1The letter arrived forty years late
2Write a scene entirely in dialogue
3Someone is packing a bag in a hurry
4The town has one rule and everyone obeys it
5A character lies in the first sentence
6Describe a room without naming anything in it
7Two strangers share an umbrella
8The map does not match the ground
9Write about a door that is never opened
10Someone returns a borrowed object after a decade
11A photograph everyone remembers differently
12The last shop on the street is closing
13Write from the point of view of the building
14A promise made at fourteen comes due
15Someone is very good at something useless
16The power has been out for three days
17Write a story in which nothing is said aloud
18Two siblings disagree about a shared memory
19A stranger knows your name
20The machine has started making a new noise
21Someone is waiting for a bus that will not come
22Write about a food that tastes of a place
23The neighbours have stopped speaking
24A found object with somebody else's history
25Write an argument where both are right
26The river changed course overnight
27Someone teaches a skill they have not mastered
28A character who cannot lie must keep a secret
29The clock in the hall runs backwards
30Write about the day after the celebration
31Two people share a house and never meet
32Someone forgives something unforgivable
33The garden is growing something unplanted
34A letter that should never have been sent
35Write a chase with no running
36The village names every field
37Someone reads their own obituary
38A gift that is really a request
39The bridge is closed and the ferry has stopped
40Write about learning a language badly
41Somebody keeps a list of everything they lose
42The house is quieter than it should be
43A rehearsal that goes better than the performance
44Someone is the last to know
45Write the story that the song is about