I’m just an ordinary kid.  I stay up late, sleep in late, I like to take pictures more than be in them, and spend more time online than my parents ever thought I would when they bought me my first laptop.  Normal.  So why on earth did I win this award?  What makes me the…

Dark silhouettes moved across the window and I dropped to the ground, back down.  I looked to see the source of light that was giving me away, hoping it wasn’t the authorities.  An old man, probably a custodian, just stepped out for a cigarette break at the next office building.  I stayed on the ground, waiting for him to go inside and turn off the light.  I watched the sky, occasionally glancing at the smoker across the way and the office I was only feet from, debating the consequences if I were caught – consequences for me and my country if I were ever caught.  Then, knowing I could never retell the story, I saw…

After 16 years of looking, tracking, hunting, and setting traps, we finally captured one.  She had brown eyes and long brown hair.  Her eye brows were thicker than I expected – fuller than the ones in the photos – and her eye lashes were thinner.  Her lips were not the deep red I was expecting, either.  Nothing about her: clothes, figure, posture, attitude – nothing was what I expected.  But we had definitely found one, a human woman, one of the last chances to repopulate our species after…

There are two things to remember when executing your most beloved friend.  First, he knows it’s nothing personal – even when it is.  Second, …

“Mom.  Mom!  Come on!”  I chased her down the hall to her room, my (or her) boyfriend scrambling behind me.  “It’s not like that, really.  He was just showing me his…”

Fresh linens flapped on a clothes line just off one side of the patio and a broken rocking chair rested against the wall on the other side.  A lock on the door popped, a chain jingled, and the hinges creaked while the door opened.  Both uniformed officers removed their hats and made eye contact with the frail women as her hand came up to her mouth.  “Mrs. Stanpike, may we come in?” asked the smaller of two, his voice gentle.

This is a story starter set aimed at one of my writing friends, Roh.  They are a little darker than some earlier ones.  I’m sure you will find the theme.

The daydreams were just as real now as I could remember real dreams being.  This last one was almost as real and the world I find myself in.  It was of the sun: the warmth of the rays, the hard shadows on the beach sand, and the glistening reflections on the rolling waves.  I miss the days when…

The hollowed cheeks, rotted teeth, and mite-picked skin made her look older, but she was still a child.  Maybe not all of her 15 years had been bad, but the last three, the years that she had walked the streets, had been.  Maybe she wants to die, the follower justified to herself.

The lights overhead of the ambulance, then the night sky, then the hospital blurred together as my gurney was pushed to the ER.  “We’re losing him,” an EMT screamed.  I licked my lips.  There was no fear in me, just thirst and a lust for something that was thick in the air.  “Flatline!”  I smiled at the man, raising my head in the process.  He pushed my head down and checked the pulse again.  We slammed through the doors of the ER and the smell hit me…

This month I’m doing something a little different.  Instead of story starters, I’m giving story titles – children’s story titles.  You can start the story however you like.  The advantage here is that you can give the story a unique voice from the opening line.

• The Boy Who Wasn’t
• Don’t Bark or Meow, the Bird Told My Cow
• A Horse Named Uni
• When Peter, the Puffer (Fish), Had Hiccups
• Beanie Bonnet the Burlap Bear
• A Wolf Among Sheep

• I try to open my eyes but the light is too bright.  I squint against the pain and try to look towards the darkest corner.  There is no dark corner.  A sound, gentle yet frightening, beckons for my attention.  It hurts as my eyes meet…
• My wife’s face is red and covered with sweat.  A nurse stands on the opposite side of her as I do.  My wife nods to me and I prompt, “Deep breathe, now push, two, three, four, five, six, doing good, eight, nine, ten, breathe, push…”  Her breaths aren’t deep between pushes, but quick and short.  The midwife asks if I want to look.  I can’t.  She grabs my wife’s hand and guides it down to touch the head.  She screams, “Noooooo!”
• Late!  I’m running late, now?  Damn it!  I’m the guest of honor.  It’s okay to be fashionably late, but this is ridiculous.  I honk my horn pointlessly at the car in front of me in the parking-lot freeway.  And to think, I was actually getting the award for…
• That’s it!  Farris Sheckle will not have the last laugh this time.  He may think he does, but that is all part my plan.  Tomorrow he’s in for it.  Now I just need to get…

For some reason, my head has been popping with a billion different scenes lately.  Here’s some opening lines for any that want some story starters.

• My left hand held my mouth shut and I tried to control my breathing.  I know he was listening and my slow breaths seemed so loud.  “How long can I hide?  Where is he?”
• “Okay, if you’re so smart, you do it,” said the doctor as she stepped aside.  The woman lay there…
• My jaw and cheekbone exploded and the world went purple with little speckles of white and gold light.  “Is this what they mean when they talk about seeing stars?”  It was pretty, but my jaw hurt.  A dark shadow cast itself over the show and I realized…
• A cool breeze took the edge off the morning sun, carrying the scent of fresh mown grass with it.  Ah, the memories it brought.  I looked down at the empty spot on the porch swing.  I could feel the tears welling.  Damn it!  I promised myself not today, not this day.
• Two men in white scrubs ran into the conference center.  The first man stopped in the doorway of room three where he dropped the orange jump suit and straight jacket.  The second man looked over his shoulder and saw the thousands of Elvis Presley look-alikes.  He dropped the photo and his shoulders slouched.