ACT I : the burning

Instructions

A gentle breeze encourages you forwards. Staring into your woodland, you have the distinct sense that you are at the beginning of something huge… . . . ↟ ↟ ↟ . . . How it works. Every day, in the main xeno-fi cabin comments, you will find a progression to our story. Along with this, you will find a prompt for your writing which we highly encourage you to have a go at! There is no minimum or maximum word requirement like a daily, it’s just a bit of inspiration and fun for us to all do together. Focus on quality! :D Then, the storyline and prompts will be added to this project, as an archive of sorts. Participating and sharing with the prompt will earn you a wildflower (our in cabin point system). You can write something different for the prompts each day, OR you can keep adding onto one piece of writing for it throughout the month if you like, it’s up to you! Also, please do go ahead speculating and discussing the storyline as more is revealed… who knows what will happen? Maybe you’ll be able to make a difference.. ACT I - The Burning The season is summer! 1/ The forest had always been a place of peace. And, well, it remains that way, really – but there is an air of unease creeping uncontrollably across the trees along with the lazy summer sun. The birds seem to be the first to know: something is dreadfully wrong. An ominous black smoke drifts slowly through the branches overhead. The danger is young. It’s unsure of itself, still. But it’s there. Welcome to the first prompt of the session! for your first prompt, write a story that incorporates foreshadowing, a literary device where an author builds suspense or clues the reader into a future event by dropping hints through tone, symbolism, or other techniques. 2/ The smoke continues to spread. By nightfall, it has a fury to it. It is joined by a glow upon the horizon, creeping steadily closer, steadily brighter, steadily hotter. As it encroaches on the edge of your world, an overwhelming sense of helplessness takes hold of you. Today’s prompt: Today, you are helpless. What you write about is going to be out of your control. You must visit https://randomwordgenerator.com and receive an adjective and a noun (you can reroll if your words don’t make sense). Now, you need to write something related to or somehow incorporating this thing! (eg: I got a ‘curious stranger’) if for whatever reason you cannot access the site, feel free to ask Seagull or another co or camper to generate something for you instead. 3/ A great fire is raging around you. Flames. Everywhere. You can only watch in terror as the chaos comes closer. It tears across your home - a ravaging, hungry heat. It consumes everything in its path, in a horror scene that seems to last a lifetime. Although you know you have escaped its bite, you can still almost feel your skin searing. Today’s prompt: Write a piece focusing on the senses for its description, using a lot of sensory detail and language/imagery… except, we’ll be focusing on scent, taste, and touch to work with! No sight or sound! 4/ The ash clears, forming a path through the air as you walk into it. You’re trying your best to breathe. In the blackened remains of what you once called home, animals are gathering. All of you stand together in the clearing, seemingly the last place on earth unclaimed by the smoke. Today's prompt: tragedies happen, in both fantasies and real life. today, take a character you've explored before and have them lose the thing that matters most to them… whether it's a permanent or temporary loss, see if you can imagine how they'd respond! 5/ A silence lingers, hanging so thick in the air it is almost tangible. Then, from through the thorns, a young hare with wild eyes speaks up. Words tumble out; he speaks of these strange… visions. You just about make out what he is saying. “I saw it. All of us, travelling. Westwards, towards the setting sun. There’s a place, like in the old folktales - a beautiful new land, free from man and sickness and strife! I saw us there.” Today’s prompt: write a story where a character is guided forward on their journey in some way, whether by a prophecy, a mentor figure, or some other way. 6/ No one speaks much. Then the magpie flaps his wings, flying down from wherever he had been before, to land amongst them all. He caws, and looks up to the blazing red sun. “Yes. It’s just like the old stories.. the Prophecy. Set to come true after a great destruction. The sun will guide us, if we follow Her.” Today’s prompt: so often, we see our emotions reflected in the world around us - so today, write a scene using pathetic fallacy! pathetic fallacy is a literary device in which nature or other objects are given human emotions. examples of this include an angry storm or a cheerful bird. 7/ When dusk falls, and the suffocating heat disperses a little, you and your group begin to travel. You can see no further than the burning bright glow on the horizon, but all of you walk