The Ink Well Fiction Prompt #131 - Plus Weekly Challenge and Prize Announcement

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Hello and welcome to the The Ink Well weekly fiction prompt and prize announcement! The Ink Well is a Hive blockchain-based social media community of creative writers. If you love to write short stories, we invite you to join us! Or just peruse and enjoy the work of our community members.

Special Reminder: Check out our monthly fiction contest for the month of August, 2023, ending August 31! And be sure to honor the countdown timer! 10 Hive to the winner!

Before You Post in The Ink Well...

We ask that you read our FAQ post to familiarize yourself with our important community rules and guidelines.

Weekly Challenge and Prize Announcement

Time for the prize announcement and new challenge!

Last week's prompt was: "two endings". And we encouraged authors to integrate all of the storytelling skills that make stories compelling and readable.

Stories From the Previous Week

Thank you to everyone who posted a story for last week's prompt!

• @ricardo993
• @mrenglish
• @rinconpoetico7
• @popurri
• @balikis95
• @timix648
• @joycealarapon
• @lenaspiritual
• @abigail04
• @seki1
• @jazclassic
• @lightpen
• @nftseller19
• @blessworld
• @selftheist
• @jjmusa2004
• @kemmyb
• @loneliestgirl
• @revlr
• @iskawrites
• @jhymi
• @fashtioluwa
• @kingsleyy
• @marriot5464
• @ayokunlehenry
• @kei2
• @cool08
• @marynn
• @rammargarita
• @seunruth
• @devotedman
• @enalaton

Honorable Mentions

Our honorable mentions of the week are:

• @ricardo993: Dance Into Infinity with Me
• @popurri: The Ring in the Porcelain Bottle
• @kemmyb: Tangled Hearts
• @jjmusa2004: Teni
• @rinconpoetico7: Lamero's Journey
• @timix648: Canvas of Destiny

The Winners!

All of these authors wrote fantastic fiction using the prompt, and did an excellent job with the storytelling skills we look for in the best-told stories!

Third Place: Wins 2 Hive

• @jhymi, with the story Poetic Macabre

And so she went alone to Giphy Lair, which was smack in the middle of the woods. Perhaps there would have been no qualms as she was only three days along, but these recurring nightmares were beginning to make her lose her nerve. She had no problem with nightmares. There was no way to do what she did without having them from time to time. But never one dream, ending the same way, thrice in a row.

Second Place: Wins 3 Hive

• @selftheist, with the story Shooting Star

A flash woke Ingrid from her sleep.

As she opened her eyes, the window towards the forest spilled with a bright glow among the trees, palpitating, as if alive. She brushed her eyes violently hoping to wake herself further convinced she was still in the dreamworld but the glow didn’t go anywhere else. Her dog Sheila, a beautiful golden retriever, started barking strongly confirming the dread vision.

The old woman came down the stairs wearing a black and red square jacket for the cold as well as jeans over security boots. Despite her age, she was sturdy and willful. She had to after her husband passed away years ago. The farm beside the woods was all she had left, and if she could survive the draughts and even the banks, a menacing random glow in the treeline was child’s play.

First Place: Wins 5 Hive

• @kei2, with the story, Slumberland

They say that not all dreams have happy endings. That dreams are often a figment of our imagination, fears, joy, and subconscious and I agree. Ever since I was a kid, I loved to drift away into a land I called slumber. Reality had become less exciting. The dreaming was where all the magic happened. It was my happy place. I would dream of pink furry kittens in boots and hats, flying horses, and talking trees. I would spend hours in my Slumberland only just musing. Other times, like a chased cheetah I would take flight back to the waking world. The demons that haunt my dreams had one eye on the head, claws for nails, fangs for teeth, and horns. They scared the life out of me. Those were the days I would wake up sweating profusely. Aside from those terrifying days, sleep was bliss. My happy place. “You smile and giggle a lot in your sleep Ralia.” my mother would often say.

Congratulations to @kei2, @selftheist and @jhymi!

This Week’s Prompt

FIRST: A COUNTDOWN NOTE
Be sure to submit your entries before the countdown ends.

You must submit before the end of the countdown to be considered for the prizes and honorable mentions.

Please observe the timer below this post. If it's purple, and the COUNTDOWN time is in the future, you can submit and be eligible for prizes and honorable mentions.

If the countdown is gray, and the timer has expired, you can submit, but your story will not be eligible for prizes or honorable mentions.

When the timer expires, we get busy reviewing all the stories, and no further submissions are considered.

Prompt of the week!

WAIT! Did you read the information above about the countdown timer? Okay, proceed!

This week's prompt is: "ghosted."

What to do with this prompt?

Well... we are never opposed to a good ghost story, so if that is your first intuition, then run with it!

But the other option, of course, is to write a story about one person "ghosting" another — which means they stop calling, they don't show up for something they said they would, or they just fade away.

Let's see where your imagination takes you!

Use Your Storytelling Skills

For many months we have asked our community members to focus on a skill each week, such as character development or dialogue. Going forward, we are looking for all of these skills as we identify winners and honorable mentions:

• Great first lines.
• Good settings.
• Well-developed characters.
• Integration of action, dialogue and narrative.
• A conflict that intrigues the reader.
• A "story arc" which results in the resolution of the conflict and brings the story to a satisfying conclusion.
• And of course, we are looking for well-edited stories that are not littered with typos or grammatical errors.

To be eligible for prizes, you must write a story based on the prompt (be sure to use the prompt word(s) in your story), and demonstrate the fiction writing skills we have been encouraging everyone to practice. Be sure to turn to our catalog of fiction writing tips for guidance!

Ready, set go!

A week from now, we will select winning stories that demonstrate these qualities and utilize the prompt. Good luck! Be sure to read the contest rules and reminders below.

If you don't feel inspired by this prompt or the featured image, feel free to peruse any of our past prompts or our collection of idea-generators:

• 50 Loglines
• 50 Story Ideas
• 50 Imagination Ticklers

Weekly Prompt Rules:

1. Deadline: You have SIX DAYS to write for the prompt, and you must submit your story before the end of the countdown to be considered for prizes and honorable mentions. You can find the countdown timer at the bottom of the prompt post on The Ink Well home page.
2. Story link: Post your story in The Ink Well community, and post a link to your story in a comment on this post.
3. Hashtags: Please use these hashtags: #fiction #writing #inkwellprompt #theinkwell — as well as #dreemport, if you are also posting your story to the DreemPort site.
4. COMMUNITY SUPPORT: Visit the work of at least two other community members and comment on their work.
5. Title: The title is up to you. You can come up with any title you wish. You do not need to name it after the prompt. But please do use the prompt word(s) within the story.
6. Images: Please only use images from license free and creative commons sites, like Pixabay, Unsplash and Pexels. Images you find on the Internet are copyright protected and cannot be used. Be sure to provide all image source links.
7. Length: We request that story word counts are a maximum of 1,500 words in length and a *minimum of 350 (ideally 750-1000 words). This is just a guideline. Longer stories are okay too, but they tend to get fewer readers. Additionally, The Ink Well admins appreciate keeping to that maximum story length for our time management. Thank you!

Reminders: Be sure to also read our community rules. As always, please avoid violent, gory, bloody, brutal, sexist or racist themes and language, NSFW (not safe for work) stories like erotica, stories with a political or religious agenda, and stories featuring abuse of any kind. (We have a complete article about The Ink Well stance on violence and brutality for more information.)

Here are the past prompts if you would like to use them or refer back to them:
_{#1: Heart and Soul; #2: The moment when...; #3: Beauty with a twist; #4: The Way Home; #5: A Matter of Time; #6 50 Story Ideas; #7 The Library; #8 All the way to tomorrow; #9 Legend; #10 Three Words; #11 World Building; #12 Childhood Summers; #13 50 Imagination Ticklers; #14 Railroad; #15 Cats - 750 words; #16 Your Birthday; #17 Action, Dialog and Narrative; #18 Change; #19 Tea Time or Tee Time?; #20 Summer Camp; #21 Main Street; #22 Fireworks; #23 Picnic; #24 Run; #25 A word of advice; #26 Winding road; #27 Mirror; #28 Shipwreck; #29 School Notes; #30 Three Words: Scooter, River, Midnight; #31 Flash Fiction Contest; #32 A Fork in the Road; #33 Shadows; #34 Three Words: Island, Witch, Cake; #35 Full Moon; #36 Graveyard; #37 Jack-o-Lantern; #38 Family Ties; #39 Longing; #40 Feast; #41 Gift; #42 Season of Light; #43 Believe; #44 Elf; #45 Holiday; #46 New Year; #47 Unlikely Hero; #48 Inheritance; #49 Under the Light of the Moon; #50 Three Words: Shoes, Mood, Adventure; #51 They're Here; #52 Artist; #53 Headlights; #54 Tomorrow; #55 Lense; #56 Perfection; #57 Making and Breaking Rules; #58 A Reckoning; #59 Blossom; #60 Temptation; #61 Happiness; #62 Footprint; #63 Frequency; #64 Sailing; #65 Fortune; #66 Worry; #67 Adventure; #68 Shadow; #69 Motor; #70 Embarrass; #71 Proud; #72 Guide; #73 Impression; #74 Lost; #75 Wonder; #76 Tear; #77 Splash; #78 Brilliant; #79 Sinkhole; #80 Exhaust; #81 Roll; #82 Wishbone; #83 Chatterbox; #84 Foil; #85 I can't believe you said that; #86 Boo; #87 Midnight; #88 Hunger; #89 Light; #90 Spirit; #91 Fire; #92 Tend/Tender; #93 Cheer; #94 Appearance; #95 Ambition; #96 Trust; #97 Fly; #98 Comfort; #99 Fate; #100 To Create; #101 Vision; #102 Sympathy; #103 A Special Time; #104 Suspense; #105 Bride, stairs, illusion; #106 Reality TV; #107 Things the Go Bump in the Night; #108 First line: Two strange things happened that day; #109 What if that loose floorboard was actually a hidden passageway?; #110 Footsteps; #111 Mess; #112 Cards; #113 Elephant; #114 Crystal; #115 Phone call; #116 Date; #117 Chocolate; #118 Three words: wish, button, sky; #119 RSVP; #120 Objets d'art; #121 Soul; #122 Scuttlebutt; #123 Recall; #124 Doorway; #125 Beacon; #126 Seagull, Market, Box; #127 Window; #128 Terrified; #129 Dance; #130 Two endings}

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@jayna, @gracielaacevedo, @yaziris, @itsostylish and @samsmith1971

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We invite lovers of creative writing to visit The Ink Well, a Hive community started by @raj808 and @stormlight24 and run by @jayna, @gracielaacevedo, @yaziris, @itsostylish and @samsmith1971.

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