November 4th
Total Words: 3,332
Ambience: The Path to Inkhouse
"I looked upon the scene before me — upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain — upon the bleak walls — upon the vacant eye-like windows — upon a few rank sedges — and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees — with an utter depression of soul..."
-The Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allan Poe
“Footpath Only,” reads the faded sign. You're not sure why– the path is more of a road, wide and paved with smooth cobblestones. Maybe it's the low hanging branches still grasping their last yellow leaves. Or perhaps it's the bare red briars arcing over from the margins.
Whatever the reason, you start walking. According to the directions, this should be the last leg of your journey. You just wish you could make out the enigmatic dark-clad shape of Inkhouse through the thick woods, but the fog of dusk has begun to rise, and the clouds limit the evening light to an eerie green.
Prompt: Use the lighting in your scene to change a character's mood.
At last, the trees start to thin, and you start to see something. Stark gray headstones peer out of the mist. The call of ravens echoes raspy through the clearing. And through the graveyard, there it stands– Inkhouse, in all its dark glory. You feel a tingle race up your spine, and you're not sure if it's excitement or a raw edge of fear.
You walk carefully on the little winding trail through the headstones, and at last step onto the magnificent sweeping steps of black stone. Reaching the top of the porch, you turn to look behind you at the dim graveyard and the half-bare forest around it. You won't be lacking inspiration here. Behind you, a door creaks open and light spills around you. “Welcome to Inkhouse, writer.”
Challenge: Attempt to write 300 words in 3 minutes. For bonus points, do this three times in a row, add the sum of the three attempts, and sprint to that sum.
Question: How does fear add to the conflicts in your story? Whose fear? Will there be any fear that is shown as good or bad through your story?
"...Nevertheless, in this mansion of gloom I now proposed to myself a sojourn of some weeks."
-The Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allan Poe
Comments