PROMPT(s):

• A man who can see ghosts voluntarily checks himself into an institute. Little does he know, that institute has been closed for thirty years.
• A young girl has dreams of a dragon. In one of the dreams, the dragon says "you made me". The girl, so obsessed with the idea of dragons now, grows up to be some sort of genetic scientist that can actually create & hatch a baby dragon.
• A family of five is driving across the desert on their way to vacation in California. They get lost, then the car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. The cell phone is dead and the sun is setting. The kids are hot, tired, and hungry. Mom is scared and frazzled. Dad, a mid-level sales manager with no survival skills, is frustrated and angry. An animal howls in the distance.
• The only thing that Daniel ever wanted was to be a musician. He loved playing piano more than anything in the world. But after his mom and brother died in a car accident, Daniel’s dad insisted he become active in sports and drop the music. And being active wasn’t enough. He had to be captain of the team or suffer through endless jibes and insults that his father uttered through a beer-induced haze. Then, on his eighteenth birthday, a delivery man brings him a piano, and tells the boy that it’s from his father.
• The sky is laden with dark clouds and the land is buried under a blanket of pale, gray snow. The ground, the streams, and the lakes are frozen and the whole world is eerily quiet and still. It’s the perfect day for . . .
• You’re flying somewhere — anywhere — but when your plane lands, you and the other passengers quickly realize you didn’t reach your intended destination. In fact, you’ve arrived in a strange, wondrous (or terrible) world that you never knew existed.
• On the first day of school, two best friends discover a terrifying secret about one of their new teachers.
• It’s a great time of year for a garage sale. You can have one of your own or take a Saturday to tour all the sales in your neighborhood. Maybe you’ll find a unique treasure with special qualities.
• All the kids are looking forward to the winter break. There’s a school-sponsored ski trip, and one girl is aching to go so she can try snowboarding for the first time.
• There is a light drizzle. The skies are mostly cloudy but the sun is doing his best to show his face. A man and woman stand beside a car outside of a convenience store. They are arguing.
• After a twenty-year career as a successful, underground singer with a voice that gives audiences chills, a singer with no other skills or experience loses his or her voice.
• A young, professional dancer injures her knee and can never dance professionally again. She decides if she can’t move to the music, she’ll make it. Which instrument does she choose and why?
• Write a monologue in which your character summarizes his or her life story; be sure to write it in the character’s voice

[credit:] all of these prompts were gathered at www.writingforward.com

OBJECT: Magical picture frame

You find a magical picture frame that brings whatever photograph is in it to life... or at least full movie motion.

[idea] would be good to have for police who are trying to solve a murder. If they had any photo evidence, it could show the killer in the act or at least get them more to go on.

PROMPT(s): multiple prompts from 2010 v2

[credit:] ALL of these are also from writersdigest.com: promptfest 2010

The Wait is Over 


After a year’s wait, you finally strike—it’s yours. But once you get home, you discover that it’s nothing—nothing—like you thought it’d be.


*

Test Drive


You go on a test drive in a new car. With the dealership representative in the passenger seat, you pull to the side of the road, turn off the engine, and lock the doors. 
“There’s something I should tell you,” you say.


*

Plenty of Fish in the Digital Sea


You venture into the world of online dating. Browsing through profiles, you drop your coffee mug and it shatters on the ground—it can’t be.


*

Clash of the Characters


Create a scene using four characters: One based on yourself, one based on someone you personally know, one based on someone you heard about in the media, and one spawning strictly from the imagination. Make the media story the hook or reason they’re all together, and base the scene around that.


A Second Day of Valentines


It was Valentine’s Day. You took your date to a movie–only it wasn’t the Valentine’s Day epic you had imagined, and what happened in the seat in front of you only reinforced that.


A Suitor for the Suitcase


A man enters your subway car with a small suitcase. He places it under a seat and gets off at the next stop. You eye the “LEAVE NO PACKAGES UNATTENEDED” sign. Another man boards the train, picks up the suitcase, takes something out of it, and moves it down a seat. At the next stop, he leaves and a woman enters, takes something out of it, moves it down a seat and exits. And then another. Finally, it’s placed under your seat.


The Last Thing You Expected to See on the Menu


The waiter handed you a menu. Only what was written inside wasn’t merely a listing of food
.

*

The Chairman


Your father made the chair when he was a boy, and it’s gotten rickety. Preparing to finally throw it away, you flip it over to carry it to the trash, and notice a message etched in with a knife.


PROMPT(s): Multiple prompts from 2010

[credit:] ALL of these come from writersdigest.com: Promptfest 2010

The Tapping (courtesy of WD’s Scott Francis)


You are awakened in the middle of the night by a strange tapping noise coming from your attic. You decide to investigate, and after moving a few old boxes, you find what appears to be a telegraph receiver hidden in a small hole in the wall.


Breaking Down


A tire blows out as you’re in the car with someone on the verge of his or her own breakdown. Stuck in a small town, you’re about to do something you haven’t done in years.

Prompts, courtesy of bestselling author Dianna Love

Below are five opening lines for a scene. The first three are in third person, the fourth is in first person and the fifth can be either one. You can change the point of view from third to first or first to third. There are no names, so you pick the characters. Write the first scene that comes to mind. Don’t worry about being correct on anything—just write and have fun.  


He opened his eyes and slowly took in his surroundings, searching for one thing that looked familiar.



If she didn’t make the last ridge before the portal closed in the next 15 seconds, she’d end up losing her bounty and getting blood on her new solar boots.  


He appreciated having a choice, but generally he was given at least one option that allowed for a chance to walk away alive even if he had to sacrifice dignity.  
   

My mouth fell open in shock at the gangly man carrying a cardboard box, not believing he would dare to enter my real estate office again.   


A palomino horse trotted into the yard sans rider, daisies braided into the mane and a sword hanging from a leather loop on the saddle. 


Your Story Contest No. 22


Suffering from a mid-life crisis, a 50-year-old businessman quits his job and goes on a quest to “get the band back together.”
 —From The Writer’s Book of Matches by the staff of fresh boiled peanuts: a literary journal

Vacation From Vacation 


With your cell phone and souvenirs in hand, your torn map falls to the ground. 
“He wasn’t even supposed to be here,” you mutter. 
And just like that, you need a vacation from your vacation.


The Agreement (courtesy of WD Editor Jessica Strawser)


You consider the stranger’s odd request and decide to agree. What do you have to lose? And just like that, you’re not alone on your adventure.


Rising Sun (courtesy of Jessica Strawser)


A man in a business suit, briefcase handcuffed to his wrist, stands on a quiet beach watching the sunrise.


Why?

“Why did you cut it all off?”

She stares out the window.

“Why?”


Self-Help Surprise


A self-help guru makes you an offer you can’t refuse, no matter how much you’d like to.


Paparazzi 


You try to snap a discrete photo—but it just doesn’t work out that way.


Sunset


The sun is setting in dramatic hues of pink and tangerine, but nobody is watching it—they’re all staring at him, instead.


Strangers on a Train


You’re on a train and for some reason have missed your stop—which, as you soon discover with the stranger sitting next to you, is a blessing in disguise.

Holiday
Something comes down your chimney, but it’s not exactly Santa. In your bed, you stir as you hear footsteps.

Resolute
 

It’s Dec. 31, and you’re scrambling to make a resolution come true that you made last year. The sun is setting, and it’s time for action.

Your Story No. 24 


Parents look on in horror as a magician’s trick goes horribly awry during a child’s birthday party. —From The Writer’s Book of Matches by the staff of fresh boiled peanuts: a literary journal


Raising the Alarm
 

Yet again, you draw a breath, mumble an apology, and pull the fire alarm at the shopping mall.


*

Trapped in the Ice
 

Your car breaks down in the midst of a blizzard—and a critical cell phone call. Trudging through the snow, you discover something frozen in ice that will prove to be invaluable in the moments ahead.


*

Cellular Apologies 
 

A stranger asks to borrow your cell phone. You agree. She turns away and talks on it for a moment, then faces you once more. 
“I’m sorry,” she says, eyes red. “I’m so sorry.” 
Then, she runs away.

Your 15 Minutes
 

You’re watching a daytime talk show. A familiar face walks onto the stage, you drop what you’re holding and she utters your name on national television.


*

The Broadcast Boon

You’ve never done it before, but this time you call in to the radio station. You win something you didn’t anticipate—or want.

PLOT: warning from a stranger

MC is warned by a stranger not to go to a certain place at a certain time. MC has no clue what they're talking about until something happens (think big explosion or such) at said place and time. It's up to you to decide why they were spared by the mysterious person or who that person was.

PLOT: car jacking gone wrong

Based on the Urban Legend for a gang initiation. Car gets bumped from behind. When the driver gets out to check for damage, the driver of the first car kills unsuspecting victim.

INFO: dial #77 for police dispatch

Here is a piece of interesting info that could possibly be used in a scene:

In some states, if you dial #77/*77 you can reach a police dispatcher. If not, call 911.

There have been instances reported of people being pulled over by unmarked police cars who end up not truly being officers. Most often, they are rapists trying to attack female drivers, but in some cases they could be criminals looking for a different mode of transportation, or attempting to rob the drivers. They say it is always recommended to keep driving to a safe area if you are pulled over by the police, especially if its unmarked and in a lone setting.

Prompt: Circle of Witches

A circle of tall boulders is comprised of witches who have been turned into stone. Tell the story of how they got there or of them coming back to life.

WRITING/PROMPT: The Hidden Room

[@Writersdigest.com - Weekly Writing Prompt: While preparing your garden at the beginning of spring, you find the blueprints for your house buried in the earth. When you pull it out and examine it, you find that there is a room in the blueprint that doesn’t exist in your house. Both disturbed and intrigued, you set off to find the missing room. Write what happens next.]   

     "The bags of mulch," my mother stated, looking intently at me as if I knew what she was talking about.
     "What?" I asked, confused as usual.
     "The bags of mulch aren't going to move themselves, Lucy." She sighed and stabbed the bag of red mulch with her shovel, pushing it in my direction. "Open one and start dragging it along the border I made."
     I only made it a step or two before she barked, "Wait!" I stopped, Mother-May-I style.
     "Put these on first," she threw a pair of cloth gloves at me, which I obediently slid over my hands.
     This was not how I wanted to spend my first free Saturday in months, spreading mulch and playing in the dirt. But if we were going to sell the house, it needed to be done. So I walked over to where she stood, grabbed the first plastic sack and began to unload its contents where she'd told me to. Seconds later, I heard a clank and my mother's poorly hidden stream of curse words. I looked over my shoulder to find her poking at the dirt with the metal shovel tip.
     "There's something here," she said.
     "It's probably just a root or something," I said, wiping the sweat from my forehead before it dripped into my eyes. God, I hated living in Florida. The humidity was unbearable.
     "Roots don't clank." She dug around some more until a round metal tin surfaced enough for us to get it the rest of the way out. It was a simple metal cylinder about the size of a paper towel roll, capped at one end, no marks, no...well, nothing.
     We looked at it like it was an alien life form. "What the hell is that thing?" I voiced the thought that was running through both our minds.
     "Hell if I know," she answered. "Let's open it and see?" The last was more of a question than anything. She finally looked at me instead of the container, basically asking my permission to open it.
     "Go for it. The worst it could do is chop off your hand," I shrugged my shoulders and giggled as she flung it to the ground.
     "Oh, sheesh, Ma, I was just kidding." I bent down and picked it up for myself, expecting it to be heavier than it was. Nothing happened when I popped it open. A monster didn't jump out at me, no mysterious smoke came pouring out the top, which from the look on my mom's face, is what she had expected to happen. I tipped it upside down and a rolled up paper came sliding out.

     “Who buries their blueprints in the front yard?” I asked, incredulous. Here I was, thinking we’d hit some big lottery winnings or something really interesting and all I got for my excitement was a sheet of paper with a blue sketch on it. Yippee.

     Without looking at it any further, I shoved the design back into the tube and smacked the top closed.  It’s too bad… there was a lot more to that old house than first glance.

PROMPT: A secret unleashed

In a drunken or drug-induced haze, a close friend admits something very dark to you. Do you keep the secret or is it something so horrific you can't even pretend to go along with it?

PLOT: internet killer

I was browsing through fiction prompts and saw the heading: Once Upon a Tweet. It consisted of an author who told a story through prose bursts a tweet at a time. This got me to thinking... tweeting can be so anonymous. And so many people communicate this way nowadays. Either through tweeting, or Facebook, Tumblr, pinterest... the internet is so mainstream that everyone is connected somehow. What if.... a serial killer were to use something like Tweets, or YouTube videos as a way to broadcast his kidnapping/killings. I wonder how long it would take for someone to catch on to a random "I'm going to kill today" Tweet. And then maybe followed with. "I found my victim. Her name is ___. I picked her up in the parking lot of a grocery store." How long would it actually take for someone to realize that this was not a joke and indeed something real. I was thinking the killer could maybe even post a video on "YouTube", or something similar of course, and maybe even found his victims by perusing the "facebook" style sites. Call him the Internet Killer or something catchy.

The MC could either be his next target or involved with the investigation. I don't think I could write a good cop character as I have no idea what goes on in that lifestyle. But someone who had to have short interactions I could probably handle. Maybe the MC has been getting visions and she helps the police out. Or, maybe they believe she's the next target, etc. Help me out here guys if you have any thoughts, I'd appreciate it!!

WRITE THIS STORY: a writing prompt

Choose two people who you know well and write a detailed character description of each one. Next, change their gender, name, and physical traits. Begin a story with both characters standing on the platform of a train station, waiting for a train.

credit: [poets&writers]

Begin a different story with both characters: trying to get the same bartenders attention at a local pub
Begin a different story with both characters: interviewing for the same job

WRITE THIS STORY: a writing prompt

There are two men sitting in the booth of a diner eating dinner together and talking. A woman sits outside in a parked car, watching them through the window. Who are they? What is their relationship to one another? What are the men discussing? What is the woman thinking? What does she do next? Write a story that opens with this scene and explores these questions.

credit: [poets&writers]

WRITE THIS STORY: a writing prompt

You walk into a dimly lit room at a party where you’ve arrived with a friend. The walls of the room are lined with reptile cages. Across the room you see someone you recognize, and when you turn to your friend he or she is gone. What happens next?

credit: [poets&writers]

WRITE THIS STORY: a writing prompt

Write a scene involving two characters. One of the characters knows that the other is keeping a secret from them and what that secret is but hasn't let on that they know. Have the two doing some mundane task where they don't actually have to keep direct eye to eye contact with each other and using their actions and dialogue express the tension between the two without actually having to discuss the secret.

credit: [poets&writers]

PLOT: Vengeance

I was thinking this more along the lines of a YA novel, but could be done well at any age. MC is a typical high school jerk, socially popular, comes from a well-off family and is not humble in any way, shape or form. Never takes anything serious and has a tendency to use the girls he dates. In comes FMC, a very beautiful mysterious new girl to the school. MC decides to add her to his collection, but FMC wants nothing to do with him. After one attempt where MC goes too far, FMC casts a spell on him that all his true fears come to life and he has to face them each day. The story could go a bunch of different ways from there...

PLOT: Transported into Fantasy

Group of people who roleplay together somehow end up in the actual fantasy world. They either have to fight their way out or maybe possibly end up staying in the new world instead of escaping back to reality.

PLOT: Sugar Daddy

MC is a 20-something college student who is over her head in student loan debt. So she and her roommate come across a website that sets them up as college students looking for "sugar daddies". They visit with the men and in turn are paid for whatever services they offer. Things go very wrong when MC's roommate ends up dead and either MC saw everything or it ends up being one of the clients and now she's next on the list.

PLOT: rags to riches

A  sibling makes every effort to find their long-lost brother/sister. Before they can track them down, they die, but in the will they've left the sibling a sizable amount of money/land/etc... A month or two later, the sibling is found (possibly homeless?) living destitute and is given the news of their brother/sisters death and fortune. This could go several ways... it could be a romance (maybe the person that tracked the person down helps get their act together & falls in love with them in the process) - a thriller (maybe the sibling was murdered & they somehow get involved due to the inheritance) - a drama (maybe they take the fortune they've inherited and open a huge homeless shelter for people like them)

PLOT: Reunited

Two siblings who were adopted separately at an early age have been searching for each other for years. When they are finally reconnected, they come to find out that they have been living on the same street for almost 2 years! You can have them never have met each other, or you can go a step further and they could have had many a run in with each other and either become best friends or possibly even dislike one another for whatever reasons.

WRITING:

     There was no moon in the sky tonight. I sat, legs crossed on the front porch swing, the cherry of my Marlboro the only light in the quiet blackness.

     The wind picked up. A relaxing whisper of cool air in the otherwise stuffy heat of Florida weather. Usually, I liked sitting alone. But not tonight. Something about the whispering wind had my heart racing.
     I flicked my cigarette and stood up. It was then that I noticed it. A shadow. Barely visible at the end of the driveway. I was afraid to move. Afraid to breathe. Maybe if I just stood completely still...

WRITING: The Beginning of the End

Her face, if you could call it that, was mere inches from mine. One eyeball hung from its socket, dangling loosely by a wire thin chord. The left side of her mouth was still intact, lips twisted upward while the other half had been ripped clean off, bare teeth and jaw forming a grotesque smile. Two holes stood where nasal cavities once connected to the flesh and bone of a cute button nose.

WRITING: Work in progress

     An awkward silence swept across the room as she stepped in.  Heads swiveled in her direction, eyes filled with sorrow, faces bathed in pity. She gripped the textbooks even tighter to her chest, so tight that her knuckles turned ashen and her fingers lost all feeling. Her gaze turned down as she walked past them, steadying her sights on the tiled floor until she found her desk. The loud drone of the bell signaled the beginning of class and along with it returned the normal hustle and bustle of student chatter.

     "Welcome back, Tess," acknowledged Mr. Pierce from the front of the small room. "It's good to see you."

     She managed a slight nod and what could be construed as a mumbled "yeah," praying that he would just get on with the lesson.

PLOT: Love is Blind

Ella is a successful 26 year old editor. She spends so much time focused on work and taking care of her grandmother who raised her, that she never does anything for herself. Her best friend decides its time for a change, so she secretly enters her to be on a reality TV show: Love is Blind [or other name]. Ella's in for the surprise of her life when she's picked as a contestant.

PROMPT:

I awoke to the sound of someone pounding on my door, and I shook my head as I looked through the corner of the curtains at the striking orange sky, guessing what time it was. It was then that I realized that wasn't sunrise - those were flames.

[credit:] jessica.elaine @ NaNoWriMo

PLOT: Twin, Triplet or clone?

Something awful happens to MC in the town that she grew up in, [was thinking her twin sister died & she felt this like painful ripping sensation when it happened] so she leaves and treks her way across the country looking for [a new start]. She winds up in [name of place] with nothing but the clothes on her back. It's late one night, she is trying to [find a place to crash] when she thinks she sees [her sister? or if u don't use the sisters death than she sees someone who is her exact identical]. She follows that person who seems to be running to/from something. [crying? scared? depressed?] as she [rounds the corner] the girl/woman turns her direction and she is looking her double in the face. Just then the other girl/woman [commits suicide? is shot/murdered?] before having a chance to talk to her. MC stands there, shocked. However the girl dies, her stuff (ID, wallet, money, etc) is still there. MC snaps out of it, picks up her stuff and [assumes her identity?] Finds out that she was a twin that was separated at birth and both were adopted OR she was a triplet and one was [put up for adoption? kidnapped?] OR she was cloned and there are many lookalikes running around the US.

CHARACTER TYPE: ice mage

Snie:

Snie is a skilled ice mage, despite her young age. She has silver hair, pale, snow white skin and wears nothing but a white dress with blue symbols, even when it's cold, because she doesn't feel it and never shows any signs of freezing. Something that you can't say about her enemies because most of her spells turn humans into fragile blocks of ice. If you want to engage her in close combat, she will form a weapon by freezing the air around her hands. Swords, Axes, Lances, you name it, she can fight with every weapon. Also, she can throw knives made of ice after you. If she is really angry, she can cast a devastating snow storm. The nastiest things however are her magic mines. These are almost invisible and if you get too close to one of them, it will explode and freeze everything in the area. Yet she is terrified of fire, because she had a bad experience with it as a child. A scar on her cheek remained ever since. Also she feels uncomfortable at warm temperatures, since she can't use her magic then. But then again, she's quite skilled in fighting with ordinary weapons...

[credit:] vulture @ NaNoWriMo

CHARACTER: The Mask

A serial killer who goes by "The Mask."

His greatest strength is his powers of observation. He stalks someone for a year, then on New Year's Eve he murders them and hides the body. He then impersonates his victim for the next year (or until he gets bored living their life) all the while stalking his next kill. When he moves on, his last victim's family and friends find out about the murder- a year after it happened. As a younger man he made a lot of mistakes, so he thinks that doing this gives him second chances at life.

[credit:] swordtech @ NaNoWriMo

CHARACTER: whisper

Whisper: (Serial killer concept)

She is quite the ball of screwed up. Due to abuse as a child, she has a split personality, Whisper being her dark side that deals with the dregs of this world, her positive half would never be seen as a possible pairing with Whisper. The way she gained the name is that she never speaks above a whisper. Favorite methods of death are modified children's toys. Toy planes that shoot real bullets, exploding dolls, a cricket bat she always has on her...you get the idea.

best part, Whisper knows about her alter, but the positive side does not know about Whisper.

[credit:] William Blackrose @ NaNoWriMo

WRITING: Summer Romance Contest

[This was an entry into the Summer Romance short story contest on Figment - 1200 words or less]

The moon stood low in the sky, an orange tint covering its surface. As I looked at it, images of random horror movies played in my head and I shivered.

“Are you cold?” a voice asked from the darkness.

“Yeah,” I said, and I wasn’t lying. The temperature had dropped in the last couple of days as the season headed into winter. I turned to Noah and smiled although it was hardly noticeable in the faint moonlight. We were sitting on the front porch of his house, swinging on the wooden bench that hung from overhead.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked, although I was pretty sure I already knew the answer.

It was a second before he spoke. “Jess.”

For a guy as macho as Noah seemed to be, I never thought the tears would come so easily.

“Noah…” I started, not sure what to say. Instead, I searched for his hand and just held it. He squeezed it lightly and then looked at me.

“I just got off the phone with her,” he said. “She never wants to see me again.”

“I’m sorry. I really am.” I could see the pain on his face and I didn’t want to push him, but I wanted him to know that I was his friend. “If you want to talk about it, I’m always here.”

“Thanks. But there’s not a lot to say. She just doesn’t want me anymore.”

“Noah, don’t be so hard on yourself. Two years is a long time. People change. Especially since it’s our senior year of high school. She has a lot to think about. She’s probably just confused. Give her time.”

“What if she doesn’t ever come back?”

“You’ll be fine. Soon you’ll be up and running again. It may take a while for you to get over her. You don’t just stop loving someone, but one day you’ll wake up and her face won’t be the first thing that you see. And you’ll be a better person for getting on with your life. She’ll always be a part you, your first love always is, but you will move on.”

As I sat there and comforted him, I felt like a fraud. I’d realized only days ago that I was in love with him, yet he was forbidden territory because of Jess. Now, there was no Jess, and although it tore me up to see him sad, a little voice in the back of my head was jumping for joy. Right now, though, what Noah really needed was a friend and that’s all I would ever be. He was never going to find out my true feelings.

My own thoughts had run away and it took me a minute to realize he was staring at me.

“What?” I asked. “Is my hair sticking up or something?” I smiled at him and before I knew it he was kissing me and Lord help me, I was kissing him. But then I remembered that less than two weeks ago he’d told me that I was like ‘one of the guys’ and my head snapped back.

“Don’t,” I said to him.

“Cassie…” I’d never heard him say my name that way.

“I don’t want to be your rebound.”

“You’re not,” he denied softly.

“I would be. You know it and I know it. And that’s not fair to me.”

He didn’t speak. Just stared at the ground. So I stood and said goodbye. He looked up as if he were about to say something, then stopped. “Goodbye,” he whispered instead.

At that, I turned and walked to my car almost falling into the seat as my knees buckled. Now my emotions were in crisis mode. I didn’t know what to do. So I simply drove home, changed into a t-shirt and pajama bottoms and laid down. I stayed awake for some time. When sleep finally hit, it was deep and full of dreams of Noah.

* * *

Two days had passed by and still, I hadn’t heard from Noah, which was unusual. So I called him and when he didn’t answer, I left a quick message but he never called back. I decided to stop by his house the next day to see how he was doing. My heart dropped as I turned the corner and saw Jess’s car sitting in his driveway. Without stopping, I passed his house went straight home and cried.

* * *

The summer was almost over before I saw Noah again. I was outside, washing my car when he pulled up behind me. I almost dropped the hose when I saw him step out. He’d gotten his hair cut and looked even cuter than I remembered.

“Hi, Cassie,” he said as he walked up.

“Hi, yourself,” I replied, coolly.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you,” he said, fiddling with the keys in his hand.

“That’s not my fault,” I said, already getting defensive.

“I know,” he looked at a loss for words. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t call, but I didn’t think you’d want to talk to me.”

I threw down the rag in my hand and balked at him. “So you waited this long to come and talk to me?” I was so mad at him for not having tried harder. “If you’d thought of me as a friend, you would have been here sooner.”

“But that was the problem.”

I was confused.

“I don’t think of you as a friend,” he explained.

I could feel my face heat up in anger. “Thank you, Noah, for driving all the way here to tell me that.” I turned and started to walk inside the house.

“I think of you as more than that,” he continued, stopping me in my tracks, my back still facing him. “I realized it the night you were at my house. I’ve wanted to be with you ever since then but I thought you’d be to mad to talk to me.”

I turned my head to the side, but didn’t turn around. “I drove by your house. A couple of days after I saw you last,” I said, coldly. “But Jess was there so I didn’t stay.”

“She’d come over to get some stuff she’d left.”

“Oh.”

“Cassie,” he said, coming closer. “I know I messed up, but I want a chance to make it up.”

I finally turned around, but didn’t know what to say. “I don’t know.”

“You know, you were right.”

I looked at him questioningly.

“About me waking one day and not seeing Jess’s face anymore. Now all I see is you,” he smiled.

I almost fell over. “Okay,” I said, pretending like it was no big deal. “But, Noah,” I started as he pulled me to him. “Just don’t wait so long next time to tell me I’m not your friend.”

CHARACTER TYPE: born human into shape-shifter family

Born human into a family of shape-shifters. This can go many different ways.

MC was treated different up until the day they died. Picked on by others, including their own family members. Dad told them how worthless they were, mom was embarrassed they had no form, older brother teased him around his bigger friends, etc. Then one day, MC dies a horrible death. Does the family care? Feel remorse? Wish he was still alive? Come to find out, MC had to die first for gene to kick in. They shift back to life and.....

• let them know MC's alive, go back to family and live happily ever after now that they can shift?
• NOT let them know MC's alive and NOT go back to family, start life all over somewhere else.
• NOT let them know MC's alive and terrorize anyone who made MC's life hell..
• let them know and still terrorize them
• NOT let them know until someone finds out, then MC can go back or not

CHARACTERS: Pack of Eve's wolf-shifter

Male Alpha: 

• Pure blood, leader.
• Passed from son to son. Has been challenged 3x for leadership, won all. Had to kill his own father to gain his position. 
• Fierce & very protective. 
• Recently moved his pack to get away from new pack that was doing too much damage & not enough subtlety.

Female Alpha:

• Bitten long ago. 
• Alpha fell in love with her immediately & took her in. She's been with him ever since. 

Right-Hand Man: (my wolf-boy)

• Pure blood
• Got his scars by saving alpha from a fire; almost died.
• .
• .

Mother Figure:

• Pure blood
• Acts more human than anything. Hates being a wolf & tries to keep it out of her life as much as possible, but is a sucker for a person in need. She'll save first, ask questions later. 
• Very kind & generous.
• Acts like a mother although she's very young in looks/personality.

Scrapper:

• Pure blood
• Very young teen boy. Hyper and annoying, always getting into trouble.

Female New comer:

• Bitten
• Was left for dead after being attacked by one of the other gangs. Saved by "mother" & brought into pack. Very creative, noble & inquisitive. Is still learning.
• Infatuated with Right-Hand (my wolf-boy), so becomes jealous of Eve.

CHARACTER: female species personality

Raised to be a lady, but also trained to fight. Extremely calm & cunning. Easily amused, but tires of things quickly. Humans are just toys to her, but she won't cross that boundary & kill them....intentionally.

BACKSTORY: The First Shapeshifter

Once there was a very powerful witch. upon finding her husband cheating on her with another woman, she turned the man into a snake and he slithered away. Now the witch, taking some pity on the broken-hearted woman, gave her a choice. Did she want to die right then or did she want the witch to make HER a witch with the promise that she would serve her for all of time. The woman chose to become a witch. One day, after searching long and hard, the mistress found the snake and with her new witch powers, turned him human again. However, she didn't get the spell quite right and the man kept shifting from snake to human, until finally he was able to control it. He became the original shape-shifter. They eventually ran away together and had many children. Those were the first pure-blood shape-shifters. The mistress and the husband were never found by the original witch although she searched for them.

* The born do not know what form they will shift into until it happens for the first time. Although, there IS a prophecy of a pure blood shifter born of the full moon with the mark of ______(?) It is said that he, and he alone can shift into ANY form at any time. His blood also happens to be a cure and he is completely immortal.

IDEAS: things to google

• empath
• vadatajs
• kitsune
• cat mikase

CHARACTER TYPE: 1/2 Angel + 1/2 Devil ??

??:   Has 2 sides, One good, one evil but can never be both at once. The only way you can tell when its good or bad is by the color of its eyes.


Good version: [purple eyes] Can heal; Has mind control over your thoughts (but will only use for good purposes);


Bad version: [black eyes] Grows claws and fangs when angered; Mind Sucker (sucks all thoughts from your head and gains your knowledge/memory but leaves you a vegetable);

CHARACTER TYPE: Shimmer

Shimmer:

• They are able to leave their physical body and float around in a shimmery mist.
• In human form are abnormally beautiful with extremely high intelligence
• They move quickly and quietly, sometimes so fast its imperceptible to the human eye
• They are graceful and elegant, almost gliding when they walk
• Can cast thoughts into your head
• Because they are so fast, they are very skilled fighters

CHARACTER TYPE: Born from a shooting star

?? :

A human that was born from the air
A shooting star that shot to earth in the form of a meteor/astroid
Can control earth elements

CHARACTER TYPE: Revnant (?)

Revnant: Reanimated Human

• Has control over dead things
• Can contact the "other side"; ghosts, spirits, etc.
• Feels the need to sacrifice themselves constantly to save the lives of others

CHARACTER TYPE: Siren

Siren: shape-shifter

• They can take on the form of a loved one (wife, girlfriend, fiance, etc) to lure them
• They have limited power over water (ie: can soak someone with a poof! of the hand)
• Are drawn to water, so are often found in pools, showering, swimming, living by beaches, lakes, etc..
• Are VERY good singers
• Not completely immortal, but live to be around 200 years or so. They cannot be killed by man-made things only enchanted items (swords, knives, etc...)
• Some are known to sleep with a man just to impregnate themselves before killing him

CHARACTER TYPE: Arachnoid?

Arachnoid(?):

• Can climb walls & on the ceiling
• Jumps extremely high & far
• Can create webbing
• Poisonous fangs come out when threatened or angry

CHARACTER TYPE: Puppeteer

Puppeteer: Can control people's movements

• If they do it from their own body, the mortal is still fully alert, just can't take control
• If they jump into the body, then they take complete control & the mortal remembers nothing.

CHARACTER TYPE: Banshee

Banshee:

• Can tell the future
• Lets out a piercing scream when they predict death
• When threatened, they grow talons/claws

CHARACTER TYPE: malevolent spirit

Malevolent Spirit: Ghost

• Can disappear, walk through walls
• Can decide who can see them and who can't
• When they make themselves visible to someone they become corporeal
• They're very tricky & misleading

CHARACTER TYPE: Bone Demon

Bone Demon: has control over bones

• eats bones to gain more power
• manipulates own bones & structure, can self heal if wound is bone related
• can control others bones & when strong enough can heal others wounds if bone related

CHARACTER TYPE: were-cat

Were-cat: shifts into black panther (lion or Bengal tiger, too?)

• hates water
• strong w/advanced eye sight, hearing & sense of smell
• speedy, almost unnoticeable reflexes

CHARACTER: baby left in tree trunk

name: ?
age?

Backstory:  [Modern Day] Both parents were visibly supernatural & could never fit in anywhere. When wife found out she was pregnant, husband built a cabin/house deep in the forest so they could live a peaceful life. Human found them in woods (you decide how) and brought back a small group of other humans who attack the home. Mother grabs baby & runs for her life as the father (dies? captured?) defending the attackers. Mother hid the baby in the heart of a hollowed out tree. Humans caught up to her and (killed? captured?) her. Didn't know about the baby so they left without looking for it. Baby was found by ......... (the rest is open)

CHARACTER: tween abandoned by guardian

Name: ?
Age: ?

Backstory: A man and woman in a clan (of whichever species you make them) were both pre-arranged to be married to other people. This is how it was in their culture. But being deeply in love with each other, and not wanting to marry their chosen partners, ran away together. They were immediately known as deserters and left themselves open to a life of hiding, as it was only a matter of time before they were hunted down and killed as punishment for breaking the traditions. They managed to escape for a few years and in that time the woman got pregnant and had a baby. When the MC (baby) was 2 years old, its parents were found & killed and they were hidden with a trusted human friend. Everything was fine until MC turned 13 and horns? (open for anything) started to appear. This made it impossible for to keep the MC's identity secret. Fearing for their own safety, MC's guardian ditched them during a "family outting" and MC has been on their own ever since.

CHARACTER : My Immortals

Name: ?
Age: ?
Story: Grandmother took MC from her mother when she was an infant to give her a somewhat normal life (away from magic). The granny raised MC to think that her parents had both died when she was a baby and granny was the only family left to take her in. Never told her that her mother or father had powers or the truth about any of her family background. Only thing she has is a pendant (talisman?) that was her mother's. The granny owns a Bed & Breakfast, which MC has helped run since she was old enough. MC always felt different but never knew why. Strange things would happen to her as she was growing up (depending on what powers you decide to give her) that she never told anyone about or they'd think she was crazy.  MC somehow finds out her mother is alive and runs away to find her. These things can happen:

• Mother is awful & MC goes back to Grandmother
• Mother is great & MC stays, finally happy with who she is & her place in life.
• Never finds anyone. Either goes back to Grandmother or starts life over.

CHARACTER: Maureen (Mo) Hadley

Maureen (Mo) Hadley - 34

Medium-sized curvy blond with big eyes and an even bigger smile. She married her high-school sweetheart who happened to be the quarterback of the football team, Everyone thought he was going to make it big until he hyper-extended his knee, putting an end to his football career along with Maureen's dreams of becoming the coveted trophy wife. They stayed in town, and he took over at his father's car dealership, still giving them a decent life but still not the one she expected. Always perfectly made up and color coordinated, there was a hint of longing behind her plastered on smile. Due to an unfortunate need to have a hysterectomy at an early age, she can no longer have children and tries to make up for that by keeping herself as busy as possible within the community. She's a huge social flower and knows everyone and everything that goes on in the town.

I originally thought of her to help a fellow NaNoer out, but they will be making significant changes, if even using her at all, so she's still available for anyone else!