March Writing Prompts 2021

[labrathor]

March is here! Last month was short, but that sure didn't stop you all from making the community a hopping place to be! As we roll into spring, take the opportunity to breathe and de-stress, and keep that energy coming. And As always--

Disclaimer: I never close old writing prompts from previous months. People can and should be encouraged to post on old month's prompts and I highly encourage players to track these posts to catch stragglers or new people writing on old prompts.

Now. With that out of the way, onto this month's prompts.

March's Writing Prompts

1. A childhood memory that meant a lot to your character.

2. "Congratulations, you're a volunteer."

3. Does your character believe in luck? What talismans do they carry?

4. Sunrise of a new day.

5. "Wow, what are the odds?"

Bonus image prompt:

Comments

[suomi_thunder]

1. A childhood memory that meant a lot to your character.

3

[itmeanstruth]

Isamu did believe in luck. If questioned on the subject he would wholeheartedly insist that the phenomenon of luck was nothing more than pre-emptive perception. It was the subconscious brain directing a person to a situation where they may have an opportunity to perform optimally. Combined with a bit of placebo effect for good measure, of course. However, none of that stopped him from obtaining a new gakugyō-jōju omamori at the beginning of every year and attaching it to his satchel. Did it bring good luck on scholarly endeavors and help him pass his exams that year? No, no... of course not. It just... made him feel better to have it there, that’s all...

Minoru, on the other hand, did believe in luck. Whenever someone asked him about the necklace he never took off, he’d grin and insist that it was lucky. Successfully nailing a jump by a slim margin? A lucky break! Everything going right? It’s just my lucky day! However, at the same time, he had a very clear understanding that luck was really what you made of it. His body honed its instincts through diligent repetitive practice. The more he looked for good things around him, the more good things he invariably found. And the necklace - his mother used to never take it off either. At least, not until she gave it to him... it was less about luck and a lot more about love.

5 - wow, what are the odds?

[itmeanstruth]

Chichi looked up from her curry when her husband returned to the dining room. The bewildered look on his face gave her pause. “…is everything all right? Who was that on the phone?”

“Yes, yes, everything is all right.” He replied quickly as he took his seat. “That was Tom.”

“Ziggy’s father?”

Itaru nodded. “He called to let us know that he’d secured a room block for the days surrounding the American Ninja Warrior Finals, and not to worry about booking rooms for us and the boys.”

“Oh!” Chichi blinked in surprise.

“At the Waldorf Astoria.”

Chichi gasped slightly, covering her mouth. That was one of the more luxurious properties on the strip - certainly not where she’d been expecting to stay.

“I admit, that was my first reaction as well. I flat out asked him if he was joking. But he assured me that he wasn’t. He even asked if you would like an afternoon at the spa while you were there.”

Chichi blushed. She felt self-conscious about accepting such a gift, but grateful for the thought, nonetheless. This was quite the surprise!

Itaru simply shook his head. “It really makes you think… wow, what are the odds?”

“The odds?”

“That we have a son on the verge of becoming a professional athlete. In a sense. And that he’s dating… well, at all… But that he’s dating, you know, a celebrity.”

Thinking about both of the boys, Isamu had always been the driven one. Minoru merely drifted. But now, at long last, their youngest son really seemed to have found his purpose. And when he put his mind to something, he was every bit as driven (and successful) as Isamu was academically.

“Some things are best left un-calculated, dear.” Chichi smiled softly, taking another spoonful of curry. “And simply appreciated.”

3

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru wouldn't outright say it was luck, but he did have a necklace that he never took off.

It belonged to his mother once.

The three circles, she said, represented the three peaks of the Dewa Sanzen - Mt. Haguro, Mt. Gassan and Mt. Yudono. These sacred mountains were where the Haguro Shugendo monks did their pilgrimage of rebirth.

Chichi Uchiwa was no monk, of course. But before she wed Itaru, she insisted on taking the pilgrimage herself. Marriage, she believed, was a form of rebirth, and she wanted the kami to bless their partnership. So, dressed in white, she made her way through the Zuishinmon gates, crossed the Haraigawa river, and began her ascent.

Mt. Haguro, it is often said, represents the world of the present, where you overcome our worldly desires. Mt. Gassan represents the world of the past, the land of the afterlife where you can greet your long-lost ancestors. Mt. Yudono is more mysterious, so much so that Minoru never learned what his mother encountered in the sacred shrine. Just that she'd prayed there, like many devout people had before her. And that once she was done, she felt ready to marry her husband and begin her new life with him.

She bought that necklace as a reminder of her journey.

For Minoru, it had been an entirely different kind of journey, but the sentiments behind the sacred mountain peaks were still there.

Before she went into the hospital, she gave that necklace to him for safe-keeping. The first circle, she said, was that moment, right now. Like sharing a hug and then slowly pulling away. The second circle, she said, was where he'd always be able to find her. The third circle, she said, was for him to discover on his own.

Minoru didn't understand that the gift was her way of preparing her son for a rebirth without her. Chichi had lost her mother and her two sisters to cancer. They'd caught her own tumor early, but recovery and remission was no guarantee. It was only later, as an adult, that he truly understood the meaning behind the gift.

Maybe it was luck, in a way. Or maybe, it was just love.