Marcus V. Calvert's Blog, page 48

Writing Prompt #21--The Wrong Guy

You’re a regular guy on the way home from work. While on the subway, you’re perusing an article about a vigilante. His identity’s unknown but he’s been cutting a swath of blood and mayhem through the local underworld, focusing on murderers and pedophiles. You’re actually a fan of his, until you get home and find the vigilante waiting for you. Before you can say a word, he knocks you out. You wake up in a chair, bound and gagged. He holds up the picture of a little girl, who’s gone missing. With a knife at your balls, the masked vigilante asks what you’ve done with her.
What happens next?

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Writing Prompt #20--A One-Party System

In the near future, a massive political change occurred. With all of the fake news, ungrateful voters, expensive losses, and national disunity/hatred in the air, the Democrats simply threw up their hands at the federal level. They stopped fielding presidential candidates. Every Democrat in Congress suddenly resigned. At the state, county, and municipal levels they actually redoubled their efforts at winning elections. Without anyone else to blame or unite against (at the federal level), all eyes are on Republicans to govern. In essence, a GOP primary winner would become the next President, with only fringe parties as competition. What happens next?

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Writing Prompt #19--Street Pirates

You’re Montreal’s only super hero(ine) with powers of [up to you]. You’re on the fifth floor of your fancy apartment building when you hear sounds of violence. Rushing to the living room, you look out the window and see a pirate ship floating by. Held aloft by four hover thrusters, the galleon-sized vessel boasts a black skull-and-crossbones flag and a swarm of raging pirates. Dressed in pirate garb, they all have visible cyberware and wield hi-tech weapons with a pirate vibe (like energy cutlasses). Old-style cannons are firing high-energy plasma down at the beleaguered police. These pirates are swinging away from the ship and raiding the surrounding buildings. As a matter of fact, one of them smashes through your neighbor’s window.
What happens next?

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Writing Prompt #18--Buy Now, Die Later

You’re a trusted buyer for a collector/mobster/psycho from New York. He entrusts you with a small group of his guys and $20 million in cash to purchase a rare piece of recently-stolen art in Los Angeles. Here’s the problem: you guys show up at the meeting and the seller’s representatives are all dead—and the art’s gone. A shootout occurred here but the cops weren’t called in. Your escort team wants to split but you figure it might start a war if the seller (another mobster) smells a double-cross. So you do the “right” thing can call the seller. The pissed-off crook/seller shows up with a lotta guns, reviews the situation . . . and then what?

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Writing Prompt #17--Banished

You’re carving glyphs into a client’s sniper rifle when a portal appears out of thin air. You ignore it as Queen [insert name] steps through with her personal guard and chief advisor. Once upon a time, she was a princess you rescued and fell in love with. While you were courting the princess, her father cock blocks you by marrying her off to some distant realm to cement an alliance. His reasons were threefold. You weren’t of noble blood. Using her to cement an alliance had more perks. And, he didn’t want you anywhere near the line of succession. See, you’re not a hero. You’re the court assassin—arguably the best who ever lived. A master of magic and murder, you’ve killed kings and commoners alike. Scared of what you might do in retaliation, the king had you arrested and banished to Earth. Now, almost ten years later, the queen comes groveling. A rival realm’s awakened some ancient army that’s conquered three realms so far . . . and hers is next. She needs you to end the threat
What happens next?

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Writing Prompt #16--Stereotyped

It’s a foggy night in San Francisco (late 1970’s). A uniformed white cop walks past a beautiful young black woman, who gives him a flirty smile. Even though he’s married, she catches his eye. A half-block away, a huge black guy with a ‘fro angrily walks past the cop like he’s not even there. Something in the dude’s demeanor screams “violent felon” and makes the cop stop and follow him. Then through the peasoup fog, he hears a woman’s scream. He draws his piece and rushes forward. Just as he’s back to where he first ran into the pretty woman, something beastial roars . . . followed by five gunshots. The black guy stumbles into view with a .357 in one hand and a massive claw swipe through his chest. He’s gushing blood. As the cop yells at him to “freeze,” a massive werewolf (wearing bits of the woman’s dress) rushes out of the fog. Instead of wasting the last shot, the dying gunman uses it on himself. A half-second later, the werewolf bowls him over and tears him apart. One of his earlier shots struck her in the skull, doing optical nerve damage. Yet, her lupine nose smells just fine. Her blood-soaked maw turns towards the cop as she catches his scent.
What happens next?

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Writing Prompt #15--The Nose Job

In the near-future, you have a silly lacrosse accident and bust your face open. Your parents schedule a routine surgery to fix your jacked-up nose. You assure your college pals that you’ll be out by midterms. The surgery starts routinely enough. Only, you wake up in a hotel suite in Hong Kong, complete with a new face, skills you never learned, and memories about an incredibly dangerous secret mission. As you’re counting a briefcase full of cash (complete with gadgets and two loaded guns), a five-man team of techno killers busts in firing. What happens next?

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Writing Prompt #14--The Start-Up

You and some college chums put your heads together and start your own little company. You’re the charisma, your pals are the brains. They drop some damn-clever apps and you connect them to the right investors. Fast-forward ten years and you guys own your own building. Your cash cow is a new string of labor-saving software designed to help businesses become more efficient and cut costs. User-friendly and virtually perfect, the tech’s used throughout the U.S. and 38 other countries. The sky’s the limit . . . until tonight, when you come home to find bomb collars around the necks of your wife and infant son. Before you can dial 9-1-1, you get a call from the kidnapper-in-charge. He accuses your company’s labor-saving automation software of destroying the decent-paying jobs of hard-working Americans. The voice tells you to head for the driveway because there’s something he wants you to see. You kiss your wife and son, and then comply. As you reach the end of the driveway, your expensive house explodes behind you—with your family inside.
What happens next?

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Writing Prompt #13--Unsolved

The mayor of a major city just gets re-elected. While on the way to her victory celebration, masked kidnappers ambush her motorcade. They’re pros and manage to make off with the mayor before police backup can arrive. She’s drugged and wakes up in a chair with a hood over head. One of the kidnappers make their single demand directly to the mayor: to solve a murder case that was closed by the police two days ago. A double homicide. A boy and his mother. The kidnappers want the case solved in 72 hours. If it’s not, folks in City Hall will start dying. They ignore the mayor’s questions and tip SWAT off to her whereabouts.

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Writing Prompt #12--The Wrong Urn

Your brother dies and gets cremated. His will asked that his ashes be sent to you. The urn arrives . . . with diamonds in it. Not only do they look real. But, as you and your spouse argue about what the hell to do, a group angry Russian mobsters show up at your door. What happens next?

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