^{Image created in Canva by me utilizing it's free bckgrnd and image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay}

The Ink Well is engaged this month in the Fast and Furious Festival. That means 20 days of fun, excitement, and learning. Day 2 of the Festival deals with the setting of a story. I'm excited to learn from a different perspective how to create the perfect setting for any genre of story or background.

If you'd like to join in this festival, then check it out for Day 2 here.

Day 2 Prompt - Setting

Task 1

Describe a room (eg kitchen, bedroom, living room) in a character's house in such a way that it tells us about a person's greatest hopes and fears. Source of directions taken from The Ink Well Fast and Furious Festival - Day 2 Post.

The thought of making the effort to keep up her strength gives Mabel chills as she replaces the throw over her head. Eating before taking the medicine is crucial. The kitchen is situated just off the main entrance to the the house. However, her journey is slow as the path is littered with debris. Efforts to remove the items were abandoned two years ago.

The toaster oven ordered last month may be the safest bet, she thought. Upon reaching the kitchen, she notices bugs lining the ceiling, walls, and counters. She brushes them away without a second thought as she struggles to remember where she last saw the appliance. She removes numerous items until the toaster oven is in view. Newspaper and empty paper plates sit on top. Opening it, a flurry of activity could be detected as she lowers her head to examines where they're coming from. She already knows, so she retreats, deciding to make her way to the cabinet. A box of cereal will have to suffice. The bag clip seems to work, but milk will be tricky. All her hopes depends on how long it had lasted since last month's grocery run.

She squeals out in pain as her foot comes into contact with the jagged edges of an open can lying in the trash on the floor. She lunges toward the refrigerator and grabs onto its handles to steady herself. Ten minutes later, she opens the fridge to discover the milk has expired. Nothing else inside is edible. No matter. She makes her way back to the counter, pushing the can aside. She pours the milk into the cereal, careful to wipe away the remnants of bug waste at the bottom of the plastic bowl.

She stands, eating her breakfast then gazes at the wall holding the mail slot. The recent envelope is visible with the pink notice inside advising the Health's Dept.'s City Inspector will be arriving on the first of next month. She knows there's only several days left to undertake the massive cleanup required to bring not only the kitchen, but the entire house into compliance, or else. She exits as carefully as she entered knowing this won't happen.

Task 2

Choose a painting by an artist - this can be a favourite of yours or a well-known artist from where you live. Now imagine a living room inspired by that painting, and show the room after a couple have had the worst fight of their relationship. Source of directions taken from The Ink Well Fast and Furious Festival - Day 2 Post.

If walls could talk, they'd say the twelve square feet of living room space was never large enough to accommodate the numerous items they were asked to showcase. It did the best it could under the circumstances.

The only acceptable item was the beautiful painting that almost filled an entire wall. The low ceiling in the room meant the painting truly wasn't designed to live in this space. However, the aqua, lime green, black, and gray can't be detected in the colors of each of the oversized furniture items pushed into the adjoining dining room.

The black color on the walls, wainscoting panels, and baseboards inspired by the painting is a mixture of varied colors scarred with marks from a painter's tool. The ring of dust imprinted on the floor reveals the space where the overly large recliner previously sat.

Gone is the oversized love seat. Gone is the wrap around theater seating. Gone is the 65 inch television anchored on the wall. Gone is the set of lime green curtains.

Ten gallons of wall paint line the entrance to the room. In the corner near the fireplace lay the remains of that gigantic portrait. The couple admires the painting they both love that's lying on the floor. The frame is tattered and some edges broken off, but just like their relationship, the foundation is still intact.

If walls could talk, they'd also say it was the best fight of the couple's relationship that will result in the best living room makeover they'd seen.

Task 3

Choose a famous moment from history and create a new fictitious element: write about the setting. For example, "A romance for Napoleon just three days before the battle of Waterloo." Source of directions taken from The Ink Well Fast and Furious Festival - Day 2 Post.

The door had long been removed for ease of ingress and egress.

Gisella sat in the high back chair facing away from its beaded entrance to her room. Her small flat in Southampton, England welcomed numerous visitors this past month.

The small, round table held a cup of strong black coffee whose smell filled the air. The deck of tarot cards spread across the table looked resolute. Her gray eyes not focused on them; instead looking straight ahead at the calendar on the left wall. April 10, 1912 stared back at her.

She lowered her eyes and a tear dropped slowly from her cheek as her hand covered the unopened letter addressed to the builders a few years before. The light blue curtain and its matching lining blew gently in the wind that ushered in the mist of the evening rain. A robin joined Gisella as it usually did by perching on the sill. Its voice provided a soothing tone to the otherwise silent room.

The telephone sat atop the high stool in the corner waiting to receive word the ship was now at the bottom of the ocean.

Task 4

Write notes for a story setting inspired by the image. Source of directions taken from The Ink Well Fast and Furious Festival - Day 2 Post.

• Older neighborhood, timeline in last five years;
• Either early morning or afternoon;
• Either houses or cafes line the street with Asian architecture;
• Lanterns or large orange lights handing from buildings;
• Some business may be boarded up. What happened?
• Thin, tall trees; one long branches extending outwards towards street;
• Street is empty, except for a few people. Why?
• Rain and gray, overcast day;
• Large birds circling low overhead;
• Motorbikes lining parking areas on both sides of street;
• Lone man walking with head down in the middle of street with no umbrella, hoodie jacket, shorts and flip flops; suggests perhaps looking a mobile phone and the season is other than winter;
• One man riding motorbike; one sitting on bike.

I approached this Day 2 assignment by attempting to tackle all 4 tasks. I wanted to see how long it would take me to complete them without interruptions.