25 more story starters

•Shadows quivered on the wall as the candle flickered, then fizzled to nothing.

•I could just make out the windows high in the castle wall.

•She SO did not want to be here, especially when. . .

•He slammed forward as the brakes screeched and the car . . .

•It was the strangest thing I had ever seen, with tubes and wires . . .

•The lane was night-dark, even at noon.

•He stared at the credit card, numbers blurring in front of his eyes, wondering if . . .

•She ducked as the plate smashed against the wall behind her.

•She hesitated at the post box, not knowing if she should really send the letter.

•It was one of those days when everything seemed to go wrong.

•My hand trembled as I punched the number into the phone.

•She knelt on the tile floor, carefully picking up the shards of glass. Why did it have to be this one that broke?

•Colors swooped and swirled behind his closed eyelids as the music soared, taking him back to . . .

•The chattering birds made her smile, until she heard a growl.

•The dream last night had seemed so real, but it was just a dream, right?•
The storm whipped the trees outside and she huddled into her quilt.

•Sun, sand, sea—total relaxation. So why couldn’t he let go?

•She watched his lithe body saunter away. “You’re engaged,” she reminded herself.

•She tore through the alley, ducked into a doorway, and tried to squeeze into nothingness.

•It wasn’t going to be easy, but somehow she had to confront her mother.

•Trapped. A rat in a maze, a tiger in a cage, every cliché he could think of—he was trapped.

•The building shook, lurching and jumping, and the little china horse fell off the mantel.

•The prickles on his neck told him he was being watched.

•The sun was soft and the boat rocked gently. It wasn’t so bad running out of fuel, until . . .

•Damn. She didn’t know passports even had an expiration date