This is a collection of short stories I wrote during February, almost every day. They were inspired by prompts -- from writing a story with a certain title, to a story with a specific weather event -- all of which tested my limits as a writer <3
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PROMPT: write a story that prominently features the colour red
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Rachel Ratcliffe had a thing for red things. It was an unordinary fascination with everything that colour – in all shades, shapes and sizes.
Ever since she was a little girl, Rachel collected as many red things as her mother would let her keep. Ruby-red drawing pins, discarded red pens, empty packets of ready salted crisps. Well, the latter ones had to be stashed where her mum wouldn't find them.
It was only natural that as Rachel moved into her own place that she would become a hoarder. Her weekends were spent driving to car boot sales all around her county, picking up as many random red thingamabobs as possible. They cluttered her flat's hallway until she could find the headspace to collect them and bundle them together in old Lego boxes, originally red though worn a little yellow with time.
Rachel also had a thing for red foods. Strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, watermelons (only the inside, though). It was better than having a thing for brown foods, she supposed; in which case, all you could eat would be potatoes, bread, chips, waffles – nothing very healthy.
And Rachel was perfectly content with her red things and her red food – or so she thought. Being a collector is a mighty fine thing, though it can be rather lonely.
Rachel's childhood friends had never lasted long once they realised Rachel's fascination with red wasn't just a passing phase – not like scuba-diving or scooters or space travel; all kids should try most crazes at least once, right? Not Rachel – something which had set her apart from day one of pre-school when she showed up dressed entirely in red garments.
High school had brought the force of a fair few bullies down upon her, yet none had given her too hard of a time so that she'd give up red.
I'll never give up red, she'd thought fiercely, hands tightened into fists.
Nothing, it seemed, would ever distract her from red – or be as good a company as all her red things.
That is until she met someone with an unordinary fascination with grey. A cool calm colour – quite the opposite of red. Not many grey foods, though not everyone has to stick to coloured foods so rigidly as Rachel.
The girl fascinated with grey was at the same car boot sale as Rachel one unusually bright Sunday morning.
Rachel had always kept an eye out for even the slightest inkling that someone was obsessed with colours as much as her, and she'd clocked this girl almost instantly. Grey car, grey trainers, grey pants, grey shirt, grey coat, platinum grey hair and silver jewellery. Then she turned her face, revealing sleek grey wings of eyeliner, and Rachel's cheeks warmed to the colour of ripe strawberries.
In the moment Rachel saw her, she knew that Gracie, for that was her name, would be a fellow collector for the rest of their lives. Rachel even let Gracie mix her grey things with her red things when they finally moved in together.
Now Rachel was almost as fascinated with grey things as she was with red things.
(518 words)
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