Welcome to the new and improved word sprint writing prompt series – #SwiftFicFriday!
After some feedback and more consideration, I’m updating the rules to give more people a chance to participate! Instead of 30 minutes or just an hour, I’m opening the prompt up to FOUR hours: 8:30PM-12:30AM on the east coast.
Other things to keep in mind:
– Include social media links/handles/anything you want to promote (Twitter, FB, etc) & word count in the comment with your submission.
– Submission must be between 150-300 words.
– All stories are property of the authors.
– Winner will be determined via reader votes over the weekend.
Ready, set, write!
Prompt: Today, we get a word.
Limbo (noun)
- (in some Christian beliefs) the supposed abode of the souls of unbaptized infants, and of the just who died before Christ’s coming.
- an uncertain period of awaiting a decision or resolution; an intermediate state or condition.
- a state of neglect or oblivion.
Happy writing!
FictionTrials 
“Things are what you might call chaotic without Anima around doing her job.” Kai led the way through the town, apparently knowing where to go despite the lack of street signs. Honestly, despite the lack of actual streets. The town sprawled like the branches of a tree, little offshoots here and there that were maybe streets, maybe alleys, maybe private entries, maybe patches of dirt no one opted to build on. “She’s been gone so long, most don’t even remember her name. I didn’t when I got into this business.”
“But she’s at the heart of this…crisis?”
“Definitely. The gods are a bit tight-lipped about it, but news is starting to spread. The Broken God is the hottest news to drop from bard lips these days.”
“The Broken God?” That sounded familiar. “I think I saw a post about it at the tavern?”
“Very possible. Some say the gods are trying to get rid of Anima. Some say they’re trying to fix her.”
I hated assholes who thought people needed fixed. A fucking toxic attitude to have toward mental and emotional health. No doubt even gods could benefit from a good counselor or whatever magic here took the place of helping correct the body’s hormone and chemical imbalances.
“Anyway, the story goes that Anima went crazy. The how or why are still parts I’m trying to figure out, but she basically went about setting all the souls in limbo loose in the mortal world.”
“Limbo? Like a waiting room of souls?”
“Waiting to be reborn, yes.” Kai tugged me down what I thought was an alley, but opened into a manicured courtyard. “Set loose with no bodies waiting for them. And with no one saying they can’t just shove a soul out and take over.”
“That’s—”
“Absolute anarchy, yeah.”
@caramichaels
300 #TeamRPG words
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I kinda wanted to call this one a self-portrait tonight, but I finally managed something. Here is
The Bargain
I sat there, staring at the blank page, my cursor blinking, mocking me. Words, I needed words to flow. But none came. Not one solitary word. I scrubbed at my face and scrolled through various pictures, but nothing helped.
A heavy voice filled the surrounding air. “Your time is running out.”
“I know!”
“If you understand this, why have you not produced what I asked for?”
I shook my head, gritting my teeth. “Because this isn’t how it works. I can’t produce on demand like this.”
“Yet if you do not,” the voice hesitated. “You will be trapped here forever. It is the bargain you struck.”
“Don’t remind me.” I felt my face contort into a grimace despite my best efforts to keep it neutral.
I tapped out a few sentences and scowled before deleting them. Why was my muse escaping me now? So many stories flowed with ease before, what stopped them now? Eyes bored into the back of my head, forcing setting me on edge and raising the hair on the back of my neck.
“Will you knock it off?” I almost shouted the words before I could stop myself.
“Stop what?”
“Your incessant looming.”
My bluntness gave the voice pause. “What else am I to do? I await your words.”
“Which will never come if you continue looming like you are.” I wasn’t sure what had gotten into me, talking back to the voice like that. “I don’t care what you do, just please do it somewhere else.”
“How am I to know when you complete your bargain?”
“Oh, you’ll know.” I grinned, my reflection on the screen distorting my face into an odd parody.
The lingering presence disappeared, but still the whiteness of the screen mocked me. I would be stuck in this purgatory forever.
299 words
@dontpanic2011
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