Creative Nonfiction in The Ink Well Prompt #120

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Welcome to The Ink Well's weekly creative nonfiction prompt!

In this post, we'll announce the winners from last month's contest and provide the prompt for the coming week.

Before You Write Your Creative Nonfiction Post...

We ask that you read our Creative Nonfiction Tips post to learn about the creative nonfiction genre and review our guidelines.

Important notes:

Creative nonfiction stories are based on your real-life experiences.
We are looking for real short stories! Not advice columns, reports on crime or corruption in your city, observations on nature, recipes, religion, politics, or any other nonfiction content. Just real-life short stories.
Ideal story length is between 750 and 1500 words, but your story must be at least 350 words, at a minimum to be curated.
Please focus on quality content. Read and edit for errors! Use a grammar checker before you post your story.
We expect everyone who posts in The Ink Well to read and comment on at least two other stories for each one published.
Do not post stories featuring physical abuse, graphic violence, erotica or NSFW content.

Last Week's entrants

Thank you to all who participated in last week's prompt : A Stitch in Time Saves Nine.

Last week's participants

@marynn	@mrenglish	@nancybriti1
@coolbabe88	@iyimoga	@fashtioluwa
@bisolamih	@abojode	@successwrite
@jennyzee1	@beckyroyal	@omachi213
@nathy33	@zerah	@kilvnrex
@princessbusayo	@ubani	@rammargarita
@grailent.kerb	@grailent.kerb	@marriot5464
@onyinye-chi	@offia66	@manisharajpoot
@aiuna	@abdul-qudus	@chuksmeezy
@young-tari	@lightpen	@omolayo
@rukkie	@hazmat	@bipolar95
@abigail04	@aloysiusmbaba

Featured

Highlighting @nathy33, with the story:

Keep calm and you will act better

I remembered that a stitch in time saves nine, so in a shopping bag I had we put the computer and wrapped it in my uniform to see if it would go unnoticed. With all our hearts we hoped it would because the economic situation was too difficult to lose it.

Curator's comment :

A well developed story, that conveys the concern this couple had during a very dangerous experience.

Featured

Highlighting @chuksmeezy, with the story:

The hands of steel

Some days I would refuse to put on trousers or shorts, as a little boy should. Skirts were my ideal clothes. I would make a mess of the whole place if I didn't get to wear it—something I would get whopped for.

Curator's comment :

This CNF by chuksmeezy is pretty spectacular. The writing soars. He colors outside the lines. He captures the complexity and pain of family relationships, and the challenges a family faces when raising a boy. A needy one, and one who takes advantage and becomes manipulative in a family where doting females reign. But of course that is not sustainable, and the story brings us to this conclusion.

Featured

Highlighting @zerah, with the story:

A Stitch in Time Saves A Query

I blew some air into the firewood to bring it back to life. Then I smiled, I was happy I had escaped Lagos for a few weeks. Thanks to Mrs Adejo who approved my leave at the last minute, giving me the chance to breathe again.

Curator's comment :

zerah writes to the stitch in time prompt. She tells of a time when she went home to her village for Christmas vacation. Left behind was Lagos, with its work memos, nagging clients and high-pressured schedule. She floats, when she is back home in the aromas of traditional cooking. She luxuriates in the hours spent with relatives, and she listens to the older generation share stories. She also ignores a work email marked 'urgent'. It turns out, there is no true vacation from Lagos. She gets into serious trouble at work for ignoring that email. It all ends up OK. She doesn't lose her job, but she does lose her bonus and she gets a severe reprimand. She reminds herself that a stitch in time...tending to the urgent email...would have saved her grief. zerah's story is evocative of Christmas, of family, of memories. It is a lovely story with a strong arc and it addresses the prompt well.

Featured

Highlighting @nancybriti1, with the story:

A series of bad decisions

About an hour later, they called and informed us that Sanchez had died and Ray was injured. Nobody could believe it, we all thought it was a macabre nightmare. At one point, when I went into the kitchen and saw the arepas and the tuna salad on the table, with flies all around, I thought that maybe it would have been different if they had eaten, if they had not drunk too much, if they had not gone out to buy another bottle, but “what if” does not exist and surely in the book of Sanchez's life, on the last page, that sad ending was written.

Curator's comment :

Nancybriti1 writes a searing CNF story in which she describes a casual afternoon, one that is perfectly ordinary and then extraordinary. The author tells this story with perfect balance. There is regret, remorse for the life lost and yet there is no melodrama. The author excels in her descriptions as she relates the events of that day.

This Week's Prompt 120:

Caught Daydreaming.

Perhaps you were caught daydreaming, and it led to an unexpected conversation or insight.
Maybe you’re given to daydreaming, and it gets you into trouble time and again.

Tell us about it! And remember to integrate storytelling elements like characters, scene setting, dialogue and action to bring your story to life!

Have fun and good luck! We look forward to reading your stories.

Rules

You have 6 days to write your story from the date of this prompt post. Be sure to check the deadline countdown.
Write a real-life story with the creative elements of fiction, like characters, dialogue, scene setting and a story conflict.
Post your story in The Ink Well Community.
Please use the tags #creativenonfiction and #inkwellprompt on these posts. Other possible tags: #writing #inkwellprompt #nonfiction
Stories must be written in English. If you've translated the post, it's best to add the original version below the translation. Do not write mixed language paragraphs.
Read and comment on at least two stories in the community. Add a link to your story as a comment on this post.

And be sure to remember to join The Ink Well community!

Prize

A prize of 20 Hive will be awarded to one submission every four weeks.

Procedure

Two or three stories will be featured every week. One of the featured stories will win the grand prize every four weeks.

The winner will be featured in a special announcement post.

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Join here at Hive Onboard.

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A big thank you to all of our delegators:

@jayna, @felt.buzz, @itsostylish, @blueeyes8960, @agmoore, @marcybetancourt, @marlyncabrera, @stormcharmer, @juniorgomez, @iamraincrystal, @marriot5464, @preparedwombat, @gracielaacevedo, @timix648, @samsmith1971, @jackdeathblack, @josemalavem, @riverflows, @generikat, @mineopoly, @hazmat, @treasuree, @kingsleyy, @popurri, @nancybriti1, @marynn, @universoperdido, @rinconpoetico7, @nathy33, @iyimoga, @morey-lezama, @evagavilan2, @moneykeep, @mrenglish, @stuartcturnbull, @funshee, @amiegeoffrey, @balikis95, @cool08, @rukkie, @raymondpeter, @emreal, @tomiajax, @kushyzee, @jjmusa2004, @rare-gem, @ricurohemi28, @benwesterham, and @shakavon.

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