I cheated because I had this idea for a writing exercise and put it into the Flash Fiction Friday prompts on purpose.
If you have ideas for Prompts, Crunches, Sprints, Relays, Stretches, Fables, 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 scar
He was waiting in a chair at the DMV. He was number D-206. It was going to be a while.
He distracted himself with his phone for a while, but when that failed to entertain he pocketed his phone, crossed his arms, leaned back in his chair. He glowered at the fellow faceless people. Dozens—hundreds?—of anonymous stories, all walking around, all going about their daily lives.
Inevitably—it always ended up this way—he looked at his hand, turned his palms up so he could see. A pale white line streaked diagonally across his fingers, beginning at the tip of his index finger, and ending at the base of his pinky. The scar.
It was strange, to have a scar. It connected him, permanently, to a moment in time. The memory flashed in his mind, out of sequence. The dash to the kitchen. The weeks of healing. Grabbing the knife out of her hands. The dull, throbbing pain. Blood dripping on the floor. The pain of changing the bandages, tearing skin, opening the wound again.
He shook his head. He was waiting in a chair at the DMV. The scar was white—healed, but surely permanent. Crossing his fingers like memory crossed moments in time.
He stuffed his scarred hand in his pocket and looked around.
All of them had stories. He looked for signs.
Two rows away, another man sat down. He looked at his phone, he looked at his hands. He had one too.
A scar.
(250 words)
Talk to me!
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:
Do you have any cool scars with cool stories?
Do you enjoy people watching? Have you been able to piece together people’s stories just by looking?
What’s the longest you’ve waited at the DMV or anywhere else?
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!
When I was 10ish, a friend and I were playing action movie. She "punched" me, and I sent myself flying towards the wall, not knowing that the corner of an outlet face plate had come loose and was sticking out. It caught my elbow and ripped the skin off. Luckily, it wasn't deep. I didn't cry. I think I was shocked. I just walked around holding the skin on, trying to find a pair of scissors to detach it. By the time I did, the skin was dead, so it didn't hurt. That was almost 30 years ago, and I still have the scar.
I hope you've enjoyed this disgusting tale from a first-time commenter.
Yeah I enjoy people watching. My favorite thing to watch is how different parents interact with their kids. I've seen permissive parents get utterly run over by their children to the point of begging them to behave, strong willed parents dragging their kids along, and lots of happy parents just glad to have kids and not worrying about those little behavior things as they enjoy life. The last ones are the ones that just roll with the kid's behavior.
I learn a lot about family dynamics just watching the kids go by.