Ivy Twines Preptober Prompts 2023

1. The Magician
Character Prompt: Write about your character performing a trick of some sort, or a daring feat. Will it work? Will they get into trouble for doing it?
Setting Prompt: Write about a fair or carnival visiting your setting. Does it effect the setting? If so, how?

Georg spotted her in the crowd. Oh great, and on the weekend, too. Tess tried to quickly look down at her watch, but before she could start flipping through the holo-images, Georg started call her name.

"Tess! Tess! Hey, fancy seeing you here?" Her high voice was crystal clear even in the din of the crowd. It would look obvious if Tess pretended not to hear her. It also didn't help that the girl was running straight toward her. She only had time to lower her wrist, letting the screen dim, before she could smell her new intern's familiar strawberry scent. (Was it soap? Diet? Most people had a dull earthy smell. Or was Georg's red hair playing tricks on her nose?)

"Hey Georg. Yeah, usually everyone in Lywood can't avoid the fair. I'm only here for the food." The annual Lywood Fair was a celebration of technology and community, but it was always a thorn in Tess's side. Not only did it stretch the limited resources of the time and justice department, but it also permeated almost every public branch lane, trunk station, and building. It was impossible to leave one's house without running into a traveling merchant showing the latest fashion or newest holo-ware. The merchants bringing food from distant lands and the understory, however, kept Tess's rage from boiling over.

"The food is great! I just tried something called lobster! They said it's not lab-grown, which I didn't even know was possible. It was pretty rich, in taste and price. I guess you can book a trip with the merchant to go to the coast. Maybe when I have vacation days, right?" Georg began to blush, her cheeks now matching the shade of her curly hair. Tess thought it was a presumption of her to think she would be staying in the department, but their month working together had taught Tess that silence was the best way to ride out the girl's babble.

But before she could continue, they were interrupted by a passing merchant. He was covered head to toe in black, so much so Tess wasn't sure he was a he or if he was even human. (An odd thought, considering the robots had left before she was born.) His voice was slimy and thick, but it could have been that of a young man. "You ladies look athletic! Would like to try my new Vine Traveler?"

Tess opened her mouth to give a firm no thank you, but Georg beat her to it. "Sure! What does it do?"

"It lets you pop down to the understory or even the forest floor, but with a touch of a button, you can pull yourself back up instantly. It's solar-powered." He patted the device proudly. It looked like a jet pack, but it had many twigs sticking out one end and a large solar panel on the other.

Tess expected Georg to volunteer ecstatically, as she did for most things. But the redhead's face had an unfamiliar look of apprehension. (Or was it fear?) Right, she was young. Lywoodians didn't go to the understudy anymore. With all the tall abandoned buildings of the loss city, Lywood's treetop haven had become completely self-sufficient over Tess's lifetime. The Lywood Fair was shifted over the years from allowing Lywoodians to obtain resources to allowing non-Lywoodians a prospective place in the city's economy. Young Lywoodians had never even left the treetops. It was dangerous out there, but Tess would argue not as dangerous as this generation's parents made it seem.

Tess smirked. "Sure, I'll give it go. Georg, would you like a souvenir from the loss city? I'll see what's on the floor."

The color drained from Georg's face, and for once, she was speechless. Sure Tess was afraid of falling or not being able to get back up or getting lost or getting eaten, but the speechlessness was worth it. Plus as a detective, she had a timelex. Falling to her death should fall under one of the emergency situations she was allowed to use it.

WC 676/400