Calling all Creative Writers! This is a column run by Nathaniel Lee to inspire readers to write. The column includes writing prompts, pieces by the coordinators, and occasional submissions from readers.
This month: short stories from Casey Leigh and Nathaniel Lee.
Below are a set of prompts for different styles of writing beyond journalism. The idea is that you can create some kind of creative writing piece inspired by one of the prompts, but it doesn't have to be. You can submit any piece of writing you would like to share! All submissions should be school-appropriate. You can also suggest prompts to be featured in the next issue.
Here are some prompts to kinda get you started. They can be used for anything, though some specify poetry or short stories. This month, the prompt theme is Spring. Here's to hoping the April showers end and the May flowers get here soon!
1. I want it to be an indirect story about an abusive relationship but we don't know what it is describing until the end. Basically like those little shorts that talk about a deep issue but we don't know what it is until the end. (from a reader)
Note from The Scroll: Please remember that these stories can be traumatic for readers and adjust storytelling accordingly.
2. Write a story from the perspective of a flower in spring.
3. Write a story that weaves together multiple lives through the characters' connection to a particular tree.
4. Write a story about a rainy day spent indoors.
5. Write a story that uses flowers as a symbol.
If you have any prompt ideas in mind that you haven't seen on here yet or would like to see someone else respond to, drop them in the Google Form below and I'll try to get them in the next issue! I sometimes don't see the response until after the issue is published, so I'm sorry if it takes a couple of months.
The two officers pulled out their guns and pointed them at the petite woman who stood in front of me. She looked slightly familiar, but I couldn’t think of where I saw her.
“Carmen canceled on me at the last minute, so I figured I’d come help. Seems everything went…terrible,” she smiled sweetly.
“Drop your weapon!” the officers yelled.
“What weapon?” she asked. Her hands were empty.
“Um…just drop your weapon!”
She sighed dramatically. “Fine.” She fell to the ground.
“What are you doing? I said drop your weapon.”
The woman giggled. “I am my weapon.” She launched herself forward and knocked the door open, pulling both officers to the ground. They were both knocked out immediately. As she opened the door to Lil’s cell, I walked outside, choking on the dust.
“Who are you?” I coughed.
“I’m Carmen’s…friend.” Carmen came around the corner, her eyes lighting up when she saw us.
“I disabled the officers. They’ll wake up with a bad headache, but they won’t remember anything.” Carmen walked up to the other woman and they embraced. Lil and I just stood there awkwardly. After a few moments, Carmen broke the silence.
“We need to chase after Valasadad. I got all our stuff, and I saw on Buffy that he isn’t moving. He’s probably hiding somewhere, nursing his wounds. I just hope I can get my knife back.”
We exited through the hole in my wall and the woman held out her hand, holding a dark stone with veins of green. The veins glowed and the pieces of dirt and rubble returned to their place to make the wall perfectly fine again. Dust flowed out of my mouth and nose, along with the others, and joined the wall.
“How did you—” I began.
“I’m a collector, it’s just something I picked up on my travels. I’m Marie, by the way.”
“Valasadad,” Lil said impatiently.
We began jogging down the street, keeping our hoods pulled over our faces. After several minutes, we arrived in a dark alley.
“No way. He’s gonna, like, ambush us. We can’t see,” I said.
“Drink this,” Marie said, handing us each a small vial. We drank, and immediately I could see the alley.
“Normal lights will be brighter though, so we’ll need sunglasses once we’re done. It should last about three hours.”
“Well, we have about two to get Valasadad and get them home.”
“Just, when you get home, go to sleep. It’ll wear off by the time you wake up.”
“Let’s do this,” I said, putting on what I hoped was a brave face.
“Circle formation. Me and Jaiden in the front, Lil and Marie in the back,” Carmen said.
“Why am I in the front?” I asked.
“I figured you’d rather walk into the alley face forward than backward.”
We entered the alley, stakes and knives ready, except for Carmen, who only had her stake. Seemingly out of nowhere, a man appeared. He seemed way more intimidating now but also seemed weaker. I noticed the knife was still in his shoulder, and his shirt was drenched in dark blood.
“Valasadad the Conqueror, I bind you!” Carmen said, holding her hand out. The man froze for a moment, then started stumbling towards us.
“I’ve always been bad at that. Marie, try!”
Marie held out her hand. “Valasadad the Conqueror, I bind you!” Again, the man froze, but then continued walking.
“Valasadad the Conqueror, I bind you!” Lil said. The man froze, but then his head turned towards me and he grinned showing his fangs. He leaped forward, tackling me to the ground. My heartbeat thudded in my ears, and it felt like my hip was on fire. A voice spoke in my head, and I knew exactly what to do.
“Valasadad the Conqueror, I bind you!” I yelled. He froze, and stayed that way this time.
“Miron, attack!” My sheath burst open and the stake shot out, embedding into Valasadad’s chest. A scream filled the air but his mouth didn’t move as he disintegrated. The stake hung in the air for a moment, then returned to my sheath, which closed on its own.
“How did you…impossible…it can’t be.” Carmen stuttered.
“C’mon, love,” Marie said. “We’ve gotta get out of here.”
Lil stared at me in shock and fear. “You really are the one.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“No time,” Carmen said, checking her watch. “We’ve got to get you home. The sun is beginning to rise in London.”
We made it back to Carmen’s apartment and I went back through the fireplace first. It was darker than when I’d left. Flames were the only thing that illuminated the area, and the light glinted off of Juliet. A gasp came from behind me and I turned around. Horror was etched on Lil’s face. That’s when I noticed what was on fire. A pile of wooden stakes sat in the middle of the room. Everything in the room was either destroyed or close to it, except the wall that held Juliet.
“What happened?” I asked. Lil didn’t answer so I turned around. Taking a few steps back, I reached for my stake. Noah had her in a headlock, fangs inches from her throat.
It was a stupid idea to jump off the building. I mean, it was better than staying and getting blown up, but still. I know I can’t fly. Of course, neither can he. I flipped over in the air and searched for him. The top of the building exploded, sending shattered glass and rubble everywhere. There! Falling just a few hundred feet above me, I saw the figure of a person. He flicked his wrist and grappled to the top of a nearby building. I did the same and landed moments after he did.
“Nighthawk,” he said, standing with his back facing me, cape blowing gently in the wind.
“Now that’s dramatic. Is there a fan somewhere that’s blowing your cape around?”
“You just blew up a building!”
“Just the top, it’ll be fine.” A second set of charges went off at the base of the building, destroying most of it and sending the rest crashing to the ground. We were showered with dust, but my mask kept it out. When the dust cleared, he was looking at me. Personally, I think his suit is a bit much. Cape, epic mask that only reveals his eyes, sleeveless shirt that shows off his muscular arms. My suit is much more conservative: a robotic masterpiece that has various weapons systems. No flight, but that’s my next plan.
“What part of destruction brings you joy?”
I laughed, doing my best to sound evil. “Y’know, it’s just appealing.”
A news helicopter came into view, and I pressed a button on my wrist, sending a small explosive toward it. It destroyed the blades, sending it careening to the ground.
“And that... Why do you enjoy killing people?”
“I don’t enjoy it,” I said.
“Then why do you do it?”
“I don’t know! Why do I do any of this? I don’t have powers. I don’t have a motive. I’m just fueled by pure, unbridled rage.”
He picked a piece of rubble off the ground and tossed it from hand to hand. “You’re small, so you can’t be very old. What happened to make you so mad?”
I stepped closer, getting in his face. “Y’know, I don’t like talking about my life outside of this. This is all that gives me purpose.” A rumble shook the building and we both stumbled toward the edge.
“You’re blowing up this building too?” he asked.
“That wasn’t me.” A larger rumble knocked him off the building and I barely caught him.
“If it’s not you, who is it?” A shockwave made me lose my grip and he fell.
“No!” I screamed, voice cracking.
In moments, he disappeared into the dust surrounding the building. I dove, falling down toward the ground. I fired my grappling hook, which hooked on the top of the building, slowing my fall enough so I didn’t die. I scrambled through the rubble, eyes roving to find him. Finally, I found a body. I rolled it over, and sure enough, it was him. Blood covered half of his face, and one of his arms was bent at an awkward angle. I checked for a pulse but found none. After checking that he wasn’t breathing, I began CPR.
“C’mon, you can’t be gone. Please.”
After several minutes, nothing had changed. Tears poured down my face as I removed my helmet. I pulled down his mask to reveal his face and gasped. I knew him. He was in my chemistry class at school. One of the popular kids. We’d worked together on labs. I’d explained chemical bonding to him. And now he was dead at my feet.
I hid him underneath some rubble and ran inside the building, which had some shops. I grabbed a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and some shoes and ran back out. I quickly put him in the clothes and ran off with his suit. No one else needs to know who he was. No one else needs to deal with the pain. Someone would find him when they searched the rubble. There would be sadness, but no one would know he was a hero. Except me. I turned and looked back at him.
“Goodbye, hero.”
