3/10/14 Prompt: Morning

Today's Prompt is simply Morning.

Morning time is beautiful, but it can mean many things for many people. For some it means work or school, for others it means sunrises and lazy days. It's all a matter of perspective.

And as always, each prompt is there for whatever interpretation you wish.

Here's my piece:

The sun rises over the horizon in the East. Rays reach over the trees, illuminating the tops of houses. It's such a beautiful sight, and she was glad she got to see it. She sat there for a long while, until the sun was hanging majestically higher as though trying to tell everyone it would be a beautiful morning.

She glanced down at her watch soon after and found it to be nearly 8 o'clock. She grabbed her shoes that she had laid next to her and carefully put them on each foot. She had until 10am to be at work, and she was already dressed. 

She walked back to her home and ate a quick snack before descending into the town where she labored. "Good Morning!" Called out her manager as she stepped into the employee break area. She nodded towards him and clocked in. She was well known for not saying a word until Noon. 

The morning was sacred to her.

3/9/14 Prompt: Life in Another State

As always, this prompt it open to all interpretation from, well, anybody.

The prompt for today is life in another state. I thought about this a lot last night as I was heading to bed. I haven't been to a lot of states. Really I've only been to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa... I think we went straight through Missouri, and I spent about a week in Arkansas. In total I think I've spent no more than a month in the traveling and staying in other states. Mostly Wisconsin.

There's one state I really want to visit though, and that is Colorado. I'm tempted to write my prompt on Colorado but I think I'll change my perspective around and just accompany the idea of going from state to state. Or something. We'll see.

On that note, Here's my piece. By the way feel free to add a link to your prompt in the comment section below.

I am wandering. 

It's been like this for days.

New streets, new houses

New names

I am wondering

Where am I now?

I got lost on the way

Back to my new place

I am looking

At a map I bought

Last week to learn

All the new roads to wander.

I am gazing

Down the paved lane

Of the street I've been wandering

Looking at all the new driveways

I am finding

New parks and bike paths

That I'm excited to try out

On my new bike

I am walking

Back to my new place

It's strange how different everything is

In this new state

I am feeling

Warmer than I normally would

Because I'm further south

Loving this new weather

I am happy

Now that I'm away from

All the negativity

I like my new state

Of being

3/6/14 Prompt: If I had a million dollars

Today's prompt is a little bit unique as most of my posts have been story focused but I also like things that are brainstorm focused. In fact, I adore those things.

So today, we're looking into what would happen if you were suddenly given a million dollars. There are rules for this one.

1. You have to immediately spend, invest, or save. Think of this as a budget for a million.

2. You are not allowed to put into a savings account more than half of it. That means you need to delegate at least half a million dollars to other things.

3. You cannot invest in the stock market more than 300,000 dollars either. This means your total delegated to other things has to be at least 200,000. But try for bigger.

Those are your rules. 

Here's my plan:

So, firstly I'd buy laptops. For me and at least two others. Then amazing software based on the interests of people. Like mine would be for my business. Next, video camera and lighting equipment for shooting videos. Also, digital camera.

After that, I'd delegate a good chunk of money to other business affairs. Like freelancers and marketing. That way I could grow my business and not have to rely on this random piece of money for the rest of my life.

I would not buy a house or car because I don't want to drive and I don't have recurring income yet. 

I would, however, buy a very nice bike and a monthly bus pass.  I need transportation somehow, right? I would set aside a good twelve months of bus fare. And a hundred or two a month for gas money for people nice enough to give me rides.

Speaking of nice people, I would give each one of my close friends something that would make them the happiest. And at least one thing to help them grow their own career.

I would spend a good deal of money, nearly 50,000, settling family affairs and starting people off on the right foot.

I would pay off my loans and all my other debt, the total is about 3-5,000 right now... 

I would then get a good phone and data plan from AT&T. I would also upgrade my broken screened tablet. 

I would invest a lot of money in the stock market and I'm pretty sure I'd save a lot. Including some saved for the taxes on this random million I got. 

A good deal of the rest of the money would be budgeted on food and entertainment, since we already got business covered at the top.

And one more thing, I would tell as few people as possible.

Enjoy your writing!

Alexandria
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/AlexandriaMazareth
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AlexandriaMWolf
Personal Blog: http://ajourneyforalexandria.blogspot.com/
Professional Blog: http://alexandriamazareth.wordpress.com/

2/28/14 Writing Prompt: The Voice of/from

Alright, so the prompt of the day is "The Voice of/from"

The interpretation I thought of has to do with my thing from yesterday, so mine will be "The Voice From the Top of The Stairs."

As always, it is up for interpretation. But what I absolutely want you to do is to take that piece and make it the title. Fill in the blank after "The Voice" and make it your own piece that speaks.

Here's my piece:

I stood at the top of the stairs, staring down below. There was a girl there, struggling to climb up each step but never faltering. I felt for her. I had once been like that. Now it was my job to help her, like I had been helped before.

"Hey!" I shouted down the stairs. I knew from experience that she could not see me, or the bliss behind me. She looked up and around in confusion, unsure of where the voice had come from. "You can do it! Come join us up here! It's a great place!"

I saw her smile as she looked up. I knew she couldn't see us, but I knew she believed in the dream. She climbed onto the next steep stair leading to the top.

My business partner walked next to me. "Lot of raw talent in that one," he said, pointing down at the girl struggling on the stairs. He also shouted down to her. "Don't worry about falls dear! After every pit there's clear road! You'll get here! Don't worry."

His friend heard him shouting and decided he needed to add his commentary. "You can make it! You'll find a lot of friends and support up here! Just get close enough and we'll give you a hand!"

Again, the girl could not see them, but she smiled and kept working on climbing up the staircase.

It would take a while but I knew that if I kept being an encouraging voice, I'd get to meet her one day.

I was looking forward to it.

2/27/14 Prompt... Up the Staircase

Today's prompt is "Up the Staircase."

As always, the prompt is open to interpretation, though for this my main idea in posting it has to do with not really the journey up the stairs but more speculation about what is up the stairs.

If you want to, try to answer these questions:
1. Who or what is up the stairs?
2. What is a good description of the stairs?
3. Are the stairs figurative or literal?
4. What's stopping you (or your OC) from climbing up the stairs?
5. Do you climb up the staircase?
6. If "you" do climb up, what do you find?

Here's my piece for the day, also found on my deviantart:

The staircase was wide at the bottom, but bottle necked up at the last few stairs I could see. The wall caved in, it was scary to me. Only one person, of moderate smallness, could fit into the tiny space that was almost as short as a crawl place.

I often sat at the bottom of the stairs. Almost twenty years of never knowing what was above. I preferred the staircase to the side. I'd been up those stairs many times. I was surrounded by stairways like that, here in this long hallway.

Instead of a hallway of doors, it was a hallway of stairs. Some were narrow, some were wide. Some were steep, but some were very easy to climb up.

I had been climbing my whole life it seemed. From my very infancy.

The first steps I climbed were the steps of learning, the next flight was the steps of my yearning. Yearning for someone, yearning for people, but then a yearning for success. It brought me to this hallway. I had just finished the staircase that completed my education and had found another similar staircase beyond.

I tried to take it, because it was familiar. Then I remembered all the times I had tripped and fallen on it and decided I needed to try something new.

Climbing down the staircases had gotten so easy for me.

The staircases I could climb up from unemployed to employee, the staircase I could climb from there to supervisor.

Yes, I had seen many staircases. Some were appealing and some were not. But right in front of me was a staircase that disgusted me not. For all it's scary features, it made me excited when I saw it. This rickety at times but ornate in others piece of staircase was like no other staircase in the entire hallway. The best part was, it was always there.

No matter what hallway I ended up in a similar staircase appeared. Taunting my curiosity with its features.

It was 27 days ago today I took the first step on the staircase. Volition.

Within the last few weeks I has made it up 4 very steep and rickety steps. But they were wide and gave me room to sit down and rest. I enjoyed climbing them. Determination.

I knew what this staircase was. This was the staircase of entrepreneurship. This was a staircase that led to so many opportunities. As soon as you took that first step, you knew what was in front of you. A feeling of respect for the others before you falls onto you, making every step harder.

"How dare I climb this staircase?" I think to myself on each step. "Who am I to wander on the stairs of my great successors?" But the voices above me drive me forward. I can hear them shouting and laughing. And everyday I hear a voice that calls down the stairs. "You can do it!" I hear them say. "Come join us! It's so great up here!"

I wonder how they can see me, how they know I'm here. I cannot see above the bottleneck, even after the first steps. Although I can begin to see a light shining through. I wonder if there is another hallway of staircases above me. Or maybe, for once, there will be doors. No place to climb, but things to choose.

I will continue to climb. I will find out what is above me. And then one day I'll be the voice that calls down to tell someone they are welcome here and that they can make it too.

Much love to you all,
Alexandria
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/AlexandriaMazareth
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AlexandriaMWolf
Personal Blog: http://ajourneyforalexandria.blogspot.com/
Professional Blog: http://alexandriamazareth.wordpress.com/

2/25/14 Writing Prompt: Describe a Circle

This is the writing prompt for February 25th. It is "Describe a Circle."
As always, the prompt is open to interpretation and to any media with an emphasis on literary arts.

You may decide to describe a circle as a shape, or perhaps use it to mean circular objects. Or you may change it into the 3 dimensional object of a sphere. Whatever you wish is how it shall go.

There is no limit, minimum or maximum, for how many words your piece should be, but it should take you no less than five minutes and no more than an hour. This is meant as a writing exercise, rather than to become an extraordinary piece.

My piece today is a 6 word memoir.

Circle of the sky. So Bright.

2/24/14 Prompt: The Mile Run

Today's Prompt is "The Mile Run"

Obviously open to interpretation, but, here is the gist of it for you.

The schools I went to always had the test of the mile run for the Phy. Ed. classes. It was either indoors or outdoors. Outside there was a track. In elementary school it was a little gravel track. You had to go around it I think three or four times to equal a mile. In upper classes, it was no longer gravel. In fact, I have no clue what that track substance is. Kind of spongy stuff. 

The indoor mile run was like 7 to 8 times around some arbitrary seeming squared off hallway area.

Anyways, so it's basically running. For a mile. Or jogging or walking. If you took like 15 minutes or longer you'd "fail" and just get a 15+ mark. It varied.

Here's my piece for the day:

I wandered outside with my class to the track that lay before us. It was brown and dust swirled around us with the wind, even though it had rained last night.

The teacher told us where to stand and we huddled there, waiting for her to say go. Some people were lined up front, some towards the back. I was in the middle, as usual.
The teacher blew her whistle and we took off. I quickly caught up with some of the people in the front and smiled at them, but soon I was unable to keep up. I started jogging and breathing hard by the end of the first lap. I had two more to go and I was not ready.
I kept lagging further and further behind other people. Not because my legs were tired, no, but because it became harder and harder to breath.
As I finished the second lap my side started aching. I held it and began speed walking.
Somehow I was still ahead of a handful of people.
All I had to do was finish this lap, and then I could drink water and rest.