Story Time Prompts: The Enchanted White-Board

A new prompt and a new prompt mascot!

My dearest readers— and fellow writers— welcome back to a new, NEW, series of writing prompts. Yes, that’s right, we’ve changed names and formats slightly. Your Literary Implications has been shoved out into the void, and we’re now doing a more… creative approach in Story Time Prompts.

Yeah… it’s basic, but it’s also concise and clear in what it means. And in my opinion it invites creativity and imagination. And what better way to celebrate this change by introducing our new mascot? Yep! We have a mascot for the prompts, and their name? Dragon.

Well, no. That’s not actually their name, it’s a placeholder. But, if you participate in today’s writing prompt, you’ll get the opportunity to decide the Dragon’s true name. But… you have to participate in order to do so.

Before we move onto the prompt however, I want to extend my gratitude for

Verdant Butterfly

for Dragon’s existence! She put so much time, energy, and care into drawing Dragon, so please go subscribe to her!!! Like seriously, her work is amazing¹.

OKAY, enough gushing, we got a prompt to get into!

The Enchanted White-Board

Thirty-years after Talos’² destruction, rumors of an enchanted artefact have drawn scavengers to the old kingdom’s ruins. Clashes break between opposing groups, but none of them take notice of you— a lone scholar whose quick on their feet.

After days of searching, you’re just about to give up the search when you slip and fall— sliding down the side of a hill and to your dismay… a concealed hole. Then, after what feels like an eternity of falling, you land safely at the bottom of the hole.

Taking in your surroundings, you realize you have fallen right into the study of a long abandoned dungeon. Centered towards the back of the room is a desk dimly lit by a candle. As you approach, you feel drawn to a rather odd item resting on the wooden desk— a glowing white-board.

You’ve never seen one of these before, but you immediately feel the urge to draw on it. Grabbing the marker sitting next to the white-board, you doodle something random, say… a dragon.

The white-board glows brighter, and in a flash of bright light… your new creation stands before you. A living, breathing dragon.

The Rules

1. Write either a poem or a short story.

2. Give the dragon a name worthy of its BookStack mascot status.

3. Responses must not be more than 2,000 words.

4. Link your story directly in the comments below, or in the thread posted to our subscriber chat.

Optional:

• Navigate the mystery behind the white board, as it seems to be displaced outside of its time period. (modern item vs. medieval time period).

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In the future, we’ll be doing these on a mini-podcast format called From the Stack: Story Time. However, since the podcast is not yet in production, I have opted to do some shout-outs… manually. If you’d like to have your story considered for a shout-out, please do the following: 1) participate, and 2) link your story in the comments or in our chat thread.

1. The Last Seed of Talos by

Verdant Butterfly

That’s correct, our very own mascot’s divine creator is one of the writers receiving a shout-out, and for good reason. Verdant’s storytelling ability is practically unmatched in my opinion. Interweaving words with compelling depth and emotion, I was practically hooked the entire time reading Verdant’s story.

Some of its plot points actually reminded me a little of Ender’s Game— the part where the Queen of the Formics entrusts Ender with their hive’s last egg. The themes of resurrection, redemption, and starting anew is heavy in each of these stories.

Here’s a little snippet from Verdant’s story that I really enjoyed, without giving too many details away:

“The shaman spoke truth,” whispered Elder Myrien, her voice dry. “The blight reaches faster than we guessed. If we burn back the woods tonight, we may yet keep it from the heart.”

Burn back the woods. Burn our kin. The forests were not mere land, they were veins of our own magic, the old music running beneath every tree.

“We cannot,” said Tareth, my oldest friend, lifting his wings in protest. “The world tree’s roots touch every glade around Talos. Fire them, and we scorch the heart itself.”

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2. The Weight of Choosing by

Maryellen Brady 💗📚

This next story here from Maryellen is also phenomenally crafted, and absolutely deserving to be a part of our shout-outs. I said Verdant’s storytelling was unmatched, and while that’s true from a certain POV, Maryellen is certainly unmatched in her own ways.

In fact, I really love the way she interweaves romance in her story, and tying the essence of one character to being a core plot device. The main character, Shi’k is prompted by two choices, but in the end let’s love steer the course for something while heavy and tragic, still much better than the other outcomes.

All of this exemplified by the promise Shi’k makes to the other character, whose name is Pyrnne. Here’s an excerpt I really enjoyed from this piece, without of course, revealing too much:

“The gods demand obedience!” shouts Councilor Thane, his silver beard quivering.

“The gods demand sacrifice!” counters Elder Miri, slamming her staff against stone.

Shi’k closes their eyes. The weight settles heavier. Kingdoms on their chest, just as the poem said. The poem they wrote this morning, or was it yesterday? Time feels slippery, like silk through careless fingers.

They feel Prynne’s presence before they see them. A warmth at the chamber’s edge. She smells of temple incense and old books. Prynne watches with those storm-gray eyes, believing. Always believing.

“I need time,” Shi’k whispers, though no one hears.

The world stutters.

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And finally, this week’s prompt poll! Last time I had you choosing between different objects, but this time we’re going to take a different approach… Choose wisely though, as your decision directly influences our next prompt!

1. THE BEST!

2. Just a reference to our last writing prompt a few weeks ago. You can just explore some random, non-interconnected set of ruins, if you’d like :)