Today’s writing prompt is all about action, and a well-known winter sport. Keep reading to see the full prompt and my completed version of it.
Today’s Writing Prompt: While I Was Skiing…
Today, start writing by completing the sentence: “While I was skiing…” The aim of today’s writing prompt is to focus on what the character you’re writing about is doing— the action in the scene.
Completed Version of Today’s Writing Prompt
While I Was Skiiing…, by K.E. Creighton
While I was skiing I got lost in the cadence of swaying my hips from side to side as I descended the steep slope in front of me. The knots I had in my stomach during the gondola ride up were finally gone. But when I started skiing, all I could feel was the steady blast of frigid air on my face. My eyes were so wide open underneath my goggles, so focused on avoiding trees, that I feared for a brief moment they might remain frozen that way for the rest of the day.
It was my first time on this more challenging slope. And after a minute or so I wasn’t able to maintain my bodily rhythm due to my choppy breathing. I was suddenly unable to inhale the artic air surrounding me, and I panicked. Instead of maintaining my speed and stance, I lifted my arms and reached out to nothing, intent on halting my rapid descent. And I did stop moving, but not in the graceful way I had hoped. Although I didn’t hear it, skiers that were nearby when I stopped said they could hear the crack of my skull when it struck the alpine.
[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
Skiing isn’t as easy as it looks. I think it’s a great solo sport, but it requires you to have a need for speed and a bit of courage. And it can be dangerous if you aren’t focusing properly while doing it. Or if you get nervous. That’s what I was trying to convey in my completed version of today’s writing prompt, at least.
It had been one of the best skiing days in a long week. The powder seemed to get deeper as I moved from the bunny slopes at the beginning of the week, then on to the next level until I was running the advanced slopes like my backyard playground. My friends tried to stay up with me, but they enjoyed hot dogging on the ski jumps more than straight downhill, so I took on one advanced course after another.
The top of the mountain seemed to call my name, but I had never attempted an expert run before. The black diamond run was named “The Widow Maker”. I spoke to one of the ski patrol, and she told me to only attempt it if I had mastered all of the advanced runs. I assured her I had been running them clean for the last 2 days. She pointed to the only lift that took me to the top.
I dismounted and took in the breathtaking view. The sun was only going to be out another hour or so, so this would need to happen now or never. I noticed that the run was almost empty. Only three others were up there with me. One was my instructor.
I asked if he would take the run with me, and he told me that instructors and ski patrol make a point of running up here regularly throughout the day. Partly to keep sharp, but also to make sure no novice decided to risk injury to show off.
He asked me about my progress, and I assured him of clean runs of every advanced course on the mountain. He gave me a couple of tips and off we went.
The course had some small drops and a few boulders to avoid, but I managed to stay right behind the instructor. We were about half way down when I noticed a girl from our group lying in the snow, near a bush. I came to a stop next to my instructor and asked the problem. Apparently, she had wiped out near a tree and her ankle was swollen.
While he applied a pressure cast, he asked me to ski to the nearest ski patrol shack, near the bottom of the course. I put my goggles on and raced down to the shack. As I came to a stop, the same lady I spoke to earlier was inside, organizing first aid supplies. I told her about the girl and the instructor about halfway up the course, and she called in a Life Flight.
Only 20 minutes, I watched her airlifted out to the village medical center. The instructor thanked me and told the ski patrol lady to issue me the patch of “Expert”. I was now allowed to ski the mountain anywhere, and this would allow any instructor or ski patrol to call on me for assistance. I never told anyone in my group, but that day made my year!