Either Way, You're Likely To Take A Beating

You are walking alone at night. The avenue is poorly lit, with violent shadows cast from the lone street lamp. You look about nervously. You've never been in this part of town before.

That's when you notice a shiny gold coin in the corner of your eye.

As you are about to pick up the token, you see a gnarly old leprechaun jump out of the shadows, wielding a heavy shillelagh and threatening to beat you over the head with it.

Do you:

Stay and pick up the coin (turn to page 47)

Run like hell (turn to page 23)

The Daily Theme from Figment for April 4

You are walking alone at night and notice a trinket on the ground. It's intriguing enough that you stop to take a closer look. You're about to pocket it when something happens that makes you immediately throw the object back down and start to run...

Dueling Perspectives

I stumble down the street.

Everything about that night is pretty hazy.

There's no one around. I'm completely alone.

But I couldn't have imagined the gunshot. If everything else was a dream, that was real.

I look down to see if I've been shot. There's blood on my hands.

I don't remember seeing a gun. They said the gun was mine, but I don't remember having one.

I don't know where the man came from, but he's lying on the ground.

I didn't know until later he was sleeping with my wife.

The man is dead.

The man was dead.The Daily Theme from Figment for April 3, 2012

Choose a significant incident in your life. The incident should be discreet, with a beginning, middle, and end (a date, a car accident, a major embarrassment). Tell the story of the incident by moving between two points of view--your perspective at the time of the incident and your perspective now. How are these two different? How does shifting between them affect the telling? Try to use these shifts in POV to show how your feelings about the event have changed over time.

The Wagon

Caroline stared up at the clouds on the horizon. Or they might have been mountains. Or cacti. She couldn't say anymore. In the deserts of Utah, everything looked the same. Just like everything had looked the same in the plains of Wyoming, and everything had looked the same in the mountains of Colorado. Traveling by wagon had to be the slowest way to get anywhere.

Caroline wasn't actually doing any of the work, and whether that increased her tedium or just allowed her idle nature to dream up mischief, she found their pace was becoming unbearable.

"Pull it faster, Daddy!"

The Daily Theme from Figment April 2, 2012

You are in transit, heading somewhere you're either thrilled or dreading to go. Don't explicitly say how you feel about it, but through your description of the destination and the journey, make it clear.

The Affliction

The moment he was born, he'd immediately cursed at the affliction, causing the doctors to gasp, his mother to cry. The scientists argued whether he was a product of his environment, or his stars had preordained the shortcoming

His way of coping had always been to cover up who he was. Others accused him of turning his back on his heritage, of betraying his family, but they couldn't understand what it was like for him.

Finally, when he became CEO of his company, he accepted who he was. Perhaps it wasn't so bad being a white, protestant male after all.

The Daily Theme From Figment For March 30, 2012

After trying for years to change something about himself or herself, your character decides in an instant just to live with it.

A Little Something To Look Forward To

Anyone who'd been to space knew the most terrifying moment came not at liftoff, but when the rockets detached near the limits of the atmosphere. This was the moment when most accidents occurred.

Of course Lincoln knew nothing about space travel, and was naturally frightened by the entire process. Then again, he'd known nothing about the future, but here he was in the year 2100. It wasn't how he expected. He couldn't even begin to put the experience into words and so it was best if he said nothing.

Though he did rather enjoy the snacks. They were a huge improvement.

The Daily Theme From Figment For March 22, 2012

In writing classes, we are often told to write what we know. But sometimes it's more interesting to break the rules. So let's turn this one inside out. For an interesting change, write what you DON'T know. Try to sound like a convincing expert on some topic that you know nothing about: the solar system, marriage, bread baking, the hiking trails of the Adirondacks. How convincing can you be?

A Minor Transformation That Would Later Be Cited As Evidence Of His Divinity

He woke up from what felt like an intensely deep sleep. His first instinct was to feel his wounds. They were still there, but something felt different. It may not have been a big change, the kind that people would notice, but he was definitely aware of it himself.

He realized it was dark, and he felt his way around and decided he must be in some sort of cave. That's weird. He would have thought they'd have built some kind of tomb or something befitting his celebrity.

Ah, now he recognized what was different. He wasn't dead anymore. Cool.

The Daily Theme from Figment for March 21, 2012

Literature is full of stories about people who wake to find themselves in extreme altered physical states--a man wakes up as a giant insect; a girl grows antlers in her sleep; a poor weaver discovers that his head has been replaced with that of a donkey. But what happens when a person wakes up only slightly transformed? Write a story about a person who wakes one morning with a small physical change--big enough to feel profound to him or her, but subtle enough that it's not immediately apparent to others.

The Tough Minutes

Gary watched the seconds tick away with an increasing sense of horror. He could not remember experiencing such excruciating tedium. He tried to distract himself with thoughts of more pleasant forms of torture, like being strapped to a gurney and having his eyelashes plucked out or listening to Yanni while getting a root canal.

The other people in line didn't seem to mind. They were the world's sheep, willing to waste away their lives at the mercy of others. Not Gary.

Finally his turn arrived.

"Sir, as we told you on the phone, the cable repairman will arrive this Thursday."

The Daily Theme from Figment for March 20, 2012

In "The Busboy" episode of Seinfeld, George refers to moments like letting the car warm-up or waiting for your hair conditioner to work as "tough minutes." Narrate a character's thoughts in one of these "tough minutes." What does he or she think about during those interminable seconds?

The Hamburger Joint At Closing Time

Mr. Brand walked into the fast food joint just as it was closing. He could tell by the cashier's defiant look they were going to exchange words.

"Why don't you take your business elsewhere?"

Mr. Brand punched the cashier in the face, then pulled out his gun and pointed it at his eye. But rather than fear, the boy stared back at him with hatred.

"I guess you didn't realize I'm your son."

"I know who you fucking are. It's says Tony Brand on that stupid name tag they make you wear. It's a fucking disgrace to your grandfather's name."

The Daily Theme from Figment for March 19, 2012

On Friday, we gave you this theme:A person walks into a restaurant, orders a meal, and has a fight with the server. Let the setting (time of day, kind of restaurant) guide your telling of the story.

For today, revisit that story, but now set it during a different time of day and in a different type of restaurant. How does the change in time and place affect your telling?

The Cannoli

Mr. Brand walked into the Italian joint and ordered the cannoli. Tony the server gave Mr. Brand a look of disgust the likes of which he had not seen in twenty years.

"Do you know who I am?"

Tony was not intimidated. "Screw you. Make your own food."

Mr. Brand looked out the front window at the setting sun. Then he turned back to Tony and shot him in the leg.

"Now get me my cannoli."

Tony fell to the ground and started laughing uncontrollably.

"What's so funny?"

"I'm your son."

"Good. Then get me my fucking cannoli, you bastard."

The Daily Theme from Figment for March 16, 2012

A person walks into a restaurant, orders a meal, and has a fight with the server. Let the setting (time of day, kind of restaurant) guide your telling of the story.

I Can't Tell If Jason's Being Sarcastic At The End

On the day you were born, Jason, you nearly died.

I know, Dad. You've told me a million times.

Sure. But did I tell you the part where you and your mother fell 30 stories?

Yes, just as the truck full of pillows drove by.

Right. Well, what about the earthquake?

Yeah, that too. I get it. I was super lucky to survive.

I'm sorry. Anyway, I wanted you to have this for your graduation. It's the grenade that marine accidentally dropped into your baby basket. It was a dud.

Wow. I didn't know that part of the story. Thanks, Dad.

The Daily Theme from Figment for March 8, 2012

Talisman transformation: Tell the story of how an ordinary object becomes a person's lucky charm.