GA Writing Prompts - 39. Various Prompts: The Magic of Fire

The Magic of Fire

# 135 The Legacy

(There is a child in every generation chosen to inherit the family legacy. It is no easy task and while the rewards can be fantastic it can also be hellish. What is the legacy your family hopes to see you inherit?)

Ethan

My family guards a magical item that has been passed on from generation to generation for many centuries. Every generation a child is chosen to inherit the legacy. They have chosen me and I’ve learned of it only recently.

The item is called the ring of fire. It’s a golden ring that, at first sight, no one would ascribe magical powers to. However, the magic of the ring is mighty. It can bring about ruin and disaster, not only to the one who applies the magic wrongly, but also to the whole land and the entire nation.

Many centuries ago, an ambitious king used the magic of the ring in order to augment his power, bring down his enemies, and make him the only ruler on the continent. The magic worked according to his wishes as the ring is just a tool and a weapon in the hands of its owner. The defeat was complete. The king defeated his enemies, the few survivors were enslaved and their homelands were occupied. The magic of the ring, however, had not yet completed its task.

A powerful magician had made the ring ages ago. The magic he had woven worked out for the good of all. Any misuse of the magic would in the end backfire.

Not long after the king had become the only ruler on the continent, ships arrived and landed at the coast. The intruders came from a far away land, their technology was advanced, and their knowledge surpassed that of the people whose continent they had entered. The intruders carried powerful weapons. The king called the magic of the ring, but the ring did not respond. The magic ultimately backfired on the king who had used the power selfishly. The intruders occupied the land in only five days. They were without mercy and killed whoever stepped in their way. They burned down villages, towns, fields, and forests, and they killed the king and burned him at the stake. They seized the ring of fire and threw it into a chest along with other jewellery. The rind had turned into an ordinary ring after the magic had completed its task. The ring, however, did not fall into the hands of the intruders. It dropped on the floor when the chest was carried away, just when the youngest son of the king, an eight year old boy, crossed the hall. His nurse had dressed him in rough clothes and had declared him her son and the boy was smart enough to hold his tongue. He recognized the ring and picked it up from the floor and guarded it until the day he died. He left it to his eldest son. The ring of fire was passed on from generation to generation, but never again anybody called the magic of fire, too afraid were the owners of the ring of the effects of any misuse of the magic.

Every generation a child is chosen to inherit the legacy. They have chosen me and I’ve learned of it only recently. It’s an honour that I will not decline although inwardly I shy away from the burden and the responsibility that goes along with guarding the ring. I will receive the ring tomorrow on my eighteenth birthday. This date marks the total change of things.

# 139 The Oracle

(Cue – The Oracle. You never believed in anything you couldn’t touch, taste, or smell. Life for you was one built on the facts of what you had learned in school and college. That went right out the window when you met the oracle. What did the oracle tell you and how did it change your life?)

Jason

I do not believe in magic. I believe in what I can see, hear, taste, and smell. I believe in what I can sense and feel. So guess what I did when the so-called oracle said that I was supposed to meet the owner of a magical ring, the so-called ring of fire. I laughed aloud. That’s what I did, and then I went into a bar in order to have a few drinks.

Fortune-telling. I had paid five dollars for the crap, just to please the chick I had dated. I told her my honest opinion after we had left the fortune-teller’s tent. I was totally fed up with the place I had taken her to, the fair she had wanted to go to. She wanted candy, a gingerbread heart, and visit the fortune-teller. I was totally fed up with it. I was merely wasting my time with her. And that was what I told her. She turned around and left me standing there. Like I said, I went into a bar. The bar was crowded with happy people and this instantly raised my spirits. I had a few drinks and I danced with a girl that was totally hot. Unfortunately, I have forgotten her name. But I remember that her breasts were big. I saw them, I sensed them, they were totally real.

I had a terrible hangover the following day. It was real also and I found it felt good. I stretched on the couch and watched TV non-stop for eight hours. Then I must have dozed off. It was about midnight when I awoke. A movie had just started: Lord of the Rings, Part I. I gazed at the golden ring on the screen and the sight made me feel sick and uneasy. I switched off the TV and went to bed, swallowing a Valium before I did.

# 74 The Ruler of Fire

(It was in all the news. Seems people everywhere are getting super powers but some of them have just been awful. This morning you discovered you could.)

Ethan

Five years have passed. I have been carrying the ring on a chain around my neck since the day I‘ve received it. Up to that day I had not sensed the ring’s magical power. While anxious in the beginning, I had almost forgotten about the burden and the responsibility that goes along with guarding the ring. This morning, however, things changed ultimately.

I had showered and I was just reaching out for my shirt, when suddenly heat flushed my whole body. The centre of the heat was the spot on my chest where the ring touched my skin. I focused on the sensation. The heat spread throughout my whole body. It reached my fingers and the tips of my toes. The sensation deepened and increased. The heat was scorching and seized every cell of my body until I felt as if I was made of fire. A feeling of power and might overwhelmed me and I turned into someone else. I looked in the mirror. Fiery eyes glanced back at me. My look was powerful, determined, and wild. I felt the urge to raise my hand and speak a final command, a sentence on life or death that only I had the power to speak and that would be accomplished as soon as I had spoken the words. I was a dominator, invincible and in total control. Each of my words was a command that the magic of the ring would instantly follow. I was the righteous owner of the ring. I owned the ring’s powerful magic. I was the invincible ruler of fire.

# 99 Return to Sender

(Create a story that uses the following words: bathtub, blueberry pancakes, mailman, library, puppy, wedding ring)

Jason

I don’t like Sundays. They are boring like hell. I usually don’t know what to do on Sundays and it wasn’t any different that day. The hangover had disappeared, which I had expected after swallowing a Valium and sleeping for hours. I got up at about noon and made me blueberry pancakes. They tasted good, which surprised me as I’m not a good cook, but a single man who either eats out or grudgingly cooks. The pancakes were warm and this raised my spirits.

I spent half an hour in the bathtub, the water way too hot. My skin turned red. The heat was painful, but it made me sense my body from the tip of my toes to the top of my head. The sensation was real and it made me feel alive. That was what I enjoyed. It was real and sensual and not magical crap.

I left my apartment after I had dressed in order to check my letterbox that I had not checked since Thursday. I found a letter and read the name of the sender: Amanda Sayers. Never heard. I shook my head. I went back into my apartment and opened the letter. It contained a piece of paper and an item that was wrapped into a tissue. ‘Back to sender without regret’ were the words that Amanda had written. I reread the sentence and the name, and then I recalled the puppy-eyed chick that I had met in a bar a couple of months ago. Hadn’t she worked in a library?

I unwrapped the item. It was a golden ring that looked like a wedding ring. I grimaced when I suddenly recalled the day when I had given in to her sentimental wish. She wanted to carry a love pledge. The ring looked precious, but actually I had bought it cheap in the local pawnshop. I had totally forgotten about Amanda and the ring. She had gone on a four-week trip with a friend. She had booked the journey before we had met. Amanda had left me alone for four weeks and four weeks are a long time, in particular in the beginning of a relationship. I met Sandy in the third week and I felt instantly drawn to her. I ignored Amanda’s calls and text messages she sent me after she had returned from the trip. I know I was mean, but her constant calls got on my nerves. She stopped them and that was it.

The ring suddenly felt scorching hot in my hand. I dropped it and gazed at it warily. I felt sick and uneasy.

# 125 The Curse

(You remember reading as child the horror stories of transforming from man to wolf and those who were blood thirsty killers during the full moon. Now you are cursed to transform as well, only you become what?)

Ethan

The experience had left me entirely shaken. The power of the ring had turned me into a violent and wild creature that was acting on its primitive instincts and its urge to dominate and kill in order to live and survive. The power of the ring had turned me into a predator, a dangerous and blood-thirsty creature. I was repelled and shied away from the burden that was placed on my shoulders. Tears filled my eyes. Why had they chosen me to guard the ring of fire? Why did they choose a child anyway to inherit the legacy that could so easily bring about doom and ruin? I now realized that the legacy was a curse. I was not able to carry the burden. I took the chain off my neck and placed my hand around the ring. The ring felt scorching hot against my skin. I gazed at the ring warily.

# 137 Spoiled Day

(First Line. "But if you don't do it, you know you will regret it for the rest of your life")

Jason

She had spoiled it with her words and she knew, and that was why she left before breakfast. Sandy was hot. She drove me crazy. She drove me wild. But I hated that nagging trait of hers.

We had spent the whole night awake, making love from dusk till dawn. Sandy was unlike other women. She was passionate and wild. We had fun, we had a good time. Why could she not leave it at this? She was so different from the puppy-eyed Amanda, and yet she was about to turn into the typical Amanda chick. I can’t cope with chicks. Never could, at least not for a long time.

She had wrapped her arm around me and had whispered in my ear: "What do you think? How about you buy me a ring and a love pledge, Jason?" Guess how a man reacts to these words after a night of passionate sex? My body stiffened. I felt sick and uneasy. I felt cold and wanted to run. I pretended I was asleep. I pretended I did not hear her. It was already too late, however, she had totally spoiled it. And, instead of holding her tongue, she carried on whispering in my ear with a reproachful undertone: "But if you don’t do it, you know you will regret it for the rest of your life.".

That was it. I got up and started to dress and I spared me the shower. She gazed at me in utter disbelief, her eyes widened and her lips opened slightly. I didn’t bother. I went into the kitchen and lit a cigarette which I knew she disliked. She didn’t come into the room. When I heard the apartment door fall shut, I went to the window and looked out of it. She rushed down the street, pressing her handbag against her chest. I finished my cigarette. I had a bad taste in my mouth and I felt uneasy and sick.

# 105 Just One of the Crowd

("And just what the hell am I supposed to do with this?")

Ethan

The dominator had disappeared and the predator lay dormant again. The face in the mirror looked back fearfully. I dropped the ring in the sink, dressed and went into the living room. I stood and looked around, my eyes wandering over the furniture. I was looking for a place to hide the ring and ban it from my sight. I knew, however, that this would not free me from the curse and the responsibility that I carried. But I did not want to carry the ring around my neck any longer. I did not even want to see the magical tool anymore.

Nobody would suspect me of hiding a magical ring and being the guardian of a powerful tool. I’m a totally average man. I’m average-looking, I’m average-dressed, my apartment is average, I have an average job and I live in an average town. My friends are average, my family too, and also my co-workers in the office. I’m so average, plain, and ordinary. I’m just one of the crowd.

I bit my lip and corrected my thoughts. I was the guardian of the magic of fire. I had the power to destroy the world with only one word, one single command spoken in the blink of an eye.

I opened a drawer that contained all kind of stuff, tissues, napkins, gift ribbons and pencils, and put the ring into it. I made coffee and focused my mind on it. It was a simple task, done many times. I finally sat down to eat my breakfast. It was an average Sunday morning. I ate slowly and without appetite.

# 53 Introspection

(What do you do on a rainy day?)

Jason

I showered, had breakfast, and then looked out of the window, just to find that it was raining cats and dogs outside. Sandy had not yet called and she would not for a couple of days. She was acting like the ordinary chick. She had turned into the typical Amanda chick, and the typical Amanda chick would be pouting for a couple of days. She wanted me to call her and apologize, which I was not certain I would. Things had changed a bit lately, I realized as I looked out into the pouring rain. A rainy day was supposed to be spent at home and this was exactly what I had in mind. I had once read that a rainy day was good for introspection. Not that I believed in psychological crap – by all means, there were simpler things to raise one’s spirit, a good meal, for instance. Lunch in a fine restaurant had in fact been on the agenda before Sandy had spoiled the day. Her parents had invited us. It had not been their first invitation. In fact, those invitations had become a habit of theirs in the previous months. This was one of the things that had started to vastly annoy me. In all honesty, which man wants to spend each Sunday afternoon with his girlfriend’s parents? I always felt like a boy on a Sunday trip with his parents. But I had arranged myself with the meetings, primarily because it saved me from cooking myself or eating out and paying a lot of money. Sandy’s father always paid, luckily. Sandy has an exclusive taste as have her parents. I, for my part, can do with a burger, a hot dog or spaghetti. But Sandy and her parents are particular, a thing I tried to arrange myself with also.

The rain was meanwhile pattering against the window. The noise got on my nerves and so I turned away and sat down on the couch. I looked into the room. It was messy, but I wasn’t in the mood for cleaning up. I wanted to enjoy my free Sunday.

Things had changed a bit lately. That was why I had dated the chick who had asked me to go to the fair with her and visit the fortune-teller. That was why I had later danced with the girl in the bar. That was I hadn’t told Sandy of it. She had no clue and I would not inform her. Sandy and I were not meant to stay together and I decided that I would not call her. I switched on the TV and stopped thinking. I found that I had had my share of introspection. There were simpler things to raise my spirits. There was a documentary on TV about magic and supernatural powers. I crossed my arms and listened to the crap. At least, it distracted my thoughts from Sandy.

# 134 Destiny?

(Use the following words in a story: Gravesite, balloons, pregnant woman, cold cereal, and an old book.)

Ethan

I finished my breakfast and carried the cup and a bowl with cold cereal into the kitchen. Rain was pattering against the window. I looked outside. The street was gray and empty. Suddenly, a pregnant woman turned around the corner. She carried a big umbrella and a small child clung to her other hand. The little boy carried balloons, five or six, red, blue, and yellow. It looked surreal in the pouring rain.

I turned away and picked a book from my bookshelf. I wanted to read and enjoy my free Sunday. I didn’t want to think of the ring and the burden and the responsibility that went along with it. The book was old. I had read it as a teen before I had been entrusted with the family secret. I wished they had buried the ring a long time ago along with his then owner in an anonymous grave on an unknown gravesite.

I looked at the book. It was about two friends who uncovered a dangerous secret. I looked at the titles of the other books that I kept and was surprised to find they all were about secrets, mysteries, and treasures. I realized that I had always been drawn to mysteries and secrets. Regarding the number of books that I kept, I found that I was downright obsessed with them.

I put the book aside and sat down on the couch. Tears filled my eyes again. Did an interest in mystery stories suffice to entrust a child with a dangerous secret? Had it sufficed to make me the guardian of the ring of fire? Was it really destiny?

Following a sudden impulse, I jumped to my feet and left the house. I climbed into my car and drove down the empty street.

# 166 There’s A Fire

(List of Words: Use the following words in a story: thunder, surgery, alien, cake, and oak tree.)

Jason

The rain kept falling all day long and it grew even heavier at dusk. Lightning struck and a thunder rolled. It shook me out of my almost trance. I had been watching TV for hours, one mystery documentary after the other. I shook my head and seized the remote control in order to switch off the TV. I stopped, however, and gazed at the screen. They were showing the corpse of an alien. At least, they said, it was an extraterrestrial’s body. The skull was big, not humanly formed. Big and empty eye sockets gazed from the screen. The body was small, not particularly well proportioned, the legs short and the arms long. Gray thick and dried skin covered the body. They pointed at a small hole in the skull that was supposed to be the result of skull surgery. I found the corpse looked like a mummified monkey.

I switched off the TV and went into the kitchen. I was hungry, but all I found was a dried cake and a piece of meat in the freezer compartment. The meat looked gray and reminded me of the alien’s corpse I had just seen on TV. I closed the fridge and suppressed the urge to gag. I had lost appetite and I was feeling sick. Lightning struck and a heavy thunder rolled. I winced and looked out of the window. I saw a fire at the end of the street. The lightning had struck an old tree. I grabbed my cell phone and called the fire service. They arrived a few minutes later.

# 150 The Power of Fire

(Write a scene where the story is dictated by the atmosphere of the location.)

Ethan

I arrived at my destination one and a half hour later. I parked the car and entered the empty house that nobody had bought in five years. I had a feeling that it had been waiting for me. I had a feeling that I had come here in order to accomplish a mission.

The rain kept falling all day long. I was standing by the window for hours. Dusk had meanwhile come. Heavy gray clouds covered the sky. They grew black as the light grew dimmer. Night was falling and wiped away all things from my sight. Finally, it was pitch black outside. The rain grew heavier. It pattered against the window pane, forcefully and loudly, a threatening sound. Only the window pane protected me from the threat and the violence that built up outside. A lightning flashed and for an instant illuminated the sky. Everything looked ghostly, gray, and two-dimensional, as if the world had changed in the blink of an eye. Then darkness fell again and also a menacing silence. I held my breath. My muscles tensed. And then a thunder rolled, loud and roaring. The house shook, but the walls did not fall. A secret ward protected me from the threat and the violence that I felt was directed at me. The forces of nature responded to my selfish decision. I had betrayed them. I had rejected them. I had rejected the ring of fire. I had just finished my thoughts when another lightning struck, huge, large, like a mighty god’s arrow. The lightning struck the oak tree in front of the house. The tree was instantly set on fire. I made a step back from the window. I knew, however, that this would not save me from what was to come. The fire had come to challenge me.

The surroundings caught fire and the flames were already crawling towards the house when I finally shook off my paralysis. I reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled the ring of fire out of it. I had taken it along, reluctantly and with disgust. But I had sworn to guard it. The rain grew heavier the very instant I seized the ring. Rain poured down from the sky like a heavenly flood and drowned the flames and the fire. The ring felt hot in my hand and the heat spread throughout my body. This time, however, I did not reject the power and I ultimately accepted my fate. I was the ruler of the ring of fire, but the mighty force of fire was ruling me, too. I was just a tool, chosen by a higher power in order to accomplish a mission that I was not able to see through. No doubt was left, however, that any selfish decision or deed would in the end backfire on me.

# 114 Enigmatic

(In the house down the lane lives a boy everyone seems to know and love. However the house hides a secret and the boy is the key. What is going on?)

Jason

People had gathered in the street, others looked out of their windows. They were watching the fire fighters. And so did I, but I soon got tired of it. I was about to draw the curtain shut when another lightning struck, followed by a roaring thunder. I looked at the other end of the street where another tree had caught fire. I let out a grunt. It seemed my street was doomed to be set on fire. The fire fighters also caught sight of the new fire. There was some helter-skelter, and then a fire engine turned around and rolled down the street. The weeds around the tree had meanwhile caught fire and flames were crawling towards the house at the end of the street. The house was empty, had been empty for years. I vaguely recalled the people who had lived there a couple of years ago: father, mother, and three sons, the eldest boy about eighteen years of age, with a pale face, fair hair, and serious blue eyes. I saw him clearly now and I remembered that everybody had loved him for his cute looks. I remembered that I had been jealous of him as I had never attracted anybody’s attention. I had never spoken to him.

The family lived withdrawn and secluded. Only the eldest son was now and then seen cycling up and down the street. I had watched him and I had envied his looks, but something had always kept me from getting in touch with him. He looked like a normal boy, an attractive one, though, but there was something about him that was not normal at all. I sensed it and it kept me away from him. It was just a gut feeling, nothing I could explain. The girls said that he was magical. They all fell in love with him, but they did not approach him either. Neither did he try to get in touch with us. He just cycled up and down the street, watching us with his serious eyes.

His eyes once met mine, just for an instant. A feeling overwhelmed me that I could not describe, a sensation of passion, intense, almost forceful and wild. It shook me to the core and for an instant I believed what the girls said of him. For an instant, I believed that he was magical. For an instant, I sensed that he held a power that was beyond all earthly things. This truth frightened me and I shook it off. I didn’t want to believe in magic.

# 112 The Vow

(Write a Haiku)

Ethan

I was a part of nature, the tool that the spirit of fire had chosen. I was a part of the powerful spirit itself. I felt connected to it and protected by it. I raised my hands and spoke my vow again:

Spirit of Fire

All you want and require, shall
Through me come to life

Spirit if Fire

Light of the heart; soul’s desire

Enlighten my life

# 148 The Encounter

(First Line: "How in the hell did you think that would be a good idea?")

Jason

"How in the hell did you think that would be a good idea?" I asked myself with a grunt as I was running through the rain. Following an impulse, I had left the house, pushed through the crowd in the street and hurried towards the old house at the end of the street. The fire fighters were busy. I ignored them and headed for the front door of the house. I found it locked and, driven by some obscure impulse, I surrounded the house, finally climbed a window sill, broke the window pane and entered the house. The rain grew heavier and I looked back at the window for an instant, but then I hurried towards a door that I thought I could make out in the dark. I stumbled over an item on the floor and hit my shoulder and my hand, but finally I stood in the entrance hall.

I took a breath, wondering what I was doing here. But then something seized me again and forced me to hurry on. I reached out my hand and touched the wall. I followed the wall until I arrived at a staircase. I stumbled up the stairs, certain that if anybody was in the house, they had already heard me coming. I reached the top of the stairs and stopped short. The urge to move on had faded. My breathing was ragged and my heart was beating fast. I was feeling like an idiot.

"Anybody in here?" I called out in a rough voice.

A moment passed, and then a torch was switched on. A man was gazing at me. I recognized his serious eyes. He was older, but still handsome. He was dressed in blue jeans and a blue sweater. His serious look turned into a look of surprise. I looked at him, took in his features. He reminded me of Sandy, the same pale face and fair hair. But he was far more beautiful than her. There was something about him that I was not able to describe. The girls would have said it was a magical aura. He didn’t say a word, so I finally cleared my throat.

"Are you alright? The tree in front of the house caught fire. I felt the urge to check if anybody was in the house," I said.

I thought my words sounded downright foolish, but the man gave me a serious nod.

"I’m okay," he said. "I was watching the fire. The rain has meanwhile extinguished it."

I gave a nod. "I thought you moved out a couple of years ago," I said.

"Yes," he replied, "We moved out the day after my eighteenth birthday. We moved to another town. My parents and my brothers still live there, but I live in London meanwhile. I have come here today, following a sudden impulse. This house has been my home for many years, and I still feel it is, although five years have passed."

I looked at him and gave a nod. I didn’t comment on his words. "Jason Montgomery," I introduced myself.

"Ethan Ashville," he replied, the hint of a smile playing on his lips. "You’re totally soaked. You better change clothes," he said.

I looked myself down. "Yes," I said with a nod. "I better go home now. The fire fighters might want to check the house also and I don’t want to be inquired."

"The door is locked. How did you come in anyway?" he asked curiously.

"Through a window and I’ll leave through it now," I said.

"No need to leave through the window," Ethan replied. "I still keep a key to the backdoor. I parked my car right in front of it. I’ll drive you home. It’s raining cats and dogs."

I glanced at him, gave a brief nod, and then turned around and went down the stairs. Ethan followed me. We heard a knock at the door and a man asked if anybody was in the house. Ethan moved the torch and pointed in a direction. He walked ahead and I followed him close behind. We left the house through the backdoor. Ethan locked the door and then unlocked his car. We climbed in and he drove me to my apartment house. And then, just as I opened the door of the car, the strange feeling, the sensation of urgency, the obscure need overwhelmed me again. Following the impulse, I invited him for a cup of coffee and Ethan promptly accepted.

# 149 Changes

(List of Words: Use the following words in a story: Starry sky, bottle of champagne, Zombie, a ticket, and a deer.)

Ethan

I have not sensed the power of the ring again in two years and I sometimes think it was all just a dream. Jason’s presence, however, reminds of the rainy night when the tree in front of my house had caught fire. We now and then look out at the starry sky, having a bottle of champagne as we exchange our thoughts and memories. Jason insists that he must have looked like a zombie when I switched on the torch and caught sight of him. I tell him that he looked totally handsome. The moment was magical. I fell in love with him at first sight. I think it was the magic of the ring that had created that moment. The ring accomplished a mission. I still possess the ring, but its power has faded or it lies dormant again, I cannot say, but I have not forgotten my vow. I followed the light of my heart. It led me to Jason. While I have come down more to earth, Jason opened up more to the magic and the wonders of the world. Lately, for instance, he bought a ticket to an exhibition on Celtic art. He just shrugged as I looked at him in disbelief. He said he had bought the ticked just because of the cute picture of a deer on it. I don’t fully believe him.