The Prompt
Begin with a confined space. This could mean physically cramped, or that your character is constrained such that they must—for whatever reasons—remain in place for a spell. (A cave and a mandatory business dinner both confine in their own way.)
In this space, a phone that does not belong to your character rings loudly, in succession, at least ten times. (This is about five nonstop minutes of ringing.)
Questions to consider:
To whom might the phone belong? What does the ringing trigger in your character? Who will or will not answer it? Who is on the other end? What do they want? How is the phone silenced and what consequences might result?
Whatever the answers:
It can no longer be ignored.
Enjoy mining the conflicts and compelling needs this may spark. Happy writing!
Lara Hughes
Lara Hughes is a recipient of the 2025 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize. Her fiction has appeared in Best Debut Short Stories 2025 (Catapult), The Arkansas International, and is forthcoming in the Indiana Review. She holds an MFA from Vanderbilt University and currently lives in Nashville, where she is at work on a novel and short story collection.
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