Writing Prompts for the Mentally Deranged and Linguistically Addicted

TWO

"Well look at you two handsome men."

Usually when he heard that phrase, it cast a puff of pleasure through his chest, a playful stare, a flirting tip of a smile at the young beauty who spoke it. Yet now his throat tightened, an uncomfortable tension kneading in his stomach.

The middle aged woman leaned on her meaty leg, her lips parting in a laughing grin that crinkled her sharp black eyes as she cast her gaze down on him and Caleb. She waited for a response, and when none was given, leaned her full body forward, casting shadows over her smile and enlarging the sculpted muscles of her monstrous arms.

"I said: you two are handsome."

A noise pushed on the back of Daniel's throat. There were thousands of words he wanted to say, like, what do you want? Or fuck off, lady! Or can you back down, please?! But he restrained, the logical side of his brain informing him that they were in public, that he was overreacting, that this wasn't as a big a deal as he was making it to be.

"Thank you," said a strained voice, and he darted his eyes toward Caleb who, though taller than him, seemed to cave a little at the intimidation of this woman's breadth and height.

"You're welcome," replied the woman, but she did not lean back. In fact her grin only widened, a steel glint passing across her eyes. Both men shifted against the pillar. More silence.

"Are you waiting for the store to open?" Caleb ventured.

"No."

Daniel cast a surreptitious glance towards his watch.

9:55

He stared at the pairs of feet traveling on the other side of the glass walls, willing them to move towards the front entrance, praying they'd open early and not care about punctuality.

"Then...?" Caleb prompted.

"You know," the woman cleared her throat, the sound like harsh metal grinding against marble. "I used to have a man like you, took me out on dates, held a good job, loved me so fine..." she winked, advancing. Daniel's body froze, his mind screaming as his hand clamped to a fist in his pocket, yet again he restrained, fearing the reaction of the other patrons. Shit, the woman wasn't even in range—and with muscles like that, would it even affect her?

"But he left a while ago, so I've been lonely..." the woman locked eyes with Daniel, going over his body once before coming up again. "So lone—"

"We're now open!"

Daniel stared as the woman glanced to the young store worker, then back at him--and the relief he felt immediately vanished as she grinned. "Guess this is where we part," she drawled. Then she leaned close, close enough for him to smell her nicotine breath, close enough for him to inwardly scream, clammering to run. Smack. He flinched as her lips made the noise. "See you soon, sexy stud."

Daniel stared at the wall as she walked away, trying to calm his breathing, trying to clamp down the terror and disgust that threatened to rise on his facial features. Calm. Calm. It was nothing. No worries.

A hand suddenly clamped on his shoulder, and he almost yelped.

"Dude, what a creepy woman," Caleb said, then gave a forced laugh. "She can't even claim to have a great personality, ha! She's screwed."

When Daniel didn't reply, Caleb slapped him on the shoulder. "Well then, let's head in. I got some parts to hunt for."

He didn't realize his friend was already gone until the store worker spoke up once more, waiting at the door.

"Are you alright, sir?"

He turned to reply, pausing when he found himself facing a petite college girl whose curls escaped from her working bun. His muscles relaxed slightly, yet he still gave a strained laugh.

"Ya, no, I'm fine. I just—my brain's still distracted by that large woman from before. She was..." He search for a word. "Creepy."

It didn't suffice.

"She was," the girl said, her blue eyes lit with indignation. "She had no right to harass you like that. Sorry I didn't open the door earlier—I just wasn't believing my eyes at first. But you never know right? It happens to us girls all the time, so we try to stick up for each other but—"

"I--what?" Daniel interjected in confusion.

The girl froze, her eyes averting as she pulled on an employee smile. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't be rambling. Come on in and I can point you to where you want to go."

"Where..." Daniel hesitated, pushing down his discomfort before stepping through the door. He tried to recall Caleb's whereabouts. "Um, can you point me to the pipe section?"

"Of course."

They walked down the aisles together, Daniel hardly seeing the supplies as they passed.

"Here we are," the girl projected cheerily. "Is there anything else you need?"

"I, uh..." Daniel paused, looking down to scrub at the floor with his shoe. "I want to say thanks. For opening the doors early, I mean... you did that right?"

The girl stared at him, and for a moment he felt as though he were transparent glass as her expression turned distant, yet she managed to nod and flick a soft smile at him. "Yes."

To his surprise, she then walked away, her small stature disappearing around the corner. Something inside him sank a little as he stood there alone, but then Caleb's voice called out.

"Daniel, where you been? Help me choose the right size here!"

He turned to his friend, watching as he recklessly tossed the heavy metal pipe in the air.

"Coming," he said, and went.

Challenge: When you write a story, you have the power to reach out to your readers with a theme, or a truth that you want them to know. When you interweave this theme into the story without making it obvious, you give the reader the enjoyable option to go deeper into the story and discover a delicious truth they can hold for themselves.

What theme (or truth) do you want to impart to your imaginary audience? Interweave it into your story for today!