7. 642 Things to Write About

Over Christmas vacation, my best friend and I had fun doing typical best friend things. Mostly, we went to the mall. At the Burlington Mall, there's an Urban Outfitters, which is my one of my favorite stores. While I was trying on pants and shirts and stuff, my friend was looking through all the neat books they have there. And that's how we found 672 Things to Write About. I think you can tell by the title what it's about. It's just a book full of prompts for any "aspiring writer" to complete, or two ambitious teenagers bored out of their minds.
We decided to each make a blog (on tumblr, not here on blogger) where we complete one prompt a day from the book. If we successfully do all of them (which, honestly, is not very likely), we'll be going for more than two and a half years.
The book has some really cool prompts, and some really boring prompts. Some are fictional, like "What a character holding a blue object is thinking right now," and some are more factual, like "Name the trees that stood in the neighborhood where you grew up."
It's difficult to complete one each day, especially when it's gotten to be late at night and all I want to do is sleep. But, I like to think that I'll look back someday and read all these old things I've written and think, "Wow. I was a shitty writer when I started this."
My favorite prompt so far has been "Write a story that starts with a ransom note." I feel obligated to include my response to it in this post so I get a good grade, so here you go:

One million dollars and the girl is yours.

There. I finish the ransom note. I put it in the self-sealing envelope (no DNA evidence for this criminal) and drop it in the mailbox. Soon enough, they'll get it.
I drive off, laughing maniacally to myself. My captive is quiet. She knows what's best for her.
The girl came from the wealthiest family in town. Of course. Who else would be stolen for ransom money? It's the perfect, predictable crime really. No one expects any twist in this case.
She's told me things, this girl. Of course, I had to befriend her before I could steal her away. Or else she wouldn't trust me. And I couldn't have a lack of trust if I wanted my scheme to succeed.
I suppose I've been her one confidant. The one person she's felt completely herself around. That only made learning her secrets so much easier. She hated her family, hated her parents. Though she had every material thing she could possible imagine, nothing could make up for the neglect she'd received since day one. Typical rich girl sob story. The only twist is that her twin brother died in a car crash a year ago. I really love a good twist. Deviation from standard plot line makes everything more interesting. 
I decide to take a drive over to the family mansion. Since the missing girl hasn't yet been gone twenty-four hours, there aren't any cops around. It'll probably take the parents longer than that just to notice she isn't there. [Word omitted because I can't remember if we're allowed to swear in our posts].
I sit in my car and watch a little while. Soon, they'll get my ransom note. Will they care? Will they be frightfully upset that their little girl's gone missing, suddenly realizing the error of their ways and vowing to pay more attention to her? Or will they blow it off, hand over the money like it's nothing, and curse her for causing them such inconvenience?
I can't take it anymore. It's unfair that they treat people this way. Uncaring, unfeeling, always turning the other cheek when you ask for even a speck of attention! And then, God forbid something actually horrible happens to you, like losing the only person you've ever felt close to. How can they just ignore you, knowing that you're in pain, knowing that you're just a breath away from shattering into a million pieces? They're the worst human beings imaginable. I don't regret leaving. 
Before they notice my car in the driveway, I leave. For now, I'm living in a hotel off cash I've had stored for an emergency like this. But soon, once I get the money for ransoming a girl--ransoming myself--I'll be able to do whatever I want. Because whatever the note says, I'm not going back.

So it's pretty fun. That was only prompt six, so hopefully I'll get better as time goes on. If you want to get creative and buy the book for yourself, you can do so here, and the book looks like this:

Credit