In Class Writing Activity
Adding magical elements to fiction can be fun and can also make the story more interesting, depending on the writer’s goal.
For this exercise, choose one of the two following options
- A convenience store robbery
- A Tinder first date
Write a scene developing one of these ideas, and include a magical aspect. The only rule is that the magical aspect cannot be humanoid, so no elves, goat boys, devils, etc.
Make your scene at least 200 words long.
So I wrote Doris and the Bean~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Doris finished eating the last can of cat food in her pantry, and all that was left was one packet of Dairy Queen catsup and two stale crackers in a ziplock bag. She knew the day would come around eventually, but Doris had a plan which always worked.
The trick today would be finding another neighborhood, a new one with a Quik Mart where nobody recognized her.
She took the stairs down to the ground floor of the squat and headed out the door toward the West. She was fairly certain last time she’d turned East.
As she shuffled along at as fast a pace as she could muster, she went over her plan again. Walk in, smile her toothless smile at the cashier and go to the pet food section. Pick up two cans of cat food, go up to the cashier. Pull out the pistol and scare the living shit out of him, then run out the door. Piece of cake.
About a mile into the walk she saw a Circle K on the left side of the street. That’ll do, she told herself. Just as planned, she walked in the door, smiled, went to the pet food aisle, picked up two cans, headed for the cashier. She reached into her sweater pocket for the gun, but it was gone. Shit. She turned the pocket inside out. Nothing but lint.
She stood in front of the cashier who was staring holes through her. Abruptly, the room lost all sound and grew dark. The movements of the other customers slowed down and stopped, frozen, as she searched through her mind for Plan B. But she didn’t have a Plan B. Face turning red, she mimed reaching into her pocket for the money. Instead of lint, she felt something else and pulled it out to see what it was. It was one of Jack’s magic beans, along with a piece of paper saying, “No need to plant this and go through the whole beanstalk rigamarole. Just decide what it is and use it.”
Easy peasy. The room returned to normal, Doris handed the cashier the bean, told him it was a twenty, took her cat food and change, and went home.