The Ink Well Fiction Prompt #139 - Plus Weekly Challenge and Prize Announcement

_{Source: Pixabay}

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 October, 2023, ending October 31! And be sure to honor the countdown timer! 10 Hive to the winner!

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Weekly Challenge and Prize Announcement

Time for the prize announcement and new challenge!

Last week's prompt was: "Beach memories". 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!

• @marriot5464
• @eunice9200
• @george-dee
• @jeclyn60
• @mrenglish
• @deraaa
• @osomar357
• @nichebezarius
• @iskawrites
• @azss
• @jazclassic
• @ibbtammy
• @adeade123
• @ayokunlehenry
• @princess-dara
• @wongi
• @lightpen
• @teknon
• @balikis95
• @phyna
• @toluwanispecial
• @creativeinsight
• @aly.squid
• @jhymi
• @rinconpoetico7
• @jjmusa2004
• @marynn
• @universoperdido
• @hazmat
• @rammargarita
• @seki1

Honorable Mentions

Our honorable mentions of the week are:

• @nichebezarius: Memories by the Beach
• @osomar357: Horror at the Beach House
• @balikis95: The Fierce Dove and Her Monstrous King
• @jjmusa2004: Saved by Teni
• @lightpen: Wedding Anniversary

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!

This week we have two winners who tied for third place!

Tied for Third Place: Wins 2 Hive

• @george-dee, with the story Never to Be Forgotten

Eight months ago, the couple were at the beach when Raya broke the news about the pregnancy and Mark was surprised about how things worked perfectly for him in the relationship. He ran around the beach with excitement shouting, "I am having a baby" and people celebrated with the couples.

Mark had been in different relationships before meeting Raya but they all ended almost immediately after they started and if unlucky was a person, it would have been him. Raya hadn't been in any relationship after her first relationship ended but from the first hello, she couldn't resist Mark's charming personality.

Tied for Third Place: Wins 2 Hive

• @deraaa, with the story Finding Paco

“Paco!” People chase after her, she barks as she goes further, the sounds carried in the salty atmosphere. Lily and Marriete display their athletic prowess in their polished gowns, the reason they brought home the trophy for South High in the Inter Sports.

Paco leads them right up and into the building where they find a man face down on the floor gasping and wheezing for breath.

Second Place: Wins 3 Hive

• @jazclassic, with the story Ocean Eyes

10 years ago in this same sea, I lost my Dad, my first love, my first boyfriend, and my first best friend. He meant the world to me; he was my hero, my sandcastle king, while I was his little princess. Every summer holiday, we went to our beach house and spent quality time together. I used to be so happy and filled with excitement whenever we went to the beach.

I used to love the ocean till it took Dad away from me, and I blame it—I blame mom, I blame dad's job, I blame the stupid summer holiday, and I blame myself because if I stayed where he told me to, if I had only listened, Dad would still be here.

I have lived with that guilt for years.

First Place: Wins 5 Hive

• @aly.squid, with the story, Memories of Salt and Sand

Luis was stunned, he could not say anything and on the other end of the phone there was only silence. He realized that Mrs. Marta had hung up the call, but he didn't care. He looked for a seat and held his head in his hands, he wanted to cry but the tears would not come.

Bartolo had been an incomparable friend, one of those that you only get once in a lifetime. In high school he was a very thin boy, with a docile temperament and a soft voice. He and Luis used to sneak out during the last hour of classes to go to the beach, which was very close to the school. They shared dozens of afternoons together, with their feet buried in the sand.

Bartolo was immensely moved when the evening began to fall, he was a sensitive boy. One afternoon in front of the sunset, when the calm sea reflected the orange sky, Bartolo told Luis for the first time that he wished to die. At the time Luis thought maybe he was joking, but that was the first of many other times when grief consumed his friend's life.

Congratulations to @aly.squid, @jazclassic, @george-dee and @deraaa!

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: "There was something in the wind."

What to do with this prompt?

Oh, you have so many options1 This prompt is perfect for a mystery, a scary story or a romance. You could write a nostalgia story where Grandpa tells the story of the dust bowl days. Or you could tell a tale of someone who just had to leave home to discover the world outside his village, not really understanding why. A mysterious force was beckoning to him. There was something in the wind.

Let's see where your imagination takes you!

Use Your Storytelling Skills

For many months we 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!
8. NEW — Translations: If you post a story that has been translated from another language, please include both the English version and the translation.

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; #131 Ghosted; #132 Treasure; #133 Taste; #134 Reunion; #135 I miss you; #136 Wonder; #137 Ruins; #138 Beach memories}

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