{"id":1710,"date":"2015-04-13T21:40:19","date_gmt":"2015-04-14T01:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davidmcrampton.com\/?p=1710"},"modified":"2021-06-07T18:39:58","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T22:39:58","slug":"writing-prompt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidmcrampton.com\/?p=1710","title":{"rendered":"Writing Prompt"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve joined the Prompted Word<\/a>! The goal is to complete a writing prompt every week, and then to post it (optional). Enjoy my brain gushings!<\/p>\n

Writing prompt #4 \u2013 In what way do you not fit in with the family you grew up with?<\/p>\n

The Sinestral<\/strong><\/p>\n

The wiry man sat with his legs crossed on the uncomfortable chair in front of the clerk\u2019s desk. A single sheet of paper lay in his lap atop his hat, and he couldn\u2019t resist running his fingers along its edges. Holding real paper, made from trees, was exceptionally rare. The FPO was known for its love of both bureaucracy and tradition.<\/p>\n

The clerk returned to her desk carrying a steaming mug of coffee, and eyed him up and down. She heaved a sigh, and sat heavily in her chair. He felt the blush fill his cheeks and warm his ears. She\u2019d definitely recognized him.<\/p>\n

Skipping past the usual pleasantries, she held out her hand and raised her eyebrows. \u201cAnother complaint form?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, ma\u2019am.\u201d He handed the sheet over, sad for the paper\u2019s loss, apprehensive for the clerk\u2019s reaction.<\/p>\n

Her eyes scanned it, blinked, and then scanned it again. Her right hand wandered over to a cup of pens, grabbed one, and tapped it repeatedly on the worn desk top. \u201cThis form requests deployment?\u201d<\/p>\n

He nodded. \u201cYes, ma\u2019am.\u201d<\/p>\n

She set the pen and paper down, and then retrieved a file from her cabinet. She dropped it onto the desk, rattling her pens and attracting everyone\u2019s attention. The monstrous stack of papers was over five inches thick. \u201cYou know what this is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy file, ma\u2019am.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour file.\u201d She opened it, and scanned the top sheet. \u201cSeventeen deployments terminated early, twenty-three denied deployment requests, and more complaint and suggestion forms than any other applicant.\u201d<\/p>\n

He fought the compulsion to draw in the file\u2019s dust with his finger. \u201cYes, ma\u2019am.\u201d<\/p>\n

She flipped the file closed and glared at him. \u201cPlease tell me why the good clerks of the Family Placement Office should curse another group of breathers with one of your kind?\u201d<\/p>\n

The man\u2019s posture straightened. \u201cMy kind, ma\u2019am?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d She gestured to the hand that had handed her the paper. \u201cLefties. Southpaws. The Sinestral.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man stood up, and the clerk leaned back in her chair. As slight as he was, his presence suddenly filled the room. He smoothed his shirt and looked her square in the eyes. \u201cMa\u2019am, I\u2019m sure I don\u2019t know.\u201d With that, he turned around and left the office, followed shortly by the building.<\/p>\n

He bathed his face in the eternal sunlight for a few moments before placing his hat on his head. If the FPO would not help him, he\u2019d simply have to find another way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve joined the Prompted Word! The goal is to complete a writing prompt every week, and then to post it (optional). Enjoy my brain gushings! Writing prompt #4 \u2013 In what way do you not fit in with the family … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[],"tags":[28,15],"class_list":["post-1710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-fiction","tag-writery"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paQnES-rA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcrampton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcrampton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcrampton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcrampton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcrampton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcrampton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1711,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcrampton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1710\/revisions\/1711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcrampton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcrampton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcrampton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}