Writing Exercises

Objective: Write small stories written around a single word.

Theme: World of Warcraft

After writing a few of these, I realized I needed to put a disclaimer on them somewhere. These stories are about a handful of my characters, some that exist only in my head and stories I've written in the distant past. They are not written in any order. So far, these have been great therapy for me to get out and keep writing and just *start somewhere*. I've been needing to get back into writing and hopefully this little exercise will help with that. Feel free to join me and blog your own stories based on the word list. Check back often--I will add to this blog post until I complete all 50!

List
1. Air
2. Apples
3. Beginning
4. Bugs
5. Coffee
6. Dark
7. Despair
8. Door
9. Drink
10. Duty
11. Earth
12. End
13. Fall
14. Fire
15. Flexible
16. Flying
17. Food
18. Foot
19. Grave
20. Green
21. Head
22. Hollow
23. Honor
24. Hope
25. Light
26. Lost
27. Metal
28. New
29. Old
30. Peace
31. Poison
32. Pretty
33. Rain
34. Regret
35. Roses
36. Secret
37. Snakes
38. Snow
39. Solid
40. Spring
41. Stable
42. Strange
43. Summer
44. Taboo
45. Ugly
46. War
47. Water
48. Welcome
49. Winter
50. Wood

Stories 1-7


1. Air

Cylus had heard so much of Gnomeregan from the Quikswitch sisters. The harrowing tales however never deterred her from wanting to see the place. Jemma was reluctant to see the young paladin gear up with an expedition party.

Courage pranced sideways once rider sat astride and could not manage to keep still, sensing an eagerness in Cylus. His hooves struck the metal floor with a ring of authority as if urging the rest of the group to make haste.

Feeling a hand rest lightly on her boot Cylus glanced down, staring at a greasy-faced Trixie complete with crooked goggles. The grave expression on her mentor's face was enough to have the paladin catch hold of her impatience for a moment longer.

"When you leave the gates, breathe deep. Feel the winter air chilling your lungs, feel the bite. Remember the smell of pine and copper." Trixie's voice cracked only slightly. "Gnomeregan reeks of death and rot and bile. Carry Dun Morogh with you."


2. Apples

Courage pricked his grey touched ears forward, stamping a hoof into the dirt as he watched Cylus approach. Regal on her ethereal charger, the paladin leapt off the ghostly steed and dismissed it with a wave. Courage snorted angrily as the charger vanished, deciding he didn't care much for his owner's new mount.

Cylus Corwyn leaned on the railing of the corral and sighed. "C'mere, you. Don't be jealous. I brought you apples, old man." She extended her palm, offering the fruit just as she had when they first met. The day she retired him to pasture was several months ago and while she didn't visit nearly as often as she'd like, she missed him constantly. Stroking his forelock, the woman pressed her cheek to his, smiling as Courage contentedly ate each apple. "I hear Rachel's got you shacked up with a filly. How did you manage that, ya ol geezer?"

He paid her no mind, except to nose her pockets for more apples. Satisfied he had taken care of the lot, he trotted off.


3. Beginning

Crouching near the moonwell's edge, the blue-haired elf dipped a hand in the water. Her fluttering moth companion (matching the shade of her hair almost exactly) hovered in circles above the rippling water. Sitting back on her haunches, Stillwaters pressed her palms to her thighs and began to meditate.

Her silver eyes held no amusement when two gnomes came tearing down the greenway and into the moonwell. She easily side stepped the resulting splash.

"Skinny dippin' in the Park!" One yelled.

Stillwaters glared.

The other looked over the elf as lewdly as he could muster. "Hey, lady, how about a gnome sammich?"

Already, she was beginning to get annoyed with city folk. Turning away without responding, Stillwaters beckoned her moth to follow and escaped the Park.


4. Bugs

"This is bad. Real bad."

Cylus frowned and turned to see Alexea muttering darkly at a pair of metal boots. Bringing up her own arclight spanner to bear, the paladin moved forward to lend what aid she could. "What's the matter?"

"Look!" The young priestess threw up her hands in frustration. "One trip to Silithus and my rocket boots are ruined. Sick of those bugs."

Both engineers winced. Staring at the acid-corroded boots Cylus hedged, "I'm sure we could just make you a new pair. Besides, what need have you for rocket boots? We should be working on getting you the materials for your flying deathtrap."

Alexea pouted, hunching her shoulders as she set her elbows on the counter. "I know you have enough mithril here in your shop. Just let me borrow a few tubes. And gyrochromatons."

Cylus shrugged. "If you can find them, you're more than welcome to it." She gestured to the dusty shelves, the unopened crates, several boxes of random parts. "I'm getting some air." A part of her wondered if she'd ever get around to opening her shop.


5. Coffee

She headed to Bruuk's Corner, where the Barleybeards knew her by name. Striding in like she owned the place, she was met with several disapproving glares--mostly from Edris.

The barkeep growled. "I cannae be servin' ye, lass. Yer about full to burstin' as it is!"

Julienus Corwyn placed a protective hand over her extending abdomen, regretting she no longer was able to fit in her armor. "I didn't come here for the tongue-lashing. Now get me my usual and leave me alone." She snarled a bit too gruffly, her ice blue eyes flashing with undisguised anger.

Bruuk shook his head even as Edris left the barfloor to disappear into the kitchens. "It don't seem right ta me--ye should be restin', lass."

"One drink."

Edris Barleybeard reappeared from behind the counter holding a steaming mug in her hands. Julienus could smell already it was not her 'usual'.

"What's this?"

"A bit of tea. You come in here from now on, and I'll brew you up a batch of my Cranky Mother tea, eh?"

Scowling, Julienus accepted the beverage. "Couldn't you just get my coffee and whiskey like every other time?"


6. Dark

She could hear them whispering. Each time lightning illuminated the spartan room, she caught their pale cherubic faces tilting toward the rain-spattered window.

Cylus huddled under the blanket, feeling more anxious than cold. Tossing in bed, she sat up when she realized belatedly they had stopped talking. Squinting her eyes in an attempt to distinguish the forms in the dark she shrank back on the cot when three children approached. "Brother Sammuel said you had to leave me be." Her voice sounded pathetic even to her ears.

"Brother Sammuel isn't here so he'll never know." One of them piped up even as the other hauled her struggling out of bed.

"Stop..."Cylus mumbled softly as they dragged her through the empty halls of the Abbey. She didn't offer much resistance, sighing heavily once they reached the foyer. "But it's raining tonight." She hated the whiny note in her voice.

Impressed by their unhindered ability to steal Brother Paxton's keyring, Cylus was less amused when they unlocked the great door and unceremoniously shoved her outside. Within seconds she was soaked through. Not bothering to turn around for she had already heard the tell-tale click of the key behind her she sighed again.

"Well, this is no fun."


7. Despair

He paced listlessly in the hollow confines of what he had known as home. Once meticulously polished, his dark hooves were cracked and chipped. Eprites would have never been so careless with his appearance before.

On the table, his handsome bow lay broken, snapped in two by his own mighty hands. She had made that for him, stroked every inch of that heartwood while she shaped it to her will. Tillering the bow had taken some time, stringing it required his aid. They had bent their heads close together, murmuring loving whispers too quiet for a curious little Vicaeleni in the corner watching with rapt fascination.

Eprites stared lifelessly at the longbow forced to relive his last moment with her one more time.

"Take it. It will keep you safe."

Nialeni twirled out of his grasp, avoiding the bow. "It was a gift to you. I have my own bow, dearest to my heart."

"Take it, so my mind will rest easy. I will in turn take your bow and think of nothing but you until your return."

His wife laughed, snatching his bow from his blue fingers. "One week. I'll be gone no longer." She seemed reluctant to give up her own bow however, teasing him with a sly grin until he stepped in to encircle her waist with an arm and plucking her lighter bow from her hand.

Not a single arrow had been taken from the quiver. When the rescue party had found her body, she died with blades in hand surrounded by a score of murloc bodies. His voice had long been torn from his body, his throat too sore to make much sound above a pained rattle. But now he whimpered in despair. His Nialeni was a superior huntress. He had been a fool to insist she take his weapon.

Stories 8-13 14-18

Comments

Interesting writing prompts. Taking fifty random words around a single theme. This is pretty cool.
 
"Will you join me then, Invis? :tongue:"--Cylus

I will try this exercise out in my Journal for a couple of days...with a different list and different themes to see how many stories...and I will see how things will go. :smile:
 

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