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Prompt: 004. spring

1. It was a relief when the spring frost began. They’d been close to running out of nearly everything.

A. It was a relief when the spring frost began. They’d been close to running out of nearly everything.

Once the river melted, it was a rush to finish building the boat and gather enough food to see them out of the Wild Lands. If they were lucky they could reach civilization within a few months. If they were unlucky they would die. They didn’t have a choice either way.

There was no staying where they were. They’d stripped the island of everything it had to offer, and there hadn’t been much to begin with.

It was either make the attempt now or slowly starve to death. There was not going to be another opportunity.

2. The Lady of Spring woke with a yawn and sat up to face her Season, when she would rule over the land and her brothers and sister would sleep.

A. The Lady of Spring woke with a yawn and sat up to face her Season, when she would rule over the land and her brothers and sister would sleep.

She rose from her bed of greenery to accept the robe her followers laid across her shoulders and allowed herself to be led to the sacred pool where she was bathed and anointed with oil. Her hair was brushed and her hands and feet were pampered. Then she was led to her throne and crowned before the whole Court.

3. A metal spring had torn through the upholstery of Dad’s favorite chair.

A. It wasn’t a hard decision to buy Dad a new chair for Father’s Day. The idea had come to them over the holidays when they’d seen where a metal spring had torn through the upholstery and been duct taped flat.

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Prompt: 003. appendectomy

1. They scheduled the appendectomy over her shouts that she’d already had her appendix removed.

A. They scheduled the appendectomy over her shouts that she’d had her appendix removed when she was a teenager. And when she tried to run away from them, they strapped her to the hospital bed to wait for the morning surgery.

They really wanted to cut her open, and she didn’t know why. It made her afraid of what they planned on doing to her.

If she could have, she would have escaped. But with her wrists and ankles strapped to the bed rails she was helpless to do anything but stare up at the ceiling and fret restlessly.

2. It was during a routine surgical procedure that they discovered the strangeness of his anatomy. Not just the reversed location of his heart and other organs, but the extra appendix and the strange bulbous growth attached to his ribcage.

A. It was during a routine surgical procedure that they discovered the strangeness of his anatomy. Not just the reversed location of his heart and other organs, but the extra appendix and the strange bulbous growth attached to his ribcage.

An appendectomy was performed immediately and the extra organ was dissected. There were pages and pages of lab work produced all highlighting the unknown hormone floating in his bloodstream.

From the way they looked at him, he began to feel that they wanted to dissect the rest of him next. There was a frightening avarice in their eyes, one that made him want to squirm with discomfort.

Every time they came at him for another test or blood draw, he repeated over and over again: “I do not give my permission to have my medical information published.”

He didn’t want to hold back scientific discovery, but he would prefer that he have some kind of veto on what was shared. Like he wasn’t too keen on scans of his genitals ending up in medical books with his name right next to them. He had a bit of dignity.

3. “I recognize the appendectomy scar. That’s Jamie. Oh god, that’s Jamie.”

A. “I recognize the appendectomy scar. That’s Jamie. Oh god, that’s Jamie.” She turned to bury her face into her oldest son’s chest. Her body shook with the force of her sobs and he wrapped his arms around her. She could feel his own tears wetting the top of her head.

“How… how did it happen?”

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Prompt: 002. stairs

1. Why are stairs and doors always louder when you’re creeping around at night?

A. Why are stairs and doors always louder when you’re creeping around at night? The last thing she wanted to do was wake anyone up, especially not the children. It would be a hassle trying to get them back to sleep and the two oldest had school in the morning.

B. Why are stairs and doors always louder when you’re creeping around at night? It was a question without an answer as he was busily sneaking through the house, gathering up any small valuables that he could find.

2. Staring up at what had to be eighty flights of stairs, he had a feeling that he was going to be late for his appointment.

A. Staring up at what had to be eighty flights of stairs, he had a feeling that he was going to be late for his appointment. He didn’t have any choice though; he needed to meet with Dr. Cavanaugh if he wanted to be included in the study.

3. It gave him a sense of pride when he realized that he’d finally saved enough money to replace the splintering stairs.

A. His wife had been complaining for months about the children getting splinters in their feet from the stairs. He finally gave in and arranged to have them repaired. Except it turned out to be more expensive than he expected. The HOA’s resident handyman had given him a reasonable seeming quote for replacing the stairs, and that was the last time things went as expected.

The next thing he knew, he was being told that he had foundation issues. There was a problem with one of the load bearing walls. There was mold growing inside the walls.

Everywhere he turned, there seemed to be more and more problems, and they became costlier by the day.

It was a nightmare.

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Prompt: 001. “I did it! I did it! he kept saying”

1. “I did it! I did it! he kept saying” was how the newspaper quoted him, which other news outlets took to be a typo and corrected to ‘”I did it! I did it!” he kept saying‘. When people saw the headline in the news–his confession–they began turning on him.

A. His family was dead, and some editor somewhere had changed his words into a confession.

The horror of that day still lingered–dizzy from whatever the EMT had injected him with, he could only repeat what the man had said. “I did it! I did it!” And at their looks he’d explained: “‘I did it! I did it!’ he kept saying. Over and over again. It was all he would say as he killed them. That madman murdered my family. And I couldn’t do anything to stop him.”–as did the effects of his follow-up breakdown.

He hadn’t been able to work, and not just because people had ceased to hire him.

He got anxiety attacks. His heart would suddenly begin pounding and his head would get floaty and feel like it was too large.

He’d thrown up a few times just from thinking about people looking at him. Judging him.

He was a nervous wreck. And he blamed the media.

They’d turned his worst day into the worst ten years of his life.

2. It was an amazing Olympic win for their country, only a little spoiled by the man that kept yelling “I did it! I did it!” as he waved his medal over his head.

A.  It was an amazing Olympic win for their country, only a little spoiled by the man that kept yelling “I did it! I did it!” as he waved his medal over his head.

Being such a small country, the athletes were welcomed home with a parade and a national holiday. It only seemed fair considering the honor they had brought to their people.

3. “I did it! I did it!” he kept saying with a disturbingly wide grin.

A. “I did it! I did it!” he kept saying with a disturbingly wide grin. Blood was smeared down the side of his neck and stained the front of his shirt and pants. His bare feet had left footprints all through the house.

Even as he was slammed into the ground and handcuffed, the grin didn’t leave. And by the time he was closed into the backseat of the patrol car, the grin was joined by a rusty sounding chuckle.

It was clear to see that he was proud of what he’d done, the depravities he had committed.

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