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Prompt: 020. Beauty and the Beast

1. The horror of the curse that changed the Young Master into a beast was that it had affected everyone in the palace. Transformed against their will, they were forced to suffer while their employer failed to break the curse.

A. The horror of the curse that changed the Young Master into a beast was that it had affected everyone in the palace. Transformed against their will, they were forced to suffer while their employer failed to break the curse.

Invisible and voiceless, anchored to the property with no ability to leave, they could only watch and wait as the Young Master began to lose his grasp on his humanity. The longer he remained in his changed form, the more he lost himself to the instincts of a beast.

2. She’d been turned into a hairy monster with fangs, claws, and an inability to control herself. Cursed by a traveling wizard, she’d been living in the guest house behind a large empty house.

A. She’d been turned into a hairy monster with fangs, claws, and an inability to control herself. Cursed by a traveling wizard, she’d been living in the guest house behind a large empty house. Far away from family and friends, she’d survived as best she could without working thumbs.

The first time she caught a rabbit and killed it with her claws, she’d wept. Now it was an everyday occurrence to feast on rabbit, mice, squirrels, and whatever else she could catch. Fruits and vegetables had lost all appeal, and hazel nuts had made her retch. She missed the person she used to be.

Her left ear swiveled before she was consciously aware of hearing anything. There was a clatter of feet and the slamming of a door. Slinking through the underbrush, she peered toward the main house and saw lights and movement through the windows.

3. Beauty and the Beast is his favorite picture book. Every night he holds the book up and makes pleading eyes until whoever’s tucking him in agrees to read it.

A. Beauty and the Beast is his favorite picture book. Every night he holds the book up and makes pleading eyes until whoever’s tucking him in agrees to read it.

“You’re really going to have to start reading this for yourself,” his lover said.

“Not when I’ve got one of you to read it to me,” he said with his most charming smile. It earned him a slanted glance, but cuddled up in the blankets he didn’t care as his book was read to him in a low-voice that sent shivers of delight up and down his spine.

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Prompt: 019. calendar

1. Their kids became known as the Calendar Kids. Once they’d named their firstborn January they’d had no choice but to name the others after the other months.

A. Their kids became known as the Calendar Kids. Once they’d named their firstborn January they’d had no choice but to name the others after the other months. It was expected of them.

The ratings of the show went up with the introduction of the children. The nation was interested in and devoted to the children they watched grow up on their viewing screens. As the years progressed, the public became invested in the Calendar Kids, to the point that they were proclaimed a national treasure.

2. “There’s no way I had an appointment today,” he said. Then he checked his calendar and wanted to curse; he’d missed an appointment.

A. “There’s no way I had an appointment today,” he said. Then he checked his calendar and wanted to curse; he’d missed an appointment. Which meant they’d still bill him for today.

“My apologies. I see that it was my fault,” he said. “Can I reschedule?”

After a grueling five minutes, he had a new appointment date written on his calendar and he felt emotionally exhausted. Along with everything else that had happened recently… it was all too much.

He forced himself to go to the kitchen and make himself two sandwiches. He ate quickly, washing them down with a glass of cran-pomegranate juice. Then he retreated to his Quiet Room and locked the door behind him.

He needed some time alone.

3. Day shift had written all of the passwords on a calendar.

A. Day shift had written all of the passwords on a calendar. It was such a breach in security that an emergency meeting had been called for the higher ups.

Everyone was walking on eggshells. There was no doubt that some people were going to be losing their jobs. It was just a question of how many and in which departments.

Things seemed quiet for the next few days, but no one bought that the peace was real. A fear that was validated on Monday morning when a memo went out stating that all employees would be interviewed.

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Prompt: 018. siege

1. The siege lasted for six years. Some children had never known any other life and had no concept of freedom.

A. The siege lasted for six years. Some children had never known any other life and had no concept of freedom. They’d never been outside of the castle walls and had never enjoyed a day without a besieging army keeping them locked inside.

It was a strange day when the gates were finally opened and people streamed outside. It was an overcast sky, but sunlight was peeking through the clouds like hope.

2. The armed reactionaries held the embassy under siege. They threatened violence if their demands weren’t met.

A. The armed reactionaries held the embassy under siege. They threatened violence if their demands weren’t met. They’d already shot down and destroyed two escaping helicopters. Only one of the embassy’s helicopters had escaped, though neither the ambassador or her personal staff had made it aboard.

3. Two adults and forty-seven children in a gift shop wasn’t a good day. It was a siege.

A. Two adults and forty-seven children in a gift shop wasn’t a good day. It was a siege.

“How did this become my life?” she groaned out of sight of the customers.

Her coworker Gary laughed. “Suck it up and make a buck. These are kids with money to spend and no parents to tell them No.”

“Yeah.” She eyed one of the adults–a man with short dark hair and a powder blue wool sweater–and couldn’t help thinking that he looked completely overwhelmed.

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Prompt 017. sleepless

1. There’d been too many sleepless nights and too many cups of coffee. It hadn’t been the best idea to get behind the wheel.

A. There’d been too many sleepless nights and too many cups of coffee. It hadn’t been the best idea to get behind the wheel.

A blink that lingered too long and a car driving the opposite direction. It was a head on collision, that’s what they said later. In the hospital with two police officers, both looking serious and maybe a bit condemning.

2. They said the Sleepless were stirring in the South. Whispers carried on the breeze, speaking of the nightmare creatures waking from their long slumber to slaughter a handful of villages on the border.

A. They said the Sleepless were stirring in the South. Whispers carried on the breeze, speaking of the nightmare creatures waking from their long slumber to slaughter a handful of villages on the border.

There were some that scoffed at the idea of the creatures coming back. They called them legends and lies, stories made up to scare the children. But those that had truly studied the histories were worried.

The Great Scriptures said that the Sleepless always came in cycles. They would kill, then rest, kill, then rest; and though men could fight them, the Sleepless could not die.

3. The music playing from the radio was the only sound in the darkness. The song was named “The Sleepless”, and it was a dreamy melody that made the listener think of a child insisting they were awake even as they fell asleep.

A. The music playing from the radio was the only sound in the darkness. The song was named “The Sleepless”, and it was a dreamy melody that made the listener think of a child insisting they were awake even as they fell asleep.

The song had been playing on repeat for days, weeks, months, maybe even years. Over and over, from beginning to end, the song played into the darkness. It was a tether and a torment to the listener, trapped motionless on the bed. To hear but not be able to speak or see; the song had become a singular reality.

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