Prompt: Visiting your future self

Several years go, a wonderful life coach gave me a guided meditation: a visit with my future self. This was one of the most life-affirming and choice-affirming activities I have ever done.

I’ll share some of it here, and I encourage you to give it a try. Whether you learn something about yourself, find clarity on your direction, or get an idea for a story, I think you’ll find it an interesting experience!

So, sit comfortably in a quiet space. Close your eyes. That’s important. You’re going to be looking *in*, so you don’t want to be distracted by what’s *out*.

Take deep, slow breaths, perhaps counting to three or five on each inhale, then each exhale. Feel your heartbeat slow down. Feel the tightness, the noise, in your head release.

If you need more time to relax, you can consciously do so by focusing on each part of your body, tightening the muscles, then relaxing them, starting with your forehead and working you way down to your toes.

Now, imagine a beam of light shoots up from the ground in front of you. You reach out and wrap your fingers around the light, and it carries you effortlessly up and out into space. You can see the Earth below you, continents, oceans, clouds, light and dark. You can see the black space around you, lit by all the stars and constellations and nebula. Maybe you see a shimmering aurora lighting the Earth beneath you.

Suddenly, another beam of light shines from space down toward Earth. As it moves closer, you are going to reach out and grab hold of it, and it will carry you twenty years into the future, right to your future self, where you can ask any three questions, before the beams cross and you return to yourself in the present.

You reach out and grab the other beam, and you zoom down toward Earth. Where is your future self? As you come closer, you look for landmarks that you recognize. Are you even on the same continent? How near, or how far have you gone in twenty years?

The light carries you gently to the ground, and you stand at the entrance to where your future self lives. Are you excited? Nervous? Do you know what you want to ask?

You approach, and your future self comes out to greet you. Don’t try to force the image, just let it happen in your mind.

Now, ask your questions…

#

And so, with a loving heart, I offer you

Namaste

I’ve heard many translations. Here’s one I love:
The light of the universe that shines within me recognizes
the light of the universe that shines within you.

Dogs in House	Houdini, Brindle
Time writing	20 minutes
September word count	2,301

Prompt: Storymatic Card Set

My family’s annual Christmas raid on my Amazon wish list yielded the marvelous Storymatic set of over 500 cards designed to provide story prompts for writers, gamers, road trips, teachers, and more. I’ve used several cards in previous prompts.

Tonight I am going to indulge in some extended reading, with a view to one of my new blog goals: book reviews.

But I leave you with these prompts, which you may use in any combination:

Teenager	Person with a large scar
Lonely	Last night before leaving town

Challenge: Write non-stop for 15 minutes, and see what you get! Maybe a charcter sketch, maybe the beginning of a story, maybe stream-of-consciousness…and often, that’s where the real “stuff” lies…

Share here if you choose!

#

And so, with a loving heart, I offer you

Namaste

I’ve heard many translations. Here’s one I love:
The light of the universe that shines within me recognizes
the light of the universe that shines within you.

Dogs in House	Houdini, Brindle
Music Playing	Adam Ben Ezra, “Awesome Bass Solo”
Time writing	15 minutes
September word count	1,888

Prompt: Dragons stalk the streets, puffing out smoke and clattering their mechanical wings

Quote credit: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall

Photo credit: Robert Dalton, “MojaveDesert Sand Dragon” (cc 2.0)

Prompt Credit: Unknown origin, found on Pinterest

At the first tremor, Jakov dropped the fabric bolt he had been considering and looked around for Clara. Another tremor, and people began to clear the market square, shouting and running in alarm. Where was the brat! Mother would kill him!

As the square emptied, Jakov ran into the center, turning slowly with sharp eyes focused at knee level, searching for Clara’s white-blond curls. He spotted her gazing up at sparkly suncatchers, and beyond her, the dragon’s head appeared around the corner.

Jakov froze. What could he do? No use to call out – the dragon would hear him, not Clara. He couldn’t run to her, or the dragon might attack them both. He couldn’t move at all, in fact, without the dragon’s metallic eyes latching onto him. No one wanted to attract the notice of a dragon.

Fear warred with anger. Why had the clockwork mages built the dragons and animated them to roam the city? Great metal-scaled beasts, they blew smoke when calm and roared fire when disturbed, leaving terror and destruction in their wake. The mages were long gone, but the dragons ruled in their stead.

The dragon’s head lolled left and right, searching for….what? Movement? Scent? Jakov knew the moment it saw Clara, and his heart stopped. The dragon lowered its head and stretched out its long, thick neck, moving closer and closer to Clara, who remained oblivious to the danger behind her. She lifted her arms and waved in a happy dance with the spinning suncatchers.

She spun around and stopped short when she came nose to snout with the dragon. A thin curl of steam wrapped around her. They stared at each other, unmoving. Clara reached out a hand and laid her palm flat on the dragon’s nose, then slid it up, leaning forward…closer and closer to those terrible long fangs.

Jakov wanted to turn away, before he saw his sister snapped up by the great beast. Instead, he watched with horrified fascination as she fearlessly stroked the dragon’s nose and along its cheek. The dragon’s eyes blinked shut, and it blew a gentle puff of steam around her. Clara’s fingers moved against the dragon’s scales, and Jakov knew she was signing. He wanted to tell her somehow, the dragon would never understand.

Clara leaned even closer and pressed her lips on the dragon’s snout. He fingers traced signs across its scales once more, then she wrapped her chubby arms around its nose and hugged it. Jakov felt hysterical laughter bubbling up inside. Before it burst free, the dragon pulled away, turned around, and returned through the street beyond, with a single flick of its tail as it disappeared.

Jakov raced to Clara and dropped to his knees, gathering her in a tight hug. She wriggled free and reached up to trace signs on his cheek, as their mother had taught them for as long as Jakov could remember. Dragon! Did you see?

Did he see? He wasn’t sure his heart had started beating again. Yes, I saw. Are you crazy? How could you let it get so close?

Clara cocked her head, curls bobbing in the sunlight. She tapped her fingers against his cheek, thinking. He waited. There was no rushing her. Dragon friend.

No, Clara! Not friend! Danger!

Clara pulled away, then grabbed his hand and signed once more. Friend. You’ll see.

She marched across the still-empty square, and Jakov watched her for a long moment before he jumped to his feet and ran after her. Ghods help him if she got home first and told Mother she had made friends with a dragon. Mother would kill him. Maybe he should go after the dragon instead.

#

And so, with a loving heart, I offer you

Namaste

I’ve heard many translations. Here’s one I love:
The light of the universe that shines within me recognizes
the light of the universe that shines within you.

Dogs in House	Houdini, Brindle
Music Playing	Sinners & Saints: The Ultimate Medieval & Renaissance Music Collection
Time writing	~70 minutes, including image/quote research
September word count	1,766

Prompt: After prolonged exposure to radiation, a fallen angel meets the ghost of Ernest Hemingway

Prompt source: The Amazing Story Generator by Jay Sacher

Jahirah dreamed.

Smoke. Falling. Pain. Hands.

Soothing touch. Cool water. Soft words.

That might not have been a dream.

Which part?

Laugh. Cough. Pain.

Soothing touch. Cool water. Soft words.

Cold at the wrist, up the arm, blooms from the shoulder across the chest, down to the toes. Pain receding. Silence.

Soft strike of a match. Deep inhale. Warm spice of an old cigar.

“All stories, if continued far enough, end in death, and he is no true-story teller who would keep that from you.”

True enough. Is this death, then? Are you Death?

“Ha! I don’t think so, though some may disagree. I’m a writer. But to write, you have to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.”

I’m afraid I have no more voice to be heard, my friend.

“There is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. I do not need to hear your voice to listen to your story.”

I would argue your second point. My choices led me directly here. I turned from God. I left Heaven. I walked into the maelstrom and pulled them out. And now I am dying. But they will live.

“They were in it for longer than you. How is it possible they survive you?”

That was my final choice. To give them my energy, my life.

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”

#

Note: I chose a literal path, and I’d enjoy finding more Hemingway quotes to flesh out this little vignette. How would you address this prompt?

And, I will try to find another prompt than "angel" and "death" - but I must say that this one came from a random page flip of the book!

#

And so, with a loving heart, I offer you

Namaste

I’ve heard many translations. Here’s one I love:
The light of the universe that shines within me recognizes
the light of the universe that shines within you.

Dogs in House	Houdini, Brindle
Music Playing	Norah Jones
Time writing	30 minutes
September word count	1,064

Prompt: Angel of Death, or Getting Ready for Change

Sarah felt the pillow against her head, then heard the soft, steady beeps, then felt the firm, gentle grip of fingers around her own. Her eyelids were so heavy. She had just been awake, hadn’t she? Talking….talking with…who? Whom. Her lips twitched.

The fingers against hers tightened slightly, and she heard a low, deep chuckle. “Ever the teacher, correcting even yourself.”

I didn’t say that out loud…

“You don’t have to, Sarah. It’s okay. You don’t have to spend the energy. Just rest.”

But we were talking…

“Well, I talk out loud because people don’t like to hear me in their head.”

Oh. That’s right. I remember…

“Yes?”

What is your name, again? I’m sorry. I used to be so good with names.

“You have no need to apologize, Sarah. I don’t really have a name.”

Don’t be silly. Everyone has a name.

She supposed there might have been a time she would be frightened by someone reading her thoughts. But she sensed nothing but kindness in his voice and touch. She wanted to open her eyes and see him. Had she already? Was there really anybody there?

“I’m here, Sarah. As long as you need me, I’m here.”

She frowned. Did he hear all of her thoughts?

“No, only the ones you choose to share with me.”

That’s my choice? Or yours?

“Well, it’s mine. But I promise not to pry. And to stay as long as it takes.”

Takes for what? She felt the lines on her forehead tighten again.

“For you to be ready to let go, Sarah.”

Let go? Oh, you mean, of life? To die? Yes, that’s what we were talking about before. Oh, I remember now. You’ve been visiting me for awhile now, haven’t you?

“Yes, I have, Sarah.”

Am I taking too much of your time? Am I…taking too long?

He laughed quietly and squeezed her fingers again. She liked his laugh. Liked that he held her hand in both of his, a gentle, comfortable warmth of skin against hers. Like an old friend. Only the doctors and nurses touched her now. Kind enough, but impersonal. Taking care of her. Business.

“You take as long as you want, Sarah. As long as you need.”

Don’t you have other places you need to be? She thought about that for a moment. She might have fallen asleep again, He was still there when she continued the thought. Other people you need to be with?

“I have all the time in the world, Sarah. Don’t worry about that at all.”

She liked how he said her name. She had a dim memory of reading that people had a subconscious response to the sound of their own name that was different from any other word.

“Yes. Names are very important to humans.”

Humans? Not people? She shied away from that for the moment and thought of something else. Is that why you won’t tell me your name?

Silence. His fingers loosened for a moment, and she tried to tighten hers, to touch him.

I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…

His hands slid around hers, soothing, settling into a different hold. “No, it’s not you, Sarah. I really don’t know my name. No one has asked me in a very long time. I’m trying to remember…”

What do you remember? She felt a shift. Something between them was changing. He had been comforting her, and she felt like somehow she might be comforting him. Through his touch, his voice, she could sense his hesitation, confusion.

“I…I’m not sure. Visiting people like you.”

Old, you mean?

“Not always.”

Oh, you mean dying.

“Yes.”

What else? Is that all? What about yourself? Growing up? Do you…She hesitated to ask, because sometimes, she knew all too well from her students, the memories weren’t good. Do you remember your parents at all? Family?

“I remember heat. Sun. Pain…across my chest. My arms feel like they’re on fire.” His voice faltered. She tried again to squeeze his fingers, but she wasn’t sure if hers moved at all. “I hear voices, a crowd. Shouting, crying.” He gasped. “Pain, in my side…”

He was gone. His hands no longer wrapped around hers. Not like he pulled away. He simply was no longer there. Sarah tried once more to open her eyes. The lights in her hospice room were dim.  The monitors next to her bed beeped a little louder as she struggled to wake up and look around. There was a chair next to her bed, but it was empty. She leaned back into her pillow and let her lids fall shut again. The beeps slowed, lulling her back into sleep. Would he come back? She hoped so. She enjoyed his company. She was sorry she had upset him, pushed him to remember something that caused him such distress.

Her eyes flew open. Her lips moved in a silent whisper. “I know who you are….”

To be continued?

#

And so, with a loving heart, I offer you

Namaste

I’ve heard many translations. Here’s one I love:
The light of the universe that shines within me recognizes
the light of the universe that shines within you.

Time writing	45 minutes
September word count	820