Weekend Freewrite! 3 Prompts One Story!

Prompt 1- First Sentence: We guarantee full satisfaction, she said with a smile.

“We guarantee full satisfaction,” she said with a smile.

Brandon picked the rather large tube TV off the counter, and grunted slightly at the weight. The woman’s statement confused him. Guarantee full satisfaction? I can’t even use it as a TV…not now anyway. He thought to himself.

He stepped out onto the desolate sidewalk. Most of the streets shops were bordered over. Old paper and debris blew freely in the street. He passed by the few people that still lived in this city. All of them holding a vacant expression in their eyes, all of their clothes too big and hanging from their thin bodies.

He walked the few blocks to his apartment building, occasionally having to set the TV down to catch his breath. Then he’d haul it back up to his hip bones, balance it against his chest, and trudge forward. He tried not to think about how easy this would have been a year ago, how his muscles would have barely felt this weight, and how his lungs would have been full of clean crisp air.

Prompt 2: I rush toward the back room, stumbling down a step and grabbing at the wall to steady myself.

Brandon reached the outside door of the apartment building. The locks had long been busted apart, so he only needed to push it open with his backside, maneuvering himself and his treasure through the door jam. The buzzer system against the wall caught his eye, like it always does. Mellissa Melbourne Apt. 3

What he wouldn’t give to see her again. If they had had just one more day, he would have told her how he felt. At least that’s what he told himself.

Fortunately, his apartment was only on the second floor, just one flight of stairs.

He made it to the first landing before setting the TV down, and plopping on top of it. Sweat formed beads on his brow. He took the back of his forearm and wiped it off. He only had just a little ways to go.

As he finally breeched his doorway, he knew something was amiss. The table that sat in the foyer was crooked, and the vase he kept on top was knocked over. He always knew looting could happen to him, he had only been lucky so far.

He sat the TV down, and crept closer to the kitchen, preparing his mind for what he might find. He heard rustling coming from the back of the apartment. He rushed toward the backroom, stumbled down a step, and grabbing at the wall, he steadied himself.

A small squirrel set on his desk, that was now strewn with papers, then leapt quickly through the open window, and back out into the city.

Brandon let out a sigh of relief, but from the corner of his eye a shadow emerged from the closet.

Prompt 3: she nestled closer to him

“Don’t scream” she whispered holding a bat above her head.

Brandon stood there, frozen, then as he took in her tear stained face, he took a step forward, his heart pounding in his ears.

“Shhhh,” he said. “You’re safe with me, Melissa.”

She lowered the bat to her side, then let it fall to the floor. Her chest heaved as he closed the distance between them.

“I tried to find my family,” she stammered, shock covered her face. “I was so close…but all the bodies…there were so many…”

“It’s okay…” he murmured carefully. He noticed now how blood stained her clothes were. “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head no. His hands shook as he reached forward and pulled her into his chest. She nestled into him, tears shaking her body.

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