According to news sources, there was a balloon from China flying over the United States this past week that was suspected of spying on important areas in the United States. Today’s writing prompt is based on that real-life event. Keep reading to see the full writing prompt and my completed version of it.
Today’s Writing Prompt: I Spy a Spying Balloon
Write a scene in which someone notices or is tracking and monitoring a spy balloon that is in the sky. You can write this from the first or third-person point of view. But try to make what you write suspenseful or ominous. If you need some inspiration to complete this prompt, consider reading some of the recent news stories about the spying balloon from China that was flying over the U.S. this past week.
Completed Version of Today’s Writing Prompt
I Spy a Spying Balloon, by K.E. Creighton
Danny hated the cold, and being out in it for long stretches of time to take photos of couples he knew weren’t going to make it that far past their wedding date. Days like today made what he did a more tragic vocation, instead of the happy one it was supposed to be.
The bride-to-be today was thin and busty with bright red hair, and her fiancé had a bulky frame and a muscular jaw. They were ideal subjects for the covers of romance paperbacks. But other than their smoldering looks, they had nothing in common with each other from what Dany could tell. When he smiled, she pouted. When she wanted to take photos in the meadow, he wanted to be near the trees. At least they didn’t bicker too much.
As Danny looked through his lens to capture a shot of the couple in the middle of the meadow, he noticed a white orb behind their heads, making their heads seem somewhat minuscule in the foreground. It was flying low, whatever it was. And looked like a spheric parachute, with a small black box attached to strings connected to the white orb.
Without hesitating, Danny started snapping shots of the object in the sky and moved past the couple, who were now staring at him with bewildered expressions. At least, until they turned around, looked up, and saw what he saw.
Then in an instant, the orb became a dot above them as it moved higher into the sky at a rapid pace. And by the time Danny tried to catch snapshots of its ascent, it had nearly vanished.
“Aliens?” the groom-to-be asked stupefied, with his mouth wide open.
“No. I’m sure it’s something more sinister than that. I’m just not sure what,” Danny responded before the bride-to-be started complaining of bug bites and itchy knees, clearly uninterested in what they had just seen.
[All Rights Reserved by K.E. Creighton and Creighton’s Compositions LLC. The above work is a piece of fiction. All names and locations referred to are the product of the author’s imagination and are used entirely for fictional purposes. Any similarities to real-life persons or places are purely coincidental.]
Notes on Completing this Writing Prompt
This writing prompt is pretty straightforward, yet I still can’t help but wonder how various people in the U.S. reacted when they saw the Chinese spy balloon in the sky before the media offered more details to the public about what it was. I’m sure some people were paranoid about it while others could have cared less.