Writing Prod - What's In A Name

            Good morning, Blogverse.

            This is the twenty-fourth writing prompt in the series. I have one more after this and then will start all over again from the beginning. That is, unless one of my readers comes up with a prod I hadn’t thought of already. Come on – you guys can do that. You’re a creative bunch.

            I call this one . . . What’s In A Name. (Okay, it needs a better name.) Meander over to your book collection and find the shelf where you keep your favorites. Now, pick a title and write a story based on it. There are some great titles out there that should start the ideas jumping out of your head. Then once you have a story go ahead and come up with a new name that better reflects what you have created.

            For my example I took the title of my favorite book growing up: Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny. I love post-apocalyptic stories and this one had it all.

 

            Alley of Lost Souls

            Maimed, destitute, and homeless Larry hobbles from town to town in search of a new start. When he walks past the mouth of an ordinary alley all of that changes. An old woman, sitting on a trashcan and smoking a pipe calls out to him. Thinking he has found someone in even a worse position than himself he is surprised when she offers to alter the fates and give him a new life – and all it will cost him is his soul.

            Six months later his hip has miraculously mended and spends his time amid a whirlwind of fast cars and faster women. Then he attends a party with the latest upward-trenders and discovers that all of them have met the old woman in the alley and none of them are any happier for the change. But unfortunately for Larry, there are no refunds on this kind of deal.