Writing Prompt Week: Day Four

It's day four already! We're half way there.

Yesterday's piece was an interesting example of what could go wrong when you accept a certified person's help. It was the longest one yet. Let's see today's prompt, shall we?

Activating the RANDOMIZER!

...11! Let's see what the prompt says:

Below are three sets of words. Use all the words in each set to create a mini story of 300 words or less.

Set one: paper clips, principal, swing, girl with a pink ribbon.

Set two: biology, foreign student, leaf, blood sample.

Set three: type writer, filing cabinet, puncher, clerk, carbon paper, janitor.

So I'm writing three different stories? Ah, so today I will be writing microfiction. I've never written microfiction before. Microfiction is generally below 300 words, as said above. Because of its length, it is very, very hard to write good microfiction. The market for it is growing, however. Magazines, especially ones about writing, are interested in it. This will be fun! Let's begin!

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Story one, set one. (paper clips, principal, swing, girl with a pink ribbon)

Alone.

It was a cold, bitter day as the little girl sat unmoving on a swing, waiting, her pink ribbon fluttering limply in the wind. She had been waiting for them, arms open and their gazes warm. A man dressed in a suit approached her; she recognized him as the principal with his fancy suit and wiry hair. In his hand he held a small bundle of paper held together by a red paperclip. He stood by her silently and handed her the paper so she could read it herself. She read them then threw them away, shaking her head furiously, tears building in her eyes. Images of a man and woman holding her and smiling burned in her mind. The principal patted her back.

"You can stop waiting Anna," he said, "they won't be here to pick you up from school anymore."

____

Story two, word set two.(biology, foreign student, leaf, blood sample.)

Found him?

It had been eight years. Eight years without sight of his father, eight years of nervousness. Now Kei was positive that this was the man he had been waiting for in this school building; his very own father. A leaf fell slowly to the ground and Kei grabbed and examined it. He chuckled. The gently falling leaves here reminded him of the cherry blossoms back home in Japan. He let out an even louder laugh when he realized that he, now a foreign exchange student for Pete's sake, had come all the way to America just to see if this mystery man was truly his father. He was quite positive that he was. Their DNA from the blood sample matched completely.

Kei's fists clenched as he approached the classroom door. His "father" supposedly taught biology.

What if all of this was for nothing? He's been hiding for years, what if he doesn't even know me?

Kei took a shuddering breath and entered the room. A slender Japanese man turned his head at the sound of the door and looked at Kei. He removed his glasses from his aging face and rubbed his eyes.

"Dad?" Kei said.

"Kei?" the man said. Tears sprung up in the old man's eyes and he ran to embrace his son. "It's you. It's my boy. I've found my boy."

____

Story three, word set three,
(type writer, filing cabinet, puncher, clerk, carbon paper, janitor.)

Work For It.

Clack, clack, clack, went the old typewriter. The sound was accompanied by the sound of a file cabinet opening and closing. These were all sounds that the janitor of Paper Inc. was very used to. Every day was the same old thing, nothing new, nothing changing. No matter how long he waited, nothing ever good happened to him. Not a good enough girl,not a good enough job, nothing ever came to him. He had waited so long for something special, because he knew that he deserved it. But while others got a diploma and others became famous, he still remained as poor as ever. He stopped in the middle of his mopping of the girl's bathroom to let out a sigh.

"Why can't something good happen to me?" he said.

A young clerk walked into the bathroom just at that moment.

"What is up with that guy and his carbon paper-Oh, sorry! I didn't know you were cleaning in here." she said. "What's wrong with you?"

"I don't have a good life," the janitor complained.

The girl paused then smiled. Knowingly she opened her mouth and said,

"Did you ever actually try to get one?"

_________


Well there you have it folks, three different stories! I had a lot of fun with this one. Did you like any of them in particular? Did some not make so much sense? Looking back all of them are a little crazy. Tune in tomorrow for some more writing fun!