This one comes to us from Creative Writing Now. I’ll share the full prompt below:
Three Elements
Choose a set of three elements, and imagine a story that includes all three of them.
- a hitchhiker, an allergy, and a mistake in a map.
- a cemetery, a missing dog, and a joke that goes too far.
- a Halloween costume, a stapler, and a complaint between neighbors.
- a stolen phone, a love song, and a bet.
- a dance competition, an engagement ring, and a worried parent.
- insomnia, a birthday card, and an encounter with someone famous.
- an eavesdropper, a secret kiss, and a fire in the kitchen.
- a stuck elevator, a pickpocket, and a promise.
- a babysitter, a pet snake, and a tow truck.
- a lit window, a stamp collection, and someone pretending to be angry.
- a dream come true, inappropriate laughter, and something buried.
- an abandoned house, false eyelashes, and a lump in the bed.
I chose A baby Sitter, A Pet Snake, and a Tow Truck.
I knocked on Ms. Charlene’s door a little after 11 AM. I sighed, repositioning a loose curl that had fallen across my sweaty face, and then putting my hands back in the pockets of my hoodie. She didn’t answer. I rang it again, looking around. She was the only person I knew within a few miles of here. I felt fortunate that I’d broken down only a few blocks over and was able to push the car this far. Nobody stop to help. Nobody ever does. you see a young black girl pushing a car, you look the other way, right? I don’t know why that is. I don’t know why people have, what I like to call, a preference for helping some people and not others. Ms. Charlene isn’t black but she’s one of those people that other people don’t like to help. It sort of makes us sisters in a strange way. We help each other. At least, I thought we did.
It took two more rings for her to come to the door. She looked like she’d been in the act of getting dressed. She was tugging on an earring and had a blue pencil skirt on and a bra and a robe over all of it that hung open, failing at its job. She said, “Nina?”
I smiled, “Hey, Ms. Charlene. I am so sorry to be knocking on your door right now, but my car broke down, and it is really hot, and the two truck guy said he’d be over an hour to get here and–“
She grabbed me and pulled me into the house and shut the door softly behind us. She was all smiles. She said, “I am so glad to see you! What did you say happened?”
I raised my eyebrows. Its a thing I do unconsciously but I do it so much that I am totally conscious of when I do it. I forced them back down and said, “Car broke down. Can I camp out here and wait for a tow?”
“Can you watch Charlie while you do it?”
… out of time, but this actually felt good and fun and light!