flippin' frog

 

Advice is great, but advice on its own won’t make you a better writer. We become better writers by writing and it’s always easier to write when we’re inspired. To that end, a creative prompt using an ordinary item.

flippin’ frog | an exercise in the truly unique (if there is such a thing)

This week’s ordinary item: Three flippin’ frogs

What is it: All sharing the same name, yet unique in every other way - one flippin’ frog is a board game, one is a pub in the UK, and one is a pool care float.

I’m unique, aren’t I?

When I purchased my flippin’ frog, I thought it was one of kind. I couldn’t imagine another by the same name. The flippin’ frog became mine and mine alone. I felt pleased not to share. When I met a stranger and we got to small-talking, I spoke with a sparkle in my eye of the flippin’ frog. The flippin’ frog was my boast, though I knew none could relate since I possessed the only one.

Then, a collision of threes.

As I floated in my pool alongside flippin’ frog, a message from a friend, “Meet me for a drink?” Drying off I looked more closely at the details, “3p? At the flippin’ frog?”

My world shook.

With flippin’ frog in hand I headed to the flippin’ frog, cautiously stepping through the door, trying to keep an open mind. As I surveyed the frog, the third impact hit. There, just to my right, spread out on a table a board game, the lid tipped up just enough for me to read the name, “flippin’ frog game.”

This was more than my heart could take.

Seeing the flippin’ frog at the flippin’ frog, I dropped my flippin’ frog. My illusions were shattered and I crumpled to the floor.

The voice of my friend was the last thing I heard, “Dude, are you ok?”

—

Today’s task: Staying steady with our trend of threes, choose from one of these prompts:

  1. What is something truly one of a kind? Tell us about it.

  2. Or, what is something you once thought was one of a kind, but turned out not to be?

  3. Or, give us a short story using all three of the flippin’ frogs.

Remember: have fun with the exercise, push the boundaries, look at these “ordinary” items in an uncommon way. Most importantly, write something!

Inspire someone else — share this page with a friend or colleague.

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