I had my classes do a lightning write activity this week, and I realized that I never shared the one I participated in at the Codex retreat (CoWW).

For this activity, you need a group (a group of 6 works pretty well). Each person has about a minute to write the beginning to a story. Then, the stories get passed around from one person to the next after a set limit of time (that gradually increases so as to allow people to read what has already been written). Finally, the original story starter gets their paper back and they get to finish the story.

See the story, after the break.

So, here it is, in all its amazing glory (I’ve used colors to indicate the different authors):

Fluffy (titled afterward)

The old man stood up shakily, slowly, at the bottom of the stairs. Nothing seemed to be broken. He smiled at his good fortune. Really, he felt better after the fall than before.

Then he looked down.

He said a very bad word.

The Nothing had come. In front of him was a void of infinite emptiness. And of course, back at the top of the flight of stairs waited Auntie Marge. It was a tough decision as to which was worse.

“I think there’s room for Fluffy down here,” he offered. Fluffy snarled from behind Marge. The beast’s claws were at least as big as the old man’s fingers. He wasn’t sure what Fluffy even was.

“I can’t see much. You sure? He doesn’t like to be confined.”

The void was perfect. “Send him down.”

The sound of large claws could be heard on the stairs as Fluffy made his way down. His wings beat against the sides of the stairwell, feathers against ancient wood. He was a terrifying, albeit handsome, creature, and the old man couldn’t wait for him to die.

But when Fluffy saw the void, he stopped short. “C’mon, boy,” the old man said. Or was it a girl? “C’mon, Fluffy,” he tried.

Responding to his sympathetic tone, Fluffy nipped at his hand, almost taking off a finger. “Go in,” he gestured toward the void. “It won’t hurt, I promise.” Go and die, he thought.

Fluffy stared blankly at him.

The old man walked over closer to the void and snapped his fingers to get Fluffy’s attention.

Fluffy slowly padded over closer and came up beside the old man. He meowed once and then pushed the old man into the void.

As he looked back from the suffocating, squeezing darkness, he saw Fluffy bouncing up the stairs.

“Good girl,” said Auntie Marge.

Tags: lightning write, writing exercise