Before she slammed the door...

Today’s post is based on a writing prompt I shared in a previous Daily Drafts & Dialogues post. Keep reading to see what I wrote, and to access more writing prompts.

What I wrote below is based on the following writing prompt: Complete this sentence for today’s writing prompt: “Before she slammed the door...” Try to write a few paragraphs, if not more. And try to be as creative as possible by writing about something that might be unexpected or unusual in such a scenario.

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Before she slammed the door, the entire house was immobile and quiet. 

The robins hadn’t begun their morning song outside the kitchen window. The air outside was still and tepid, waiting for the sea to move. And the earth was cool and covered in fresh dew, ready to thaw. 

She had overheard the previous night, when she was presumed fast asleep, that her family would be in dire straits. If they didn't find a solution. And quickly. 

Her mother’s condition was worsening by the day, though she hid it well. And her brother would be off to school soon, three times a week, unable to help as much as needed around the farm. A farm they depended on for everything they knew and understood about life and living. 

So, then and there in the shadows, far outside the glow emanating from the fireside, she decided that she would be the solution. Only, no one else knew it yet. She had no choice but to surprise them.

Still half asleep, she laced up a pair of trousers and boots she had borrowed from her brother without his knowledge, then snuck downstairs to boil some water for a spot of tea to drink with a piece of day-old bread before she headed out well before dawn. And well before anyone else could catch on to her plan to help, since she already knew they would admonish and dissuade her. 

She knew she would have to prove what she could do before they would agree to rely on her too, outside the house anyway. It was the only way.

She planned to feed the chickens and pigs, then the horses, before mucking out the stalls and bringing in some herbs and eggs for breakfast, hopefully before anyone else arose. She was new at this, yes, but she was a fast learner and resolutely confident that she could and would solve all her family's worries and woes. With or without their initial blessing.

But of course, when she slammed the door, her well-laid plans came crashing down, as the entire house was rudely jolted awake and taken unawares.

Her brother fell out of his bed with a heavy thud. Her mother let out a shrill shriek.And within seconds, her father had barreled down the creaky stairs and out the slammed door with a shotgun at the ready, pointed directly at her…

[Write what happens next and share what you come up with in a comment or subscriber chat thread below.] 

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© All Rights Reserved by K.E. Creighton and Creighton’s Compositions LLC. The above work is a piece of fiction. While, as in all fiction, the literary perceptions and insights are based on experience, all names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Today’s Writing Prompt