The Inkwell Fiction Prompt #235

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: "Hostage":

@perfect2409
@aristotle01
@ulie100
@pretemi
@theypungboy
@marriot5464
@almadepoeta
@mathewdaddywah
@nova94
@marsdave
@sherah
@zerah
@oyebolu
@ellizy
@ubani
@rammargarita
@mbiatabasi
@bisolamih
@rare-gem
@faithwellington
@daeze-winnie
@lara-bee
@abojode
@janaveda
@riconpoetico
@treasuree
@venom2951
@ghost-art
@delightedpen
@terjix
@glorydee
@trexane
@zain-ab001
@popurri
@amarachi22
@nachomolina2
@abigail04
@allentaylor
@stone4
@tozill
@kei2
@farahikram
@corporateay
@caramel10
@riya2020

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.

@theypungboy

In Lagos, Time Is the Real Hostage

Curator comment:

@theypungboy writes a story for the 'hostage' prompt. This is a wonderful piece; an authentic voice peppered with local Lagos cultural beats and humour. It tells the story of an eventful bus ride into Lagos. I won't say anymore... as I don't want to take anything from the story. Please go read this from a new writer in TIW... and enjoy!!

@daeze-winnie

A Long Walk Indeed To Freedom

Curator comment:

@daeze-winnie writes a tense, suspenseful, and ultimately very funny story for the hostage prompt. This is so imaginative! A must read. A boy calls the emergency hotline for help and begins regaling the answering agent with whispered clues as to what he's experiencing... all leading to a delightful climactic ending in which we learn that he is being required by his teacher and his mother to do homework, and specifically many pages of long division (with punishments like large servings of vegetables and no dessert if he doesn't do what is required), all of which the agent patiently helps him to complete. I will say that the child's stated age (six and a half) seems quite young for his language abilities and the homework required of him. But I suspended disbelief while reading this enjoyable and heartwarming story.

@nachomolina2

Rotating Hostage

Curator comment:

@nachomolina2 writes a story we may puzzle over. We may stop and ponder, then go back to make sure we understand the puzzle he has given us. What we won't do is forget this story. It is original, well structured and almost diabolical in its plan. Excellent, and top marks for creativity.

@marsdave

Breaking Chains Of Expectations: A Daughters Desire For Freedom

Curator comment:

@marsdave writes in response to the hostage prompt. The story offers a window into a young woman's culture, which binds a woman to her family's home until her father releases her. This story is intelligently written and captures the woman's frustration. Relatable, and effective.

Nicely done, writers!

Fiction Writing Prompt of the Week

This week's prompt is: "A Fateful Day"

A fateful day is an expression that essentially means something big happened. A person is carrying on with their normal life, doing all their normal things, when fate intervenes. Here are some examples: * Perhaps a stray puppy walks into a person's life, just after they put their beloved dog to rest, and swore they would never love another pet. * Or a woman walks up to the alter to marry the man she is trying very hard to love, when the true love of her life enters the church. * Or... thinking about what the story might be behind our featured image of a man sitting on the street in the rain... maybe a friend suggests that the man bet everything he has on a "sure thing" bet such as a horse race or an investment that fails, and loses everything.

We often see writers in The Ink Well incorrectly write this expression as "a faithful day." While fateful and faithful sound similar, they are quite different! Faith is about believing in something, like a higher power. Fate in this expression is about a change of destiny due to a singular event. Here's your chance to put the true meaning of the expression "a fateful day" into a creative tale when something happens to your character that changes their life.

Of course, you can write it anyway you wish to fit your story, including "one fateful day," or "on that fateful day..." We look forward to reading your stories!

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](https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@theinkwell/the-ink-well-prompt-82-plus-weekly-challenge-and-pri}