The Sandbox
The prompt: “Take one of the simple settings below and write a page about it, trying to undermine the reader’s expectations. Try to lead the reader in a different direction by not revealing his desire up front, or by revealing a surprising motivation.”
The setting I chose: “A child raking a sandbox next to his nanny.”
Night Mirrors
“I think getting to know myself through your eyes has allowed me to expand more than I’d known before - like I can take deeper breaths and feel the air fill every part of me and know that I am here; a solid thing that can hold itself together and contain a gust of wind without floating away.”
A Friend in Need
“She was hesitant to tell me about the things she was so used to whispering to herself in the dark. I felt like we could be a couple of giggling schoolgirls again, back on the playground, cupping our hands around each other’s ears and throwing conspiratorial glances at the rough boys kicking sand into each other’s eyes.”