A mysterious bouquet of flowers arrives anonymously at a funeral, carrying secrets no one expected to uncover. Imagine a world where ticks have risen to become the supreme species, ruling over all others. Step back into medieval times, where a murder trial unfolds in a tense courtroom and cruentation is used to reveal the accused. Then lose yourself in the fascinating world of bird calls, where every note, trill, and cry has a story to tell.
August 1-8
A beautiful arrangement of flowers arrives at the funeral, signed only with one word: Anonymous. Naturally, the mysterious tribute raises eyebrows. Soon, everyone is wondering who sent them. Were they from a secret admirer? A long-lost friend? A business associate with something to hide? And more unsettling still—is the sender standing among the mourners right now? One by one, the guests begin studying each other with fresh suspicion, searching familiar faces for answers. What secret will the flowers reveal?
August 9-16
Ticks. Is there anyone who actually likes these annoying little creatures? I doubt it. They seem to be universally hated, especially by those of us who share our lives with animals.
I know ticks serve as a food source for some wildlife, so I suppose they do have a place in nature. Unfortunately, they also have an appetite for blood—and human blood is definitely not off the menu.
Earlier today, I was sitting at my computer desk when I casually reached over to scratch my upper right arm. That’s when I pulled off a tick.
A tick.
Thankfully, it hadn’t latched onto my skin yet, but still—it was there. I hadn’t felt it crawl up my leg or my arm. I hadn’t noticed it at all. It was as if it had simply appeared out of nowhere.
Where in the world had that tick come from? According to this page, ticks are extraordinarily stealthy feeders. It isn’t uncommon for them or their bites to go unnoticed for days. That little tidbit of knowledge will be so sure to make me sleep so much better at night.
Writing prompt: Create a world where ticks are the supreme species. Everyone bows to their commands. There is no shortage of food for them, but life is pretty miserable for everyone else. There is no animal present on this world that feeds on ticks for their own survival. Then one day a new animal appears, and this animal (there are a bunch of them) do feed on ticks. Actually, they thrive on ticks. What animal is this? How did it get there? How long before the ticks are brought under control? Or are they?
August 17-23
Cruentation, according to Merriam-Webster, is the oozing of blood from a corpse after incision or, according to superstitious belief, in the presence of the murderer. So—and I consider this to be gross—a victim’s body that wasn’t already oozing blood or other fluids would be brought inside a courtroom on a bier. If the body while in the presence of the one on trial began oozing blood or any fluids at all, a guilty verdict was given.
When someone dies the heart, of course, stops beating and the no-longer-flowing blood begins to coagulate, so what oozed out of the dead body? There is a scientific explanation for this event, one that you can easily find on the internet.
Writing Prompt: But for now, put yourself (as an observer or the one on trial) inside a medieval courtroom that has a dead body in it. Write about what takes place in the courtroom.
August 24-31
I live out in the country, far away from the hustle and bustle of small-town life. My house is surrounded by woods, and there is no shortage of wildlife beyond my door. Unfortunately, I have never learned to identify all the bird calls I hear though I would love to know the call of every bird that makes its home in the woods around me. I can recognize many species by sight, but if I had to identify each one by sound alone, I would fail miserably.
There is one bird call, however, that I hear all the time. Whenever someone asks me what kind of bird makes that sound, my favorite answer has always been simple: “That’s a jungle bird.”
Why? Because to me, it sounds exactly like the kind of call a bird in the jungle would make.
Yesterday, I finally discovered which bird is responsible for that wild, echoing call. It happened while I was using YouTube to show someone what a pileated woodpecker looks like after they had spotted one flying around on my land. I already knew pileated woodpeckers lived here, but I had no clue they were making the “jungle bird” sound. The very first sound the bird makes in the following video is the same call I have always thought of as my “jungle bird” sound.
Writing Prompt: Write a story centered around bird calls. Perhaps a distinctive call helps solve a mystery, or maybe the story explores the challenge of learning to recognize birds by sound. As one bird calls out in its own unmistakable voice, let something important happen—something that changes the direction of the story. Above all, make the bird call the heart of the piece.
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