1. In theory it should have hit her when she actually left, but she found herself staring at the suitcase, half packed with memories, and facing the full brunt of her decision.

2. Night rolls in, a stark line of shadow where the world shade blocks the sun.

3. “Have you ever noticed how nothing ever turns out how you expect?”

“Well yeah, but that’s life, right?”

“No, no it’s not.” Henry gave Evan a long look. “When I said nothing, I meant it literally. I can’t think of a single thing you’ve done that’s turned out the way you intended it to.”

“But it’s worked out in the end.”

“That’s not the point, no matter how bad your luck something should have gone right.” Henry frowned, “There’s something not right about you, but damned if I can figure it out.”

4. Another day gone, another shift ended, and all she can think about is how she’s going to make it to the pawnshop in time to get back her grandmother’s bracelet.

5. There’s something about losing your dreams that makes you stubborn– broken, empty, but full of fire against a world that’s turned from environment to antagonist. So she won’t die, not yet, not here, because then the planet wins. Seven generations of traveler blood won’t be denied the stars for long…

These story prompts are released into the wild per Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License, so sayth their author Martha McMahon Bechtel.

Technotari Tags: Writing Prompts

“If you stop to think about it, we’re never going to get this done.”

Lorcan gave Neda a measured look, “And that’s a bad thing?” But he kept coiling the rope, counting out the knots in his head. “There might be another way.”

“We don’t have time,” Neda had gotten to fifty before him and was already lashing the rope to her pack. “If Bethany and the others think of something, they’ll take care of it. But for now,” she tugged on the straps to test the hold, “we’re the only chance they have of escaping the stormfront.”

“But we’ll be dead.”

Neda stopped, turning to give him her full attention. Lorcan didn’t look up from his counting, but he tensed in anticipation of the blow, eyes carefully averted. He hadn’t meant to say it, but the closer they got to the eye of the storm the looser his hold became.

There was a long silence and Lorcan cursed his lack of control. Neda wasn’t as bad as her father or her father’s father, but the Vocina temper bred true; thirty generations of dilution had done little to calm that fury. When she finally spoke, he braced himself against the expected pain.

“I rescind your oath.” Formal words, spoken in a language he’s assumed long dead, and he stumbled backwards in shock, feeling the collar crack. “I unbind your service.” The magic rose around them, cutting storm winds into a whirling vortex. “I release you, do as you will.”

And with that, six hundred years of servitude ended.

These snippits are copyright Martha McMahon Bechtel and may not be reproduced or distributed without express permission. All rights reserved.

Technotari Tags: Fiction, Fantasy

1. “Did you meant it?”
“Mean what?”
“When you said ‘only if you were the last man on earth’?”
“That was before I knew you had a time machine.”

2. Dreams are meant to be broken, nightmares doubly so.

3. If anyone had looked, they would have noticed the small yellow-green mouse that sat on the corner of the booth muttering to itself. But in all fairness the sudden appearance of the pink and orange triceratops was slightly distracting.

4. “Some questions are best left unasked.” The dragon’s glare was as far from subtle as a three story carnivore could get, and Jen decided she didn’t really need to know why it was chained to the wall.

5. “If you could have anything, what would you want?” She leaned back against the side of the front-loader, looking out across the development.

“Nothing.”

“Wait, what?”

“I don’t ‘want’ Tabby, it’s not possible, thus regardless of the situation my answer would remain ‘nothing.’”

“You don’t really have a grasp on the ‘theoretical questions’ portion of conversation, do you.” She patted the side of the loader affectionately.

“I would point out that you’re the one having theoretical conversations with a piece of construction equipment.”

These story prompts are released into the wild per Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License, so sayth their author Martha McMahon Bechtel.

Technotari Tags: Writing Prompts

1. This is where things change– these next few words control their future. Only it’s not about saving the world anymore, only how badly they’ll destroy it.

2. “Do you know what time it is?” He grinned over the counter, hands conspicuously behind his back.

“I swear, if you have what I think you have–”

“Da-da-da Banana Time!” He unloaded the bag of groceries with a flourish of unrepentant glee. Only Darren could sneak ice cream sundaes into the house without fearing mom’s wrath. Being the baby of the family has its benefits… plus the rest of us get ice cream, so we can’t complain.

3. Cats are well known for being able to see spirits. Mittens was fine with that, it was the part about spirits being able to see her that the kitten found unnerving.

4. There are levels to pain and she worked her way down through each one, unraveling as she went.

5. It was easier to live in forests than the wide open plains. After a decade shipboard they’d grown used to enclosed areas and the unending horizons unnerved them. Yolan took it hardest, always pushing himself to go a little further from the shade, furious when the sense of impending danger finally sent him scurrying back.

These story prompts are released into the wild per Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License, so sayth their author Martha McMahon Bechtel.

Technotari Tags: Writing Prompts

1. He has a whole universe in which he can be alone… only it’s not what he wants, anymore.

2. One of the drawbacks to living in a haunted house is fighting with over which color to paint the kitchen. Susan wasted a month stubbornly repainting it blue before giving up.

3. The only rule is ‘Keep Moving.’ There used to be others, she counted them off in her head when things got too real to bear, but they’d left them in the boot tracks and bodies behind them.

4. Her city had no violent crime, and it came without capes and masks and secret identities. Because there are heroes and there are anti-heroes, and then there are psychotic sociopaths with just enough control to accurately weed the out the black from shades of grey.

5. If the universe played fair, a day with a three hour traffic jam really should have more than a broken vending machine to balance. Still, three Snickers bars for a dollar wasn’t the worst way to finish out a shift. Now if only the rest of the evening went as well…

These story prompts are released into the wild per Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License, so sayth their author Martha McMahon Bechtel.

Technotari Tags: Writing Prompts