Today you’ll write a story that starts with a set of characters, a location and a problem, all devised by me.

The Prompt

The Setting: Four blank walls and two doors, both currently locked.

The Characters: Don, a man in his fifties; Sooz, a young woman; Dante, a teenage boy; Charlie, a character of gender, age and appearance that you specify.

The Problem: There are thunderous booms coming from outside the room and the characters must decide what to do next.

Tips

• You can set this story anywhere and at any time.
• The room may be any size. It can be inside, outside, on a space ship, on a cruise ship, underground, in a forest, whatever you like.
• You decide on the characters’ personalities. Remember, personality conflicts provide drama.
• To make your characters more rounded, give us a hint of what they don’t want us to see about themselves.
• You can reveal the source of the noises or not. It’s up to you.
• You can give us a nice, neat ending, or leave the situation unresolved. Just make sure something is resolved during the story.

Go!