Writing Prompt Wednesday: Robot Love

This week's prompt: 
You're a robot who was designed to menial tasks around an office. You are not designed to have any emotions yet you're having strange feelings of attachment towards the person who performs the maintenance on you. 

Writing Prompt Wednesday: Tattooed Soul Mates

Last week's prompt was a lot of fun! And I have an awesome story to share, written by Sal, who posted this story in the comments last week. 
Last week's prompt was:  "You're going to try to reason with a man who swallows scorpions for fun?"
Sal's story: 
The Plan 

“You’re going to try to reason with a man who swallows scorpions for fun?” 
Tysar rolled his eyes. “Off course not. What kind of a moron do you think I am?” 
“Well...” 
“Just shut-up and help for once. It’s as though your lips slap endlessly together and no matter how long I listen, I rarely feel anything beyond soothed to sleep by the monotony.” 
“Well that I do understand.” Rolph mumbled. 
“What did you say?” 
“Nothing.” Rolph picked up the larger of the two dusty kit bags, slung it over his muscled shoulder and followed his old friend towards the tavern. For just the smallest of moments he questioned the sanity of it all, for Tysar’s plans and schemes rarely went as they were meant. But then Rolph smiled. At least this gave him purpose, the occasional reward for effort, and life beside Tysar was far from dull. As the tavern grew nearer he deliberately began slapped his lips together, watching the tightness gather in Tysar’s shoulders until the stout man spun, face as fed as flame. 
“Oh for the love of prosperity, will you just be quiet.” 
Yes, Rolph thought, Never Dull.
This week's prompt: 
At birth everyone is given half of a tattoo. Their intended soul mate is given the other half of the tattoo. The tattoo's ink only appears after a person's seventeenth birthday. Your character discovers at her birthday party that the one boy she can't stand has the tattoo to match hers. She sees it by accident. Write about how she feels in that moment. 
My story: 
Of all the people in the world that could have the matching side of my tattoo, I was not expecting it to be him. Why did it have to be him? I thought maybe I had been mistaken and that the incredibly detailed tree with a hole in the middle of the trunk did not match the owl that had appeared on the back of my right shoulder this morning. Surely, there were other trees. That hole was not meant for my owl to perch in. 
I caught a glimpse of the tree snaking up Trevor's left arm from his wrist when he was pushing his shaggy orange hair out of his eyes. Blue eyes, not green like most people with red hair. Ice blue. I hated when he looked at me. I felt like he could see through me into my soul. And now I understood why. He saw me. He already knew that we were destined to be together. A fate that I had to find a way to change. How could two people so completely different and so hateful towards each other possibly be soul mates? It seemed incredibly unfair. Today was my seventeenth birthday, the day I would finally see my tattoo and possibly discover my soul mate. It was supposed to be a magical, exciting day filled with little love birds a'la Disney that were supposed to lift up the hem of my dress to keep it from getting dirty as I run into the arms of my love. This was not that day. Running into Trevor's arms was about as appealing as eating rotten mashed potatoes. I hate mashed potatoes. 
That's all I've got in me today. My writing muse has apparently gone on vacation. Let me see what you've got and maybe I'll put it up on next week's post! 

Writing Prompt Wednesday: Scorpion Swallower

Welcome to another Writing Prompt Wednesday!! 

I found this week's inspiration on Pinterest. (I might have a slight addiction.) It was such a unique prompt that I couldn't resist using it for this week. 

My Story: 

Lemon, a loud-mouthed gnome sitting in the cell next to me, was beating on the iron bars with a sharp-edged rock he found in the corner of the cell. He'd been beating the same spot on a lower bar near the left side of the cell for nearly ten minutes now. 

"What are you going to do when the guards catch you?"

"Drop the rock. For someone who is supposed to be a being of higher intelligence, you sure are stupid."

I scratched at the scabs on my wrist where Eric's fingernails scratched my skin as I had tried to get away from him. The fairy thought that I came to this world to kill him. I actually had ended up here by mistake. An accident, really.  

"You're not a very nice troll." 

"TROLL?" Lemon's eyes grew two sizes larger as he turned and screamed at me. "I'm not a frackin' troll! I'm a gnome!" 

"A roaming gnome?" 

He threw his rock at me. Evidently, Travelosity commercials were not very popular in this realm. 

"I wish the guards would let me talk to Eric. If I could just explain to him how I got here and that I'm just trying to get home, maybe he'll let me out." 

"You're going to try to reason with a man who swallows scorpions for fun? Did I mention you're stupid, already?" 

"Well, anything sounds stupid when you say it like that." 

Let's see what you've got! Send me your stories and yours could get featured next week! 

WRITING PROMPT WEDNESDAY - ORANGES

Welcome, welcome to Writing Prompt Wednesday!! 

I don't have a cool story for last week's prompt to share so let's just get straight into this week's writing inspiration! 

Today's Prompt: 

Two people are arguing in an elevator. One of them is holding a bag of oranges. 

Write about why the bag of oranges is significant. 

My story: 

"Did you buy the biggest bag of oranges they had?" 

"Are you seriously mad at me right now because I bought a bag of oranges?" 

I turned and faced Jeremy for the first time since we had gotten on the elevator. He was so beautiful with his shaggy hair mussed from the wind outside and his three-day old stubble on his square jaw. It hurt to look him in his eyes, though. It wasn't about the oranges. It was about who he bought the oranges for. Marguerite. Marguerite Beauchamp was our new neighbor from across the hall. A gorgeous, long-legged French girl with long locks of chestnut colored hair that never seemed to move, as if it were capable of defying all laws of motion. Marguerite was sick with a cold and had mentioned to us as we were standing behind her, waiting to dump our garbage down the shoot, that she really wanted a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice. Three hours later, my fiance is holding a bag of oranges so big that I wondered if he had stolen them from the zoo. There was no way that he purchased this enormous bag at Wal-Mart because he had a craving for orange juice. He had a craving for Marguerite Beauchamp......

Okay, there's my story for the week. Let's see what you guys come up with! Leave me your story in the comments or email me (draytonella@gmail.com)! Also, send me ideas for writing prompts! You just might get your story or your idea featured next week! 

Writing Prompt Wednesday: Divorce Lawyer

Welcome to the 3rd Writing Prompt Wednesday!! I am so excited that I can feature someone else's story inspired by last week's prompt!! 

 Last week's prompt was:

Write a scene that begins: "It was the first time I killed a man." 

The awesome cdoart left this little snippet for me and I wanted to feature it this week! 

It was the first time I killed a man - and the surprising thing, I got away with it. 
You don't believe me? 
Well, it all began last Monday. I went to work as usual. My boss was late for a meeting, as was usual as well. 
When he called me from his mobile to bring him something for his meeting he had left at the bureau the last Friday (which in truth was something he had not done and I had to miraculously procure out of thin air), the drama began to unfold. It would finally kill a man, but nobody knows, not even my boss. 
And as that is how I want it to stay, I just can't reveal, who it was that I killed. 
It obviously was not my boss, though annoying as he is, he would deserve to be next. I just don't like him as much as my first victim to ...

Let me know in the comments below what you think of cdoart's story! 
Now, on to this week's prompt! I'm using 642 Things To Write About again this week. I have a feeling I'll be using it quite a bit. It has some amazing prompts in it!  Today's Prompt: 
You are the lawyer in a divorce case. The only point of contention is custody of the dog. Argue that your client should get the pup. 
My story: 
Your honor, my client, Mrs. Deavoreaux, should be granted custody of this Italian Greyhound pup, Julian because Mrs. Deavoreaux is the one who trained him, takes him to the vet, and takes him to his grooming appointments. Also, she cannot produce children and views Julian as her own child. You can't simply separate mother and child now can you? Further more, Mr. Deavoreaux should not be granted custody of Julian because he only uses Julian's charm to pick up women since he has no charm of his own. That's how we ended up here today. Mr. Deavoreaux offered to take Julian for a walk at the dog park downtown and decided that it would be a wise idea to use Julian as an ice breaker to get a young woman to warm up to him enough for him to ask her out for dinner and drinks. Unfortunately for Mr. Deavoreaux, he managed to hit on Julian's groomer, who immediately called Mrs. Deavoreaux to inform her of how devious and, in her words, "downright nasty" Mr. Deavoreaux truly is. Julian also has a habit of pooping in Mr. Deavoreaux's shoes, just in case that might help you make your decision. 

Okay, guys! Let me know what you think of my story, let me read your stories inspired by the prompt, or leave a prompt of your own and I'll use it next week! 

WPW - "It Was The First Time I Killed A Man."

Today is the 2nd Writing Prompt Wednesday! I didn't get any submissions to be featured for this week but I'm not giving up hope! "If you build it, they will come", right? Either way, it's all just for fun! Just like last week I will post a prompt and if it inspires you, write a story, post it in the comments, or e-mail it to me: draytonella@gmail.com and you might get featured on next week's post! 

Today's Prompt: 

 Today's prompt is brought to you by this awesome book my husband bought me for Mother's Day two years ago, 642 Things To Write About - By The San Fransico Writers' Grotto.

Write a scene that begins: "It was the first time I killed a man." 

My Story: 

It was the first time I killed a man but I could already tell it would be the last. Feeling the thick blood running down my hands, between my fingers; it was one of the most exhilarating feelings I've ever felt in my boring little life. Watching the life fade from behind his eyes was like watching my first porno film. It felt dirty and raw and absolutely amazing. The most incredible part of taking this man's life, however, was the magnitude of power I felt as I ran the knife blade slowly across his neck, slicing the flesh; pulling it apart to see the meaty veins struggling to pump blood to his brain. I, this small-framed woman from a small farm town, had out-witted, overpowered, and bled out a man whom a lot of people feared. A man who thought he was untouchable and invincible bled to death from my steady hand. 

Let me know what you think about my story! Send me your stories! Get featured here on next week's Writing Prompt Wednesday!! 

Writing Prompt Wednesday - Leave Me Your Stories And Get Featured Next Week!

I've started a new feature here on Writer In Progress. I'm excited to announce that Wednesdays are now Writing Prompt Wednesdays!! 

I will post a new writing prompt each Wednesday. For this Wednesday I will share a bit of my writing that was inspired by the prompt but for Wednesdays following I want to be able to feature other writer's stories! If you were inspired by the prompt on Writing Prompt Wednesday, leave your story in the comments or e-mail me (draytonella@gmail.com) and the best one will be featured the next week right here on my blog!! 

Today's Prompt: 

A man and a woman are the only two people in a hospital waiting room. The man is actually an angel waiting for the time to take the woman's husband to Heaven. Write the conversation he has with her before he leaves with her husband. 

My story: 

"It's a bit chilly in here, isn't it?"  

"A little. That's why I always bring a jacket with me. I don't mind it much though because it keeps me awake so I don't miss any of the visiting times. They're so short in this part of the hospital. Thirty minutes. Sounds like a lot but fifteen of that is interrupted by nurses coming in to check this and that. Or cleaning ladies coming in to change out garbage bags. I don't want to miss the fifteen minutes that I do actually get to spend with Mason. That's my husband. He's got prostate cancer. Stage four. Who are you here to see if you don't mind me asking?" 

"An acquaintance, really. I'm here as a favor for a very important friend."

"Well, that's mighty nice of you. Not too many people take time out of their lives like that anymore. You're a rare breed." 

"You know, I've heard that before. Mrs. ?"

"Perry. But you can call me Charlene. We're going to be sitting here a while, might as well make a friend, right?" 

"Of course. What do you do, Charlene? When you're not here, I mean."

"These days not much of nothing. I was a school teacher for twenty five years. I taught second grade. Now I just sort of piddle in my garden and make dresses for my grandbabies on my sewing machine. I used to do them by hand but my hands can't take the abuse anymore. Mason bought me that sewing machine last year before he got sick. He was so excited because he'd kept it a secret from me for almost a month. It was sitting right there in our house and I never even knew it." 

"Your husband sounds like a thoughtful man." 

"Oh, he has his moments. But he has always been very kind. Would give you the shirt right off his back if need be. They don't make 'em like Mason anymore. I really lucked up when I managed to snag him. I sure am going to miss him when he's gone." 

"Do you think he'll be going soon?"

"Any day now, I suspect. He's tired. I can see it on his face. He's lived a good, happy life and he's managed to raise three beautiful children and helped spoil eight darling grandchildren. He served in the Army, worked as state trooper for thirty years, volunteered at a youth center down the street from our house for fifteen years, and donated any spare money we had to just about every charity he came across. He knows that he's leaving a legacy to be proud of. I think he's just stubborn and doesn't want to go out until he's absolutely ready. He tells me every time I go back there to see him that he loves me but this last time, earlier today, he said 'Charlene, I'm going to love you even when I'm gone'. And that's how I knew he's ready. He's just waiting on his old, worn out body to give in now." 

"Do you believe in Heaven, Charlene?"

"One hundred percent. And I believe Mason will be there when he finally leaves this world. What about you, Mr -- I'm so sorry, I didn't catch your name?" 

"You can call me Gabe. I believe in Heaven. I believe in angels. I think they walk around this earth, passing right by you and you don't even realize it."

"I hope no angels were around here earlier today. I stubbed my toe on that table over there and I let out a string of ugly words a mile long. Unless, of course, they're Baptist angels and then it's okay because it's not a Sunday." 

"They might be Catholic. You may have to light a few candles and say some 'Hail Mary's'." 

"Whatever they are, I hope they can forgive an old soul with a bruised toe." 

"I'm sure sweet, foul-mouthed old ladies are the least of their worries. Is that time right on that clock over there?"

"Yes. It's a quarter til three. I can't believe it's three A. M. already. I lose track of the time out here sometimes." 

"As much as I hate to, Charlene, I have to cut our conversation short. It's time for me to fulfill my favor and take this man home." 

Leave me your stories! I'd love to read them and I will feature the best one next week!!