Prompts

What challenged you as a . . . Prompt #203

Today’s writing prompt:  What challenged you as a fifteen-year-old?

Marlene.Tonga RoomWhen the prompt is a number or an age, you can adjust to whatever calls to you.  For example, with this prompt you can write about what was challenging when you were thirteen, or fourteen, or sixteen.  The exact age doesn’t matter. I chose fifteen because that is a pivotal year for some people.

Marlene, Tonga Room, Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, Junior Prom, 1965.

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6 comments

  1. Lisa Goben

    What could possibly make being sixteen more challenging than it already is? How about major back surgery for scoliosis? The doctor gave my parents the choice of surgery or having me wear a brace for four years adding that he didn’t think it would correct the problem. My parents left the decision to me because, they said, it was my life. I was numb but I decided to choose what seemed to be the lesser of two evils for me – take one year for the surgery and recovery or spend my last two high school years and two adult years in a back brace. I chose the surgery. I didn’t understand the entire process but I trusted that my parents wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me. In the end the recovery was the hardest part. I wore a body cast for eight months. Even kids that knew me stared at me in disbelief when I finally went back to school three months after the surgery. My best friend called out some of these people, yelling, “Hey! What are you staring at?” Everywhere I went strangers would ask me what happened, their voices filled with awe at seeing the body cast. I amused myself by making up a few stories for these folks. My favorite was the motorcycle accident. I was OK, but the Harley didn’t survive. Sometimes I went with the skiing accident story. These were more amusing to me because I’ve never been on a motorcycle or gone skiing in my entire life. But the real challenge was the depression that I didn’t expect. Watching my friends go out on dates, to prom, learning to drive while I was sitting at home.

    1. mcullen Post author

      Lisa, excellent writing. I like how you give us details so we know and understand what’s going on . . . poignant. And then, with humor, you give us some insight into how you handled this difficult situation. And then. . . with the details of depression. . . well, I want to know more! This sounds like the beginning of a great personal essay. If you continue with this and want to be published, sounds like a story for Chicken Soup. Thank you very much for posting and sharing your story.

  2. PamH

    Playing Chicken With The Ocean

    Rushing waves fill us with
    the thrill of the push,
    the pull to return.

    Standing on a boulder
    knee deep in water,
    we wave arms and shout
    our immortality at the sea.

    Summer.
    Youth full of wild berries, blazing suns.
    What the hell do grown-ups know?
    Arrogance, faith, innocence.
    Surging life with no boundaries.

    1. mcullen Post author

      Hi Pam, First, I like the title. I can picture this. I know what it looks like, feels like, sounds like. Each stanza has its own energy and vitality. Fun to read. Fun to contemplate. Thanks for posting!

  3. Lisa Goben

    Thank you for the feedback and encouraging words Marlene.

    1. mcullen Post author

      You are very welcome, Lisa.

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