Decisions, Decisions...
My Response to a Writing Prompt
“Look, somebody has got to make a decision,” I announced before exchanging a nervous glance with my companion.
“Well, what’d she tell you?”
“I dunno...” I shrugged.
“But you’re the one that spoke to her!” he accused.
“Yeah, but I was barely awake!” I argued in my defense.
“So? She must’ve told you!”
“Hey man, it’s 2 am! The woman’s lucky that I’m even out of bed. It was your job to remember...”
“W-wait-- my job? I’m not the one that knocked her up!”
“Yeah, but that was before she got all crazy and hormonal. How was I supposed to know that she’d turn into Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde?”
“Well, that’s your problem, not mine. Besides, you’re the one that’ll be sleeping on the couch if we screw this up,” he reminded me.
“Very funny,” I told him.
“Dum-dum... dum-dum... dum-dum-dum...” when he started humming the Jeopardy theme song aloud, I turned and swung at him, but he ducked out of the way.
“Come on! Stop screwing around... we’ve gotta make a decision,” I reiterated.
Just then an disembodied (and annoyed sounding) voice repeated, “Will that be chocolate or vanilla?”
What should they choose?
The Writing Prompt
This short story was the result of a writing prompt. The rules were simple. We were given a list of phrases. Our job was to use one of them to create a new story. The phrase I chose was "someone has got to make a decision."
It was a fun writing exercise that I would definitely recommend to others. I've found that writing exercises and prompts are a great way to begin a writing session. They help open up my mind and get the "creative juices flowing" (as a friend used to say).
This particular exercise is particularly fun when you do it with a group. Give everyone the same phrase then a predetermined amount of time to work. Then, when time is up, people can share what they've written. You'd be amazed at the variety of different stories that can be inspired by the same line of dialogue!
