I typed
Writing prompt into an online search engine
and the first one on the first website said,
Set your story during a month of drought
— whether literal, or metaphorical
and I realised how thirsty I’d been for
at least the last three weeks and how sometimes
I quite literally do nothing to look after myself
even when my body wants me to. So I looked
at the second prompt on the website,
Set your story in a bar that doesn’t serve alcohol,
and I picked up the pint of water on my desk
that had a few bubbles of time floating and I
read the third writing prompt, Write a story
in the form of diary entries, written by someone
who has set themselves a month-long challenge,
and put the glass back down and convinced
my body I know what I’m doing.

Carl Burkitt 2024