Fiction Prompts

Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts — William Kittredge asked to begin a story with a given first line.

Prompt: Begin the next half of the book you are writing with this line— Where were you last night?

Where were you last night? quietly whispered Giselle. My mother came in last night. I picked her up at the airport and couldn’t get in touch with you. I waited up! It is getting to the point where we could just as well be roommates. You have your room, and I have mine; we share expenses and little else.

Never mind me, Carl shouted, as David Bowie said, “I don’t know where I am going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring. Giselle put her finger to her mouth and made a quieting motion. Don’t you dare put this on me. Are you drunk? Well, what if I am whispered, Carl? It was not much of a whisper, but it was Carl’s whisper.

I thought you were going to quit drinking, Carl. Go and get some sleep, and we will talk about this later. Carl walked down the hall to the bedroom. But before he could get into the room, he ran into Mildred. She did not look happy. Carl quickly excused himself and went into the bedroom, closing the door.

This place is not a palace, Giselle thought, but it will do for now. What do I tell Mom? She will understand. And then again, maybe she will just tell me to kick him to the curb! I can’t give up what we had and what I continue to hope for. If only Carl could stop drinking.

Honey, what is going on with Carl? Mom, I don’t want to talk about it now. He is drunk, and I asked him to go to bed. I told him we would talk in the morning.

Honey, it sounds a little like what I would’ve said to you when you were misbehaving and maybe came home with alcohol on your breath or the smell of marijuana on your clothes.

Are you sure you shouldn’t get some help? I don’t think anyone can handle something like this alone. People in my life seem to either get sober, get divorced, or separate. I know one thing: it does get worse.

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Author's Note: Well, it is kind of boring. What do you think? Do they separate or get help? And how much of this story do we end up with? All the way to happily ever after or maybe murder?

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First published by Mercury Press on medium.com