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Prompt: The Notebook (from "400 Story Seeds to Crush Writer's Block" by M. Kirin

 From 400 Story Seeds to Crush Writer's Block by M. Kirin (now out of print)

Prompt # 221: The Notebook

Write about a character who finds an abandoned notebook. What does this item look like? What exactly is written and drawn in it? What is this character's first reaction to what they find? And, above all, do the contents of the notebook touch their heart?

____

He held the notebook in his hands. A simple black cover with no identifying marks. The pages had been glued together on a single edge, but hours in the rain had dissolved the binding. Loose sheets threatened to spill from between the cardboard panels.

An umbrella appeared over his head. "What do you have there, L.T.?"

"Looks like an artist's sketchbook of some kind. It was lying on the bench over there. Seems like whomever it belongs just left it in the rain, Daisy."

Daisy frowned as she peered at it. "If I was an artist, I'd freak out if I lost my favorite sketchbook."

He nodded as he carefully opened it, mindful of the loose pages. The rain smeared some of the intricate drawings within. Thin lines of charcoal, ink washes, watercolor images. He recognized some of the buildings: Chancellor Tower, First Street Bank, Assad's Cafe. Every detail prescribed by a loving hand. Aside from the names of the places and a brief description in block print, there was no clue to the artist themselves.

"An architect, maybe? Or someone who just likes buildings?" Daisy asked. 

"Maybe." He turned to the last page and his eyes widened.

A pair of bright blue eyes stared at him. The soft pastel crayon ran like rivulets down the subject's face, almost like azure tears. Shoulder-length blonde-brown hair to her shoulders, her lips stretched into a smile. She seemed to glow from the page, even as the edges crinkled and warped from the rain.

The caption said: SELF PORTRAIT, in those same block letters.

Daisy looked at him. "You know her, L.T.? You look like you just saw a ghost."

He shook his head; he'd never seen her before in his life. Yet there was something in those eyes, that smile, that touched his heart. The owner of this notebook, someone who obviously had artistic talent and skill, wouldn't have left this precious keepsake out in the rain, not on purpose.

"At least we have a clue to who owns this," he said. "Let's get this notebook back to her. I'm sure she's probably looking for it. I would."

She nodded. "At least it's something other than securing the hundredth crime scene in a row or responding to the millionth complaint."

"Yeah." He didn't admit it to Daisy, but his curiosity was definitely piqued. 




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