A d’Verse prosery prompt
If you are a dreamer, come in, come in. That’s right, Dear, just hang your rainbow up over there on the moose and make yourself at home. I’ll be out in a jiffy; I’ve just put the aquarium on – would you fancy some beer or artichoke juice? Do you take tonic or paprika? One spade or two? Oh, and I’ve also got some fresh tuna steaks to munch on – my gerbil made them just last week! Now, Dear, what have you come to see me about?
What? Nightmares? Oh, how dreadful! Well, luckily for you, I’ve got just the thing. Take a look in your left shoe; that’s where I keep my special headphones. Those will do the trick! Just plug that end into a prune and wrap the earbuds around your big toes before going to sleep – you’ll never have another nightmare, guaranteed!
It’s prosery time at d’Verse. The rules are simple:
- Use an assigned line in the body of your prose. You may change the punctuation and capitalization, but you are not allowed to insert any words within the line itself. You can add words at the beginning and/or at the end of the line; but the line itself must remain intact.
- Your prose can be either flash fiction, nonfiction, or creative nonfiction. YOU CAN NOT WRITE A POEM for this prompt. AND, your prose should be no longer than 144 words, sans title. It does not have to be exactly 144 words. But it can be no longer than 144 words.
The assigned line was:
If you are a dreamer, come in.
-Shel Silverstein, ‘Invitation’ (a poem)
The Skeptic's Kaddish 🇮🇱 
It’s such a fabulously lopsided world, bound to distract the subject from his nightmares
Indeed, Larry. Thank you.
❤
David
Love the surreal quality here… I need to look in my shoes, I’m tired of nightmares.
Björn, I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Yours,
David
You took a walk off the edge of imagination to another world, beyond. Love it!
Thanks so much, Mish ❤
-David
It’s silly and delightful. Checking left shoe with six-year old presently. 🙂
My six-year-old already took hers off… nothing there…. 😉
Nice! I think there’s some hidden symbolism in the artichoke juice. Especially when paprika is added. I’ll sleep on it and figure it out! 😉
If it comes to you, please let me know, Tricia❣️
Just let me finish decoding the gematria…
LOL
A nice trip down Absurdity Lane. Loved it. Reminded me of those games we played as kids of asking someone for nouns, verbs, and adjectives to fill in the blanks – thus creating a story much like yours.
Yes, that’s exactly right, Ron, me too! What was it called…. oh! I remember! It’s ‘Mad Libs’!
Thank you!
David
A surrealistic take, just right for that phrase. (K)
🙏 Kerfe 🙏