Crunch: The Dream

Writing Exercise #39

This exercise was inspired by an image shared by

Miter

in the note below which ultimately came from

Bailey Richardson

’s post. These inspiration chains are starting to get long!

Derek Petty

sometimes likes to do image prompts so I decided to flag this for him and take a page out of his book with a story based on this image! The image is below—it’s not the dog, but the shack in the desert!

If you have ideas for Prompts, Crunches, Sprints, Relays, Stretches, or other writing exercises in the future, please leave them in the comments! If you would like to write your own take for this exercise, please comment with a link so that I can see what you wrote and support your work, maybe even share your version with my subscribers. Please let me know if you have any thoughts, comments, or constructive criticisms as well!

Enjoy!

Crunch: Write about a desert hideout

Twenty years ago.

Oscar and John place the final brick. They have dreams—a homestead. A ranch. Taming this wild, arid desert. A small place—but a functional place. A safe place.

Fifteen years ago.

Oscar is dead. John mourns at his funeral—taken too soon. John tells Oscar’s wife about their dream. He shares memories of their hard work together, building the little homestead—the first of several structures on what he hoped would be their dream.

Ten years ago.

John nails boards over the windows. He goes back to his truck, where the title is sitting in the passenger seat. A sign saying “foreclosure” stands defiantly in front of the empty land that was their dream.

Five years ago.

The bank has forgotten about this plot. Some county registrar keeps track of it, but the land isn’t valuable enough to gather the attention of the head of the bank. The foreclosure sign has fallen down and blown away. The boards have let sand and dust and lizards through. Wandering travelers have used it as a camp site.

One year ago.

Oscar Jr. Finds a photograph. His dad, and Uncle Johnny, raising a toast. He holds the picture up in front of the dilapidated shack he has found. Yes, this is the one. He gets back in the truck, and smiles, and holds the check. He has dreams. A homestead. A ranch. Taming a wild, arid desert. A small place—but a functional place. A safe place.

A beginning.

(250 words )

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The Promptee Has Become The Promptor

Your feedback helps to improve my writing. I would really appreciate a comment on your thoughts on this writing exercise. Consider telling me your thoughts about:

1. What is your dream home?

2. Would you ever live in a desert?

3. Would you ever eat a cactus?

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Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy! Come back next week for another writing exercise!

Have you taken a look at the section called “The Volume” recently? All my longer-form stories are kept there! Be sure to take a look and catch up on any stories you’ve missed!

Thank you and God bless!