Story a day: Day one

Okay,

 

It is 1 May and so we are starting another month of the story a day challenge. There were actually two prompts delivered today and so I have decided to use both of them to write today’s story. Well, the first prompt was to write a story in 30 minutes. It suggested using a character and pushing them beyond their comfort zone. The second prompt gave you the first line of a story.

 

Write a story In 30 Minutes

This prompt is a great one for the first day because this is a day when you’re probably the most excited about the challenge and your ambitions are high and you’re quite likely to try and do too much.

The Prompt

Write a story in 30 minutes

 

And

 

Today we’re kicking off StoryADay May 2016 with a prompt from the fabulous Jonathan Maberry.  (If you have a chance to hear him speak at a writer’s conference/group/signing, go! You’ll be inspired to run home and write!)

The Prompt

When Terry began scrolling through her phone, none of the photos she found were hers.

 

 

Due to the time restriction, I am not sure how complete (or how much sense) this story is going to make… But, bear with me!

 

Phone photos

When Terry began scrolling through her phone, none of the photos she found were hers. Her brow puckered in confusion as she looked through picture after picture of people that she did not know. Some of the pictures were quite personal, not like nude shots or anything like that, but just personal pictures of friends and family. They certainly look like they might have been important to their owner.

Saying that, The pictures that she had lost were very important to her. She turned the phone over in her hands just to make sure that she had not picked up somebody else’s phone by mistake. No, all of the scuffs marks that she was used to what present and correct, as was the crack in the screen in the bottom corner. She was definitely holding her own phone.

Brushing her curly dark hair behind her ears Terry decided to log onto her computer and check to see if anything was being discussed on Facebook. She was absolutely certain that she would find the problem on social media or by a quick Google search. So, it was a great degree of confidence that carried her towards her desktop computer and the keyboard lying in front of it.

After approximately half an hour Terry had given up with any plan of finding a simple solution. Nothing was recorded online of anyone having a similar experience. She was almost tempted to ring Apple to complain about the lack of security with their cloud. However, because nobody else appeared to be having this problem there was not a lot that she was able to do.

She emailed herself the pictures, (or some at least) so that she could post them on Facebook in the hope that somebody, somewhere would know who these people were. Mind you, as she was clicking send she did have a moment of guilt because it was some stranger and she did not know if they would appreciate their pictures being shared online.

As people started replying to her post a new possibility came to light. One of her friends suggested that she may have been the victim of a crime of hacking. They told her that they did not believe it was anything innocent. Instead, they believed that she was being stalked by somebody within those pictures. As she had now broadcast her own location on Facebook, she could be in real trouble.

Terry was shaking by the time she wrapped her coat around herself and headed towards the door. What if they were right? What if she had led some stranger to her doorstep? Could it be that she was going to be the victim of some ghastly crime simply by trying to find out the identity of the people staring up at her from her phone?

As she opened the door somebody was standing just outside ready to knock. Both Terry and the stranger jumped backward in surprise. He quickly managed to compose himself and he stepped forwards with a smile and a hand outstretched ready to be shaken. “Hi, my name is Brandon and I believe that we have got each other’s pictures.”

“Do you know how?” Terry was holding on to the door ready to slam it in the stranger’s face if there were any signs of trouble.

“I am not sure but I think it might be something to do with Bluetooth. I know it is unreliable and I really should not have it on all of the time, but I have never had anything like this. Anyway, rest assured that your pictures are safe even though they are on the wrong phone. To you fancy going to get a Coffee while we try and get our own pictures back where they belong?”

There could be no harm in that. Terry gave Brandon a bright smile and stretched out her hand. “I am Terry, and I would be more than happy to go and get a drink while we are swapping our pictures back.”

Sadly, her friend had been right in telling her that she was being stalked. I mutilated remains were found in an alleyway near her own house.