Prompt:
Write a scene in 250 words that explains how a character has an ability that
they shouldn’t be able to have. Explain how they can do this without simply
stating why they can.
The night grew cold and dark as I sat in a corner of the abandoned house. My
traveling companion, Carla, paced and moved her lips, though she knew I had no
ability to hear the sounds she made.
The room afforded no heat or light. I searched until I found a lopsided door.
It led me to a room filled with shelves and cabinets, stuffed tightly with
paper. By matchlight I could see on each paper patterns of curving lines, thick
dots, and peculiar symbols. I recognized the patterns. They made what those who
could hear called “music.”
Carla soon came after me. She stared as I sorted the papers into two piles. On
one pile I dropped my match. I felt the heat as it burned the yellowing paper.
Carla made stomping gesture, but I held up two pages for her to see.
I could not hear, but I knew that “music” made “songs” and people listened and
tapped their toes. I imagined what they heard was like the pattern of ripples a
skipping stone made in a still pond. The waters ebb and flow, lap onto dry sand
and bring beauty and peace.
The first paper I showed her was not the kind that imparted beauty. It was
frenetic, discordant, unpleasant. With a weak pen I scribbled over it, blotting
out its ugliness. The second paper was peaceful and harmonious; on it I drew
gentle waves. Carla studied the papers and then my face. She began holding up
other papers for me to see. A nod to the left, they were saved. To the right –
burned.
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