Prompts for 24 October 2025 from
Write about a fresh start
muted revelry
“I’m proud of you”
A character who is secretly celebrating
image by author via Night Cafe Studios
Demetrius wrapped his arms around CeeCee’s shoulders as she sat typing furiously. She started, but relaxed when he whispered into her neck with muted revelry,
“I’m proud of you. This is your best work, and it will give us everything we need for a fresh start.”
CeeCee slapped him away good-naturedly. “I have to finish it first! Get away and let me focus.”
She was half-kidding. Deep inside she was giddy at the acceptance of her first book by a publisher that promised help marketing the book. It was a memoir, but not hers. The agent only asked that she refine a few of the areas that appeared far too wordy.
“Show me, don’t tell me,” the agent had said. “And active verbs are your friends. Make the reader feel and hear and taste the scene the way your grandmother did.”
CeeCee started writing grandmother’s story multiple times, but nothing she wrote ever felt right—whatever that meant. She honed her craft, writing short microfictions, flash fictions, and a lot of nonfiction, which was the only thing that ever sold. Demetrius was always there, supporting her work while he struggled to make ends meet with his increasingly limited hours at the mill.
CeeCee loved him for the sacrifices he made so she could write. So she tried, sending drafts to agents, magazines, and publishers, answering nearly every call for stories and articles. Some succeeded; most were rejected. And still, grandmother’s story lurked beneath the surface, begging to be revealed. CeeCee kept images of scenes that she harbored in her mind, waiting for the words to catch up.
And then on a brilliant autumn day, the words came. They poured from CeeCee’s heart through her fingers and onto the keyboard so quickly that CeeCee could hardly keep up. Stories of a young woman determined to finish high school in a time when few people could. Times of plenty, when the woman was beautiful and strong, happily married to her sweetheart and teaching in a local school, in spite of the opinions of people in town. Times of loss, when her darling grew sick and died, leaving her a widow with two children to support in a town where she was shunned. And then the story of redemption, when determination met with skill and a little bit of luck that allowed grandmother to buy a little house in town with cash and go about her life in her own way. Neighbors grew to love her, a church community cared for her needs when her children had grown and moved away, and she sang her heart-song that let everyone know that she was all right.
CeeCee wrote of smelling apple cake on Saturday nights, a cool hand on a fevered forehead, and the low hum of old gospel songs floating through the air. Grandmother’s life was long and full, punctuated by moments of joy and sorrow, but mostly grounded in contentment and hope.
Two years after CeeCee and Demetrius celebrated the book’s acceptance, CeeCee won an award for Excellence in Fiction Writing. The prize money was enough to pay cash for a little house in town.
Beautiful sentiment. I have long wanted to tell my grandmother's story. Maybe you have helped me move this from the back burner to the front. Well done, Stephanie.