After groping in the dark for hours, she finally caught sight of a glimmer. One last effort.
Was she ready for another life though?

OCT 15 – IMAGINATION + BREAK UP
I'm really sorry but I don't think it's gonna work. It's not you, it's me.
You sadly can't live up to the one in my imagination...

When you can't choose a prompt, you add a layer of fun and challenge by using all of them. And since I have many days to catch up on, why not build a story up over a few days.
5-day micro-fiction, 5x131 characters, using 4 prompts each day.

OCT 16 – BIRD + SMILE + ART + RITUAL 1/5
The ritual had begun. An enigmatic smile on her face, she held the bird down. Sacrificing without killing was an art only she knew.

OCT 17 – DANCE + COSTUME + FICTION + MASK 2/5
She couldn't explain her inner dance with the bird's spirit and the costume and mask were just props feeding the fiction of it all.

OCT 18 – DIZZINESS + JOY + ROMANTIC + ENCOUNTER 3/5
This romantic encounter with another reality always filled her with a mix of joy and fear, feelings so intense she even felt dizzy.

OCT 19 – STARE + SPELL + CHARACTER + DUALITY 4/5
Staring at the wide open-winged bird, as if it had cast a spell on her, she was becoming the character, a mirrored copy of herself.

OCT 20 – EARTH + NEIGHBOR + LIBRARY + NARRATOR 5/5
Like a narrator stepping into her story, her neighbor at the library coughed. She was back to Earth, an inert open book on her lap.

OCT 21 – WATCH + SOLITUDE + ERASE + DESERT
I let the wind erase my steps in the sand. I want to conceal my presence, to protect my solitude. So I can keep watch over my self.

OCT 22 – MUSIC
A party's beating in the distance
An owl's hooting in the backyard
And in between a sea of silence
Sings the symphony of the night.

Family time means no writing time. Catching up with another several-day micro-fiction. 9 days x 131 characters, using 4 prompts each day.

OCT 23 – SHELL + FRACTURE + PRINTMAKER + REBELLION
DAY 1
I was shelled during the rebellion and fractured my leg, but I still managed to find the printmaker. The message is now on the way.

OCT 24 – MUTATION + APPLE + SIGNS + MADNESS
DAY 2
Some signs of the mutation started showing just over a week ago in the Big Apple and it's already complete madness out there. Scary

OCT 25 – SWEET + LEAF + IDEA + BEWITCHMENT
DAY 3
Some of the sweetest people I know have gone crazed with leaflets propagating the idea of bewitchment rapidly flooding the streets.

OCT 26 – SOLITUDE + BOOK + VOICE + FRAGMENTS
DAY 6
Feelin so lonely today. From the printshop, I hear only scattered fragments of voices. The few books around are my sole companions.

OCT 27 – SHIVER + CANDLE + COMMA + STORM
DAY 8
Last night, lightning was drawing commas in the darkness and thunder was sending shivers down my spine. Too risky to light candles.

OCT 28 – FALL + LANTERN + FRAME + SECRET
DAY 15
Fall nights are cold. I wish I could use the lantern I found to warm up but I have to keep my position secret or I could be framed.

OCT 29 – MAGIC + COFFEE + DRAMA + REBIRTH
DAY 18
Seems like ages ago since I was watching dramas while sipping coffee. It will require some magic for the city to come back to life.

OCT 30 – STORY + DATE + ANTAGONISM + FALL
DAY 25
Our ceaseless antagonism led to our falling. Soon, I might be the only one left to tell our story. Not looking forward to this day.

OCT 31 – FLY AWAY + HALLOWEEN + END + SPACE
DAY 31
The last birds flew away this morning. I heard them, and I couldn't help but cry. The space now is empty. I feel so small in this infinity. If only it was all just a bad Halloween prank. But no one came since I've sent the message. So I guess this is how we end.

(Special Halloween promo. Double the character count.)

#writing #poetry #microfiction #creativewriting #writober #writober2024