A strange group of men in hazmat suits, ice volcanoes, flying spiders, and an island full of venomous snakes. There are enough ideas here for stories to keep you busy the entire month of August and possibly longer.
August 1-8
It was the middle of a hot summer afternoon, and I had just brought my dogs in from playing outside in the back yard. We don’t have unexpected visitors very often, so I was surprised when a truck pulled up in front of my house. The dogs definitely weren’t pleased about it. I stood back and kept an eye on the truck out of my living room window. Guys started jumping out of the back of the truck. They were dressed in yellow hazmat suits, and what was happening reminded me of the scene in Monsters, Inc. where one of them came back through the door with a sock on him. They each also had on either a toboggan or balaclava along with gloves.
Anyway, as I watched, the guys that had jumped out of the back of the truck pulled these large blue plastic containers toward them, took their lids off, and stuck a hose in to fill their own container with some sort of liquid. Needless to say, I was getting a bit uneasy. What were they doing?
Then they took off walking through my yard toward the back of my house. Not liking what I was seeing, I finally told my dogs to stay, walked outside, and yelled, “What are you doing?” Was I stupid to go out unarmed? If they had been up to no good, I guess that could have put me in danger, but I just wanted to know what was going on. At first, I couldn’t hear the guy’s answer. Their truck was still running, and he acted like he didn’t know why I was asking such a question. At last the truck was turned off and I could hear his answer. They were spraying the power lines and needed to go through my yard to get into the woods.
I probably should have asked him what they were spraying the power lines with. I mean they did have on hazmat suits. But no, I just went back in the house and watched as all of them disappeared into the woods.
What were they spraying the power lines with and why?
What if they were up to something else?
August 9-15
A volcano is a vent in the earth’s crust through which lava, steam, ashes, etc., are expelled, either continuously or at irregular intervals. It is also a mountain or hill, usually having a cuplike crater at the summit, formed around such a vent from the ash and lava expelled through it.
So what is an ice volcano? I think that an ice volcano should shoot ice into the air, but sadly, nature doesn’t agree with me on that one. They do spew out icy cold water though. And they aren’t even real volcanoes.
Ice volcanoes only form close to the shore of freshwater lakes, never salt-water lakes, when the temperature is cold enough for spray from the waves to freeze into ice. These volcanoes are very thin and would be extremely dangerous to walk on because of the risk of falling through them into the frigid water.
What if. . .
ice volcanoes actually had ice eruptions and spewed out chunks of ice?
Mount Vesuvius had been an ice volcano and had covered Pompeii, Italy, in ice?
there is an entire civilization of little people living inside an ice volcano, but these little people don’t realize they are living inside an ice volcano. They long for warmer weather but believe the entire world is this cold and will always be this cold. But one day, something happens that gives them hope. What is it?
August 16-22
Flying Spiders! Where They Live and How They Actually Get Airborne – A-Z Animals (a-z-animals.com)
There are many different kinds of spiders in this world, and they are fascinating. Their webs, which they build to catch food, are beautiful except when I walk into one. Then the web turns into an inspiration to dance. Whether it’s outdoors—which, in my opinion, is right where they belong—or inside your house, they act as though they are the rightful residents. Even though they are fascinating, I prefer that they remain outdoors. At least outside, I know how to avoid them. I mean, they can’t fly, so it’s not like one could just appear out of nowhere and land on me. But what if they could?
Spiders “fly” through a process called ballooning. While ballooning, they are blown about by the wind and can’t control where they go or when they stop. This fact provides little comfort for those of us who are allergic to spider bites or have an unnatural fear of these arachnids.
What if there were a species of spider that had wings and could take to the air anytime it desired?
What if these winged spiders planned to conquer the world one family at a time? And what if your family is next?
What if all of these winged spiders weren’t bad? What if there were a group of them who wanted to become friends with the humans?
What if there were a mythical world where flying spiders were the norm? But spiders have never been feared in this world because everyone loves them. There is something that is unanimously feared in this world even by the spiders, but it isn’t spiders. What is it? Write a story about it. A story for children or young people would be good, or it could be written as a horror story for adults.
August 23-30
https://allthatsinteresting.com/snake-island
Ophidiophobia is an extreme and irrational fear of snakes. Anyone who has a phobia does not deserve to be ridiculed or made fun of. As a writer, though, you can bless your characters with phobias to make them more believable and to put them in awkward yet amusing or terrifying situations.
But not everyone is afraid of snakes. An ophiophilist, someone who loves snakes, is basically the opposite of someone who has ophidiophobia.
The setting for whatever story (or stories) you come up with is pretty obvious: Snake Island. You could use the this island off the coast of Brazil, or you could create some fictional island full of deadly snakes.
Tourists aren’t allowed on this island. Who would want to go there? But in your story, someone (or maybe more than one someone) needs to be there.
How did they end up there? Are they part of a research team that runs into unforeseen problems? Have they been kidnapped? Are they on the run and figure that no one will dare come looking for them here? Were they on a boat that wrecked close to the island? Are they part of a team of pirates looking to steal one of the snakes to sell?
Do they survive? How did they survive?
What if there were a war between two of the species of snake on the island? Why are they fighting?
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