This is a writing prompt, the first I've done in a while. Only 200 words came out in something like 6 minutes, and it describes much of what went through my mind when I read the prompt itself, wondering which direction it should go. The subject of this post was supposed to be the first line of the story.
“The speaker was on fire.” The words, printed across the top of the report, left Rod unsure what he was going to read. At first, his mind flashed to a speaker in the back of a souped-up Chevelle, a discarded Zippo burning into it and starting a car fire. He imagined a couple of stoned guys sitting listening to music when suddenly the balance was thrown off by the flaming speaker. They would “dude” each other obliviously as the flames climbed higher in the back.
His next thought was political, where some otherwise innocuous person suddenly lashes out with gasoline and a match inside the House, setting the Speaker of the House on fire. “Much screaming and running around would ensue, but at least the same amount of work would get done as usual,” he thought darkly.
Finally, he began to read the contents of the report, where an enthusiastic fan reported on a guest speaker at a local church function. He was a real “fire and brimstone” preacher, working the congregation up into a yelling, cheering frenzy about the Lord.
Disappointed, he cast the story aside, knowing it wasn’t going to be good enough to print in today’s paper.
