Writing Prompt Wednesday

Its autumn, the air is crisper, the days are growing far too short, and I’ve finally accepted the fact that I will be spending more time indoors. For whatever reason, I find that I hunker down and write more in the Fall/Winter then the summer. Maybe because the weather is so much worse, or maybe because time seems to slow down a bit in the Winter months—I can’t be sure exactly, but my mind tends to become more interested in other worlds/words/possibilities.

Normally, I would save a post like this until a Friday—but I suggest any of you out there who are looking for a great mid-week escape to actually slow down and pay attention to the world around you. In this past week I've been dealt some devastating news.... someone very dear to me has been told she has about a year to live. It’s been a very difficult thing to digest (I'm still numb). I’ve tried to think about what I would do if I knew I had one year left (give or take). I’m pretty sure a lavish trip would be in the cards and reading some of those books I ‘always meant to read’, perhaps writing that novel that’s been rumbling around in my head. In any case, I’d try the to make the most of my time.

After spending far too much time in hospitals over the past month, I’ve come to one realization—that I was never so conscious of noise (or the absence thereof) as I was in a hospital. So, I suggest you take a break and listen to the sounds around you. What can you hear (crickets, computers, the tea kettle?) and what do all those sounds mean? Can you find a story in them?

Below is the opening that has helped me find a story:

Between every other beep of the monitor I tried to breathe. I wanted to fill the room with sound. You are never so conscious of noise as you are in a hospital…

Good luck. Take a break this Wednesday and get in touch with the sounds of autumn.