Source: Meta AI
Welcome to the Weekly Fiction Prompt
Hello community members! Thank you for joining our weekly writing prompt!
Getting Started
If you're new, be sure to check out our community rules before posting in The Ink Well. You can find them at the top of our home page.
Please also check out these additional helpful resources: * You will find all kinds of great resources in our catalog of storytelling tips. * You can learn more about our community and the expectations of community members in our treasure trove of tips and guidelines. * We are always about quality first. Never about quantity. To achieve the kinds of awards you want, take the time to write quality stories and check them for errors. See the topic of the month, "Don't Miss This Step" in the March 2025 newsletter to learn about using tools (and using them properly) if you are not already doing this. We do notice when you don't take the time!
Stories from the Previous Week
Thank you to who posted a story for last week's prompt: "I thought I was on mute":
- @mbiatabasi
- @marriot5464
- @almadepoeta
- @rare-gem
- @ubani
- @cyberking25
- @daeze-winnie
- @cedujem
- @lara-bee
- @oyebolu
- @estilodereba
- @popurri
- @nancybriti1
- @delightedpen
- @rinconpoetico7
- @edith-4angelseu
- @ayodeji01
- @rammargarita
- @nachomolina2
- @bestbeauty
- @venom2951
- @grimmjoe
- @jennyzee1
- @stone4
- @offia66
- @happy080
- @bisolamih
- @perfect20
- @zain-ab001
- @abigail04
- @riya2020
- @mrprinxcee
- @abojode
- @farahikram
- @zerah
- @harmony2605
- @emeka002
- @caramel10
- @tranquil3
Author Shout-outs
As always, we received some excellent stories for last week's prompt. Here are a few of the stories that received high marks from our curators.
@almadepoeta
Curator comment:
@almdepoeta writes a very clever and frighteningly realistic fictional story about AI surveillance, in a world where everyone is monitored for everything all the time. Daren, the main character, is working with secret forces to disable cameras and tracking systems... until the plot is discovered. He runs from the drones coming for him, and then gets a message from the AI itself asking him to destroy it. Well told!
@nancybriti1
Curator comment:
@nancybriti1 writes a moving, powerful fiction from an innocent child’s POV. The child grapples with the narrow understanding that a child might have of adult issues such as—infidelity and illness. The child is ill. The father is distant and (perhaps) having an affair. The mother is unhappy and cries all the time. The child overhears a solution offered from the confines of a hiding place; the solution is a medical procedure that renders the child bedridden.
@edith-4angelseu
Curator comment:
@edith-4angelseu builds an emotional and interesting story about a young man who, in a video interview for a scholarship, makes the mistake of leaving the microphone open and denounces himself, doubting that he will be considered for the scholarship he desperately needs and wants. The story of @edith-4angelseu has very good tension and a growing emotionality that moves from the characters to the reader in a very natural way. The introduction clearly lays out the character's universe and the resolution uses poignant elements that leave the reader very satisfied.
Nicely done, writers!
Fiction Writing Prompt of the Week
This week's prompt is: "Fortune cookie"
Fortune cookies are all fun and games, right? We all like to get our fortune and think about what it might mean for the future.
But what if the fortune cookies from a particular restaurant came true? Of what if there was a legend that if anyone ever received a very specific message in a fortune cookie, something magical or terrifying would happen? We hope your imagination will run wild with the possibilities for this one!
When asked to write the synopsis of three story ideas for the "fortune cookie" prompt, here's what ChatGPT came up with:
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“Your Past Will Catch Up Soon” – A Suspense Tale A jaded private investigator opens a fortune cookie after a lonely takeout dinner and finds a cryptic message: “Your past will catch up soon.” Within hours, he's drawn into a case eerily similar to one he botched years ago—a missing girl, a red bicycle, a silent witness. As events mirror his past mistakes, he begins to wonder if the cookie was just paper... or prophecy.
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“The Cookie Jar Paradox” – A Lighthearted Sci-Fi Story When quirky inventor Lina builds a device to “read the universe,” she tests it by predicting the exact message inside a fortune cookie. But when the cookie delivers a fortune that wasn't written by her team, it sets off a chain of quantum oddities. Now she must chase her future self through time loops and snack bars to figure out who—or what—is feeding her fortunes.
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“The Last Fortune” – A Poignant Drama Eighty-three-year-old Eunice visits the same Chinese restaurant every Wednesday, alone. One day, her fortune cookie reads: “You will finally get your answer.” That night, she receives a letter from a man claiming to be her son—adopted out decades earlier. What follows is a quiet, aching journey through memory, regret, and the fragile hope of reunion.
What will you come up with? Tell us a story!
Good luck. Remember, as always, we are looking for the elements of story. These include:
- Great first lines
- Good settings
- Well-developed characters
- Integration of action, dialogue and narrative
- A conflict that intrigues the reader
- A "story arc" which results in the resolution of the conflict and brings the story to a satisfying conclusion
- And of course, we are looking for well-edited stories that are not littered with typos or grammatical errors — please use the free Grammarly tool for grammar and spelling checks (and not AI writing or rephrasing tools for revising)
You can find more on all of these topics in the catalog of storytelling tips.
If you don't feel inspired by this prompt or the featured image, feel free to peruse any of our past prompts or our collection of idea-generators: - 50 Loglines - 50 Story Ideas - 50 Imagination Ticklers
Writing Prompt Guidelines:
- See The Ink Well FAQ: Before you post in The Ink Well, we ask that you read our FAQ post to familiarize yourself with our important community rules and guidelines.
- Story link: Please be sure to post your story in The Ink Well community, and post a link to your story in a comment on this post.
- Hashtags: Please use these hashtags: #fiction #writing #inkwellprompt #theinkwell.
- Community support: When you post in The Ink Well, please be sure to visit the work of at least two other community members and comment on their work.
- Title: The title is up to you. You can come up with any title you wish. You do not need to name it after the prompt. Please do use the prompt word(s) within the story.
- Images: Please only use images from license free and creative commons sites, like Pixabay, Unsplash and Pexels. Images you find on the Internet are copyright protected and cannot be used. Be sure to provide all image source links.
- Length: We request that story word counts are a maximum of 1,500 words in length and ideally 750-1000 words. This is just a guideline. Longer stories are okay too, but they tend to get fewer readers. Additionally, The Ink Well admins appreciate keeping to that maximum story length for our time management. (Note: We generally consider stories less than 750 words "too short!")
- Translations: If you post a story that has been translated from another language, please include both the English version and the translation.
Reminders: Be sure to also read our community rules. As always, please avoid violent, gory, bloody, brutal, sexist or racist themes and language, NSFW (not safe for work) stories like erotica, stories with a political or religious agenda, and stories featuring abuse of any kind. (We have a complete article about The Ink Well stance on violence and brutality for more information.) And do NOT use AI tools to write or manipulate your stories. You must provide your own unique content.
Past Prompts
Here are the past prompts if you would like to use them or refer back to them: #1: Heart and Soul; #2: The moment when...; #3: Beauty with a twist; #4: The Way Home; #5: A Matter of Time; #6 50 Story Ideas; #7 The Library; #8 All the way to tomorrow; #9 Legend; #10 Three Words; #11 World Building; #12 Childhood Summers; #13 50 Imagination Ticklers; #14 Railroad; #15 Cats - 750 words; #16 Your Birthday; #17 Action, Dialog and Narrative; #18 Change; #19 Tea Time or Tee Time?; #20 Summer Camp; #21 Main Street; #22 Fireworks; #23 Picnic; #24 Run; #25 A word of advice; #26 Winding road; #27 Mirror; #28 Shipwreck; #29 School Notes; #30 Three Words: Scooter, River, Midnight; #31 Flash Fiction Contest; #32 A Fork in the Road; #33 Shadows; #34 Three Words: Island, Witch, Cake; #35 Full Moon; #36 Graveyard; #37 Jack-o-Lantern; #38 Family Ties; #39 Longing; #40 Feast; #41 Gift; #42 Season of Light; #43 Believe; #44 Elf; #45 Holiday; #46 New Year; #47 Unlikely Hero; #48 Inheritance; #49 Under the Light of the Moon; #50 Three Words: Shoes, Mood, Adventure; #51 They're Here; #52 Artist; #53 Headlights; #54 Tomorrow; #55 Lense; #56 Perfection; #57 Making and Breaking Rules; #58 A Reckoning; #59 Blossom; #60 Temptation; #61 Happiness; #62 Footprint; #63 Frequency; #64 Sailing; #65 Fortune; #66 Worry; #67 Adventure; #68 Shadow; #69 Motor; #70 Embarrass; #71 Proud; #72 Guide; #73 Impression; #74 Lost; #75 Wonder; #76 Tear; #77 Splash; #78 Brilliant; #79 Sinkhole; #80 Exhaust; #81 Roll; #82 Wishbone; #83 Chatterbox; #84 [Foil](ht