Today’s writing prompt, Toxic Waste, is about setting the scene and using your senses. Keep reading to see the full writing prompt and my completed version of it. And don’t forget to submit your writing this week! Because you could win something from the Shop for Writers.
Today’s Writing Prompt: Toxic Waste
Imagine you’ve encountered toxic waste. Then write about it. Consider: Where are you when you encounter the toxic waste? And use the five senses (taste, sight, smell, touch, hearing) when writing about encountering the toxic waste, to paint a vivid picture with your writing today.
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My Completed Version of Today’s Writing Prompt
By the Pond by K.E. Creighton
I decided to go down to the pond past the clearing after my father’s wake to get away from the mourning crowd and clear my head. Going down there has always helped me gain perspective and stay calm, ever since I was a kid. But not today.
Before I saw the pond, I smelled it. The putrid smell of rotten eggs hit me from a few yards out. Then, once I passed the naked oaks and dried-out brambles, I saw it. But it didn’t look much like a pond anymore. Where the water once was, maroon sludge traced with neon green rings existed. And rusted barrels with skulls and crossbones on them bobbed at the far end of the gooey hole in the ground. There must have been a dozen or more of them, left there like unwanted, cursed, rotten pirate booty.
I stood there covering my nose and mouth with the tissue I had been using to dry my eyes earlier when I noticed how quiet it was. There were no geese honking and splashing around or a din of insects. Just silence. It freaked me out, the forced and spoiled stillness, so I turned around to leave. But my foot was glued to the ground with slime, and I fell face down. And now I will never get that acrid taste out of my mouth, no matter what antidotes I use. How could my family let this happen?
[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
I wonder how many people encounter toxic waste up close nowadays. Especially because much of it isn’t visible to the naked eye. Probably more people than we think.
Today’s writing prompt was inspired by the real events of the train with toxic chemicals on it that derailed in Ohio, USA a few weeks ago.
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