1. Today’s Prompt!  An Unlikely Story --  Think of a realistic but highly unlikely scenario such as a Nobel-prize winner with several degrees living in a cardboard box and begging for food. Then write a prose piece detailing the scenario and how it came to be. Rather than merely reporting what happened, focus on whythings turned out the way they did.

2. Today’s Reading: Excerpt from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell -- Rainbow Rowell "Tell me about it," he said. "Tell me why you're so unhappy." "It's just... everything. There are too many people. And I don't fit in. I don't know how to be. Nothing that I'm good at is the sort of thing that matters here. Being smart doesn't matter-and being good with words. And when those things do matter, it's only because people want something from me. Not because they want me." The sympathy in his face was painful. "That doesn't sound like a decision, Cath. That sounds like giving up." "So what? I mean-" Her hands flew up, then fell in her lap. "- so what? It's not like I get a medal for sticking it out. It's just school. Who cares where I do it?" "You think it would be easier if you lived here." " Yes." "That's a crappy way to make decisions." "Says who? Winston Churchill?" "What's wrong with Winston Churchill?" "Nothing. Nothing. Just...isn't giving up allowed sometimes? Isn't it okay to say, 'This really hurts, so I'm going to stop trying'?" "It sets a dangerous precedent." "For avoiding pain?" "For avoiding life." --

3. Today’s Writing Assignment Cath has had a miserable first semester at college and wants to transfer so she can live at home. Her dad seems convinced that this is a mistake, despite not having seen the difficulties she's faced adjusting to life away from home. Is it ever okay to give up on someone or something, especially if it's causing emotional pain? Write a poem or flash fiction in which a character debates whether it's morally acceptable or cowardly to abandon someone or something.