Prompt #111
By the time you read this
Good morning.
If you are the type of person…
…who hears a song and then gets that song stuck in your head for the next three weeks, maybe skip this prompt.
Otherwise—read on.
When I was a little girl, I was a fan of Glen Campbell. I didn’t have a crush on him or anything—he was way too old for me, duh. But he always seemed to be popping up on TV, singing one country hit or another, and I liked to sit next to my Dad on the sofa and watch him sing. Though he made jokes and smiled a lot, there was something melancholy about him. His songs made me feel sad—but in a good way.
Here are the lyrics for one of his biggest hits, “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”:
By the time I get to Phoenix she’ll be rising
She’ll find the note I left hangin’ on her door
She’ll laugh when she reads the part that says I’m leavin’
‘Cause I’ve left that girl so many times beforeBy the time I make Albuquerque she’ll be working
She’ll probably stop at lunch and give me a call
But she’ll just hear that phone keep on ringin’
Off the wall, that’s all.By the time I make Oklahoma she’ll be sleepin’
She’ll turn softly and call my name out low
And she’ll cry just to think I’d really leave her
Tho’ time and time I’ve tried to tell her so
She just didn’t know I would really go
It’s a great song, don’t argue with me. It’s a song that tells a story.
In today’s prompt, we’re going to steal Campbell’s idea of using the phrase “by the time” to write our own little stories.
TODAY’S PROMPT
“By the time I…” This phrase is very useful! It’s got attitude, if you want that. It injects urgency, if that’s your goal. It’s a wonderful story starter, if you need one. It’s a way to start a story “in medias res”: in the middle of things.
In today’s prompt, you’re going to finish that phrase in one way or another. For instance, “By the time we finished dinner, I knew…” “By the time I finished seventh grade, I’d….” “By the time I’d divorced my third wife….” “By the time I noticed my wallet was missing…”
You can use the phrase to start your story. Or you can use it in the middle of your story. Or at the end. Your choice!
Like Campbell, you might want to use the phrase more than once in your story. He uses some version of it three times.
Post in the comments, if you wish.
That’s it! That’s the whole prompt.
See you next time!
Note: If your story runs too much more than 400 words, it runs the risk of not being read. Thanks!
By the time I drank my coffee it was too late. I had already exploded and my madness spread like a wildfire in a bushel of tinder and everyone had died or nearly so. Bodies fell out of the truck where they had failed to escape, others were still under their winter blankets. Dead in bed.
By that time. at that moment, I was saddened, but not sorry for what I'd done.
By the time.
By the time you read this I’ll be sitting in your cupboard. Please don’t open it. There’s a man outside who is watching you on his phone. Don’t have sex or look around
Stop! You’re putting all our lives in danger.
Hold hands and stare at the ceiling for two hours. Our only chance is to bore the tits off this man who holds our lives in his putty flesh hands.
Pray to whatever God you’re in touch with, ask for nothing with wilting timidity and thankless thanks. Then lilt softly lightly and whisper don’t beg. Give more thanks, and inspect that ceiling. It is holding you in, it is stopping you floating out to where the man wants to twist your humours with his putty white hands.
Give thanks. Don’t look at the mouldings or the light just the ceiling - it is enough in Stage One
Signed
Clarrie from next door
By the time.
By the time you read this I’ll be sitting in your cupboard. Please don’t open it. There’s a man outside who is watching you on his phone. Don’t have sex or look around
Stop! You’re putting all our lives in danger.
Hold hands and stare at the ceiling for two hours. Our only chance is to bore the tits off this man who holds our lives in his putty flesh hands.
Pray to whatever God you’re in touch with, ask for nothing with wilting timidity and prostrate thanks. Then lilt softly lightly and whisper don’t beg. Give more thanks, and inspect that ceiling. It is holding you in, it is stopping you floating out to where the man wants to twist your humours with his putty slim hands.
Give thanks. Don’t look at the mouldings or the light just the ceiling - it is enough in Stage One
Signed
Clarrie from next door
We might be able to move up if you make it to Stage Four. There’s apartments people died in last week and they’re not even reported yet - I know Gemma from the Body Corp. It has nothing to do with the Situation but asking Gemma suddenly seems less daunting. Don’t think about it but you could look right through the ceiling at your new life. If we get through this we’ll really have earned a break and you guys deserve the best of everything. I’m more subtly deserving. Stay focused. This guy outside. I don’t know if he’s human. If you have any paranormal powers or favours from Governments or Gods, by all means let her rip. I don’t want to be Captain