Secret Rooms and Trees

I think the first of these prompt offerings is begging to be developed into a longer story. But the second one is short and sweet, and just might be included as part of a scene in the book I’m currently working on.

This makes me feel pretty good about the prompts, like I’m not wasting my time with them. A potential story and furthering something in progress – it doesn’t get much better than this.


Prompt One
You have discovered what appears to be an ordinary room. But as soon as you enter the room, time stops for you. When you leave the room, time picks up right where you left off. What do you use this room for?

They’d been living in the house for three weeks when Marissa discovered the secret room.

She hadn’t wanted to move, she’d been perfectly happy in their old house, but Doug insisted. They needed more space, he said. It was a bigger house and a better school district. And the best part, to his way of thinking, was that it was right beside his mother.

This house was old, with floors that creaked and heavy wood paneling that darkened the hallways and study. How hard would it be to remove that paneling, she wondered. She pulled gently at a corner of it under the stairs, thinking if it was already loose it should come off easily.

To her surprise, the whole panel swung open on silent hinges.

“Well! I don’t recall the realtor mentioning a room under the stairs,” she said aloud. “Maybe it’s a secret room.”

Cautiously she poked her head inside. It didn’t smell stale or musty, so she ran her hand along the inside of the wall until she found a light switch.

“Oh!”

Light flooded the room a multicoloured glass shade hanging from the ceiling. The room was larger than she expected, almost like a second study. “Only nicer,” she murmured.

Marissa glanced at her watch. It was 2:45. She had fifteen minutes before the girls would be home from school, more than enough time for a quick peek around.

The same dark paneling as the hallway lined the walls, and there was a lovely red Oriental carpet on the floor. There was a fireplace along one wall with two red velvet wing chairs in front of it. The opposite wall was one big bookcase, and off to the side was a roll top desk.

“I always wanted a roll-top desk,” she murmured.

The carpet was unmarked and there wasn’t a spec of dust on the furniture. It was as though the room had just been cleaned, waiting for her use.

She glanced at her watch again. “Damn!” It was still 2:45. Her watch must have stopped. She hurried out of the room, carefully making sure the door was secure behind her.

Marissa didn’t mention the room to anyone that night. If it was a secret room then she wanted to keep it that way – a secret.

The grandfather clock in the hallway was just ringing 10:00 when Marissa returned to the room the next morning. She had a cup of coffee with her and she was hoping to steal half an hour to read a chapter or two from the book she’d been trying to read for the past two months.

Much later, Marissa closed the book on its final chapter with a sigh. The she realized what she’d done and gave a guilty start. “I can’t believe I just did that!” She exclaimed. “It must be nearly time to get supper started.”

The clock in the hallway was just finishing its chime as she hurried by. She glanced at it, then did a double take.

“That’s not possible!”

It was still 10:00. Marissa glanced back at the panel concealing the secret room, then back at the clock. “Is it?”

Over the next several days, Marissa experimented with several different time pieces. Every one of them stopped just over the threshold to the room. Time itself stopped in the room.

“Finally,” Marissa said with a smile on her face. “Finally I’ll have some time to myself to do what I want to do.”


Prompt Two
Write a story that begins with the title of the book you’ve most recently read and ends with the name of your favourite character that you’ve written.

“In the Forests of the Heart grow trees unlike any ever seen before. Giant, like the redwoods, but filled with stories and songs. Serious, like the might oak, but with a puckish sense of humour. Twisted, like the Hawthorne, but capable of great peace and beauty. Walk among them and enter a world of utter tranquility.”

She shut the book, a pensive look on her face.

“Sounds like the afterlife to me,” he said. “Or one of them anyway.”

“You think there’s more than one?”

“I think there are as many as there are religions to believe in them.”

“Well I hope that’s not the afterlife I’m headed for. After all that time I spent in the Darkwood Forest, I’ve had more than enough of trees, thank you very much.”

Dominic grinned at her. “Then maybe you should find a different bedtime story, Jessica.”