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The Adopted Daughter

patience37 — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 08:20:15 GMT

‎Three children lived together in the village called Buga: Rebecca, Lydia, and Linda. Their mom treated them unfairly just because Linda had been adopted by their father before he passed away. Their mom was shocked by her behavior toward Linda when Linda finally succeeded.

‎

‎Pixabay
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Every market day, their mom usually went to the market to sell things and came back. She did different types of business. She sold food at the market, and every market day she also sold clothes.
‎
‎One market day, after their mom came back from the market, she called Rebecca and said, " Come and take these clothes I bought for you.” She got a fine dress for Rebecca. Rebecca was very happy and wore it happily. Their mom called Lydia and said, “Come and take the clothes I bought for you.” She got a fine pair of trousers and a top for Lydia. Lydia was very happy, and she also wore them happily. Linda expected new clothes, but instead, their mom didn't even call her. Linda was also disturbed by how the other children were happy and rejoicing over their new clothes.
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‎The following day, their mother went to sell food, and on her way back, she kept some food for Rebecca and gave her food differently, with a big piece of meat. Rebecca was very happy.
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‎Their mom also called Lydia and gave her food with a big piece of meat. Lydia collected it happily.
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‎When she called Linda, she gave her food without any meat. Linda collected it happily, too. She wasn't disturbed at all.
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‎Their mother continued to treat them differently and unfairly. Linda was used to everything their mom did. Linda was the one who fetched water for the family. Linda was also the one who cooked for the family. Linda did almost all the household chores.
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‎Their mom didn’t want her daughters to suffer, but Rebecca and Lydia weren’t working hard. Instead, they did very little and left the rest for Linda to complete. Linda got used to all the housework.
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‎When Rebecca, Lydia, and Linda had all grown up, Linda was sent to the market by their mom to get foodstuffs. She met a young man named Simone. Simone said he liked her and wanted to be her friend, so after a while, she accepted. Gradually, they became more than friends, and they loved each other very well.
‎Anytime their mom sent her to the market or any other place, Simone always escorted her.
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‎They grew more intimate, and Simone was just a little businessman. His business was not big, and he was managing. So he decided to marry Linda, and she also accepted. When they got to the house, they asked her mom for her hand in marriage.
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‎Their mom accepted. Because she knew Simone wasn’t rich. After they got married, Linda left their house. The mom began to notice some laziness in the children that she calls her children. They couldn't complete the work in their house. Fetching water was very difficult for them. This was when they began to do those things. Their mother realized that she had been unfair in her behavior.
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‎Linda leaving was also a plus for them because there was no one to do all the work in the house, so they had no option but to learn everything and work themselves. Their mother decided to go meet Linda and apologize. When she got there, she apologized to Linda for everything.
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‎Linda was very kind, and she said, “Mama, don't worry. You have nothing to worry about. I'm still your daughter.” The mom was very happy. At the same time, Simone’s uncle called him and said that he was traveling and would not come back because he had a new job. He asked Simone to come and continue his big stores, where he sold provisions in the city.
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‎They rejoiced and were happy. Linda said, “Mama, your coming here is a blessing.” Linda was very happy that she was going to the city.

The Lighthouse Letters

vision-of-esca — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 01:29:21 GMT

![lighthouse at dusk](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/vision-of-esca/23xVCycDSvu39AVZ9g1i3GsuHcv33CHYaJZzpDWsRhnHcJCGuqr5Uw4CdUpVEm4RH7LkR.jpg)

On the last evening of September, Ana climbed the lighthouse with the official letter in her apron pocket, the one that said the lamp would be automated in October and her services — the letter's phrase — would no longer be required. She had kept the light for eleven years, since the winter her father, who had kept it for thirty, did not come down the stairs one morning. The town was used to her silhouette in the gallery at dusk. The town would get used to a machine. Towns are good at that. It is their one talent.

She lit the lamp the way he had taught her, in the order he had taught her, and then, because there was nothing left to rehearse her leaving on, she went down to the keeper's room to sort the logbooks for the maritime office — and found, behind the logbooks, in the wall cupboard where the spare mantles were kept, a biscuit tin she had never seen.

It was not locked. Her father had never locked anything in his life, on the principle that the sea took what it wanted anyway.

Inside the tin were letters. Dozens of them. All in his hand, all sealed, all addressed — she turned the first one over twice before she believed it — to ships.

![pen, ink and an empty page](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/vision-of-esca/EoCkWeceYN4oSASSZ34HrNpCY4iSf2rd4yyaryfwt6P5YNv3iGTJhM4hww9iLRicmtr.jpg)

For the Marigold, out of Bergen, passing north, 14 November 1979. Her father's upright writing, the ink gone brown: You were the first ship I ever lit home. Your captain will not remember the night the fog came down like a hand, but I do. I kept the lamp slow and steady so you would know it was a man awake up here and not a mechanism. Safe travels. You were seen.

For the unnamed coaster, 2 March 1984. You passed so close in the storm that I could hear your bell. I have no gift for you but this: the light you saw was lit on purpose. Someone on this rock knew you were out there in it. That is the whole of my religion, and you are welcome to it.

Eleven years of climbing those stairs, Ana had believed her father a silent man. She had furnished the silence with her own guesses — grief for her mother, the ordinary muteness of men of his generation, a keeper's economy of words. All the while he had been writing letters he never sent, to people he would never meet, thanking them for passing his light.

She read until the lamp needed trimming, in the middle of the night, sitting on the floor with her back against the cupboard and the tin between her knees like a second heart.

![a window open to the sea](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/vision-of-esca/23x12vbviAn7r8oUgEf8ECz3rKf2J5EQ2thhp7zgzNEhw96nSPwQpMi2ysNXTZTCsd99Z.jpg)

Near the bottom of the tin the letters changed. The ships grew fewer. The handwriting, that upright schoolboy hand, began to lean.

For the ferry crew, who wave. Nobody waves at a machine. Remember that when they give you one.

For Ana, who will keep this light after me, though she does not know it yet. Her hands stopped being steady. You are nine years old as I write this, and asleep in the room below, and you have your mother's entire face. I am not a man who says things in time. It appears I am a man who writes them too late, to be read by lamplight, which is at least the right light for honesty. The light is not the job, Ana. The job is that someone is awake. Any fool can tend a lamp. Stay awake for them. That is the whole of the work, and you were always better at staying awake than I was.

There was no more after that. The tin's last letter was the one he had never needed to send, because she had come up the stairs that winter morning and simply never gone back down to her old life — and he, being her father, had counted that as delivery.

![a small boat in a quiet harbour](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/vision-of-esca/2466pVMHwQLD3Cko8mjDj2DbHYhRBYPtK8qUNfPegw9TiZJWgeD5ZDQDGJXrdopZjBCtp.jpg)

In the morning she telephoned the maritime office and asked, in her keeper's voice, whether the logbooks had to be surrendered complete. A clerk said the final logbook should be closed and signed by the last keeper. That was all. Nobody said anything about what a logbook was for.

So on the last night of September — no. On the first night of October, the true last night, she climbed the stairs at dusk with the official letter in one pocket and her father's pen in the other. She lit the lamp in the order she had been taught. She trimmed it at midnight. At three, when the fishing boats went out under her light the way they had gone out under two generations of her family, she opened the final logbook to its final page and wrote, in handwriting that leaned a little, like his:

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When an Eavesdropper Learned What a Family Refused to Learn

pamilerin1 — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 23:11:36 GMT

The Danger of Rejecting Modern Medicine

The scene opens with what appears to be an argument between Mrs Ayantunga and Dr Jolaoso. It turns out that Mrs Ayantunga, the wife of Mr Ayantunga, does not believe in genotype and blood group testing before marriage. She stated hat her own marriage ws not based on genotype but love.

She also did not believe that modern medicine was better than traditional medicine.

she said, "I can't be involved in anything that the Oyinbos, which means white people, are doing, as it is a form of enslavement."

Dr Jolaoso, being an experienced person, advised her to take her health more seriously. She explained that these medical facilities and technologies were there to equip people positively and improve their well-being.

Dr Jolaoso also explained the implications of an AS genotype marrying another AS genotype or an SS genotype marrying someone with an SS genotype. She used probability to demonstrate the possible outcomes.

Mrs Ayantunga asked Dr Jolaoso about the terminology SS and what it meant.

Dr Jolaoso explained that people with the SS genotype have sickle cell disease. She added that people living with sickle cell disease often experience episodes of illness and may have a reduced life expectancy, particularly when they do not receive appropriate medical care.

Sickle cell disease can lead to serious complications and, in some cases, death, including in children. She further explained that some deaths associated with sickle cell disease might have been interpreted as abiku in the olden days, especially when a woman repeatedly lost her children. People sometimes believed that the problem was spiritual rather than medical.

Mrs Ayantunga was not convinced by the explanation.

She argued that even if deaths associated with sickle cell disease were called abiku, they needed to consult the deities to bring the lost child back through another child. They could then give the child names such as Tiodunmo (no longer sweet) or Babatunde (the father has returned), believing that the previously deceased person had come back.

Dr Jolaoso was a bit sad and bitter.

She felt that, despite all her explanations, Mrs Ayantunga had not understood the real message she was trying to pass across.

Dr Jolaoso added, "Please, make sure you have a counsellor and plan your children. People now practise what we call family planning or birth control."

Mrs Ayantunga responded that there were better traditional methods that worked.

After that rather lengthy conversation, she went to meet her husband, who accepted her point of view over that of the doctor.

Two years after their marriage, Mr and Mrs Ayantunga welcomed their first baby boy.

They were so happy! He was born at a traditional birth centre. Dr Jolaoso, their knowledgeable family friend, never stopped giving them advice. She fully understood that most of her advice went down the drain.

At the naming ceremony, the newborn was given the names Olamide Ojumirayo. Olamide was a very handsome boy. Dr Jolaoso loved him and called him Big Daddy because he was chubby.

Dr Jolaoso also insisted that they must ensure the child received his vaccines at the various stages of his development, including the polio and measles vaccines.

They nodded in agreement, but exchanged glances that seemed to suggest that the doctor's advice was becoming too much.

At about the age of five, Olamide started developing a fever.

Baba Olamide, Mr Ayantunga, gave him herbal medicine, stating that dongoyaro (neem) would be able to cure him of any infection. He believed that it contained a high dose of gedunin.

As the symptoms persisted, they eventually rushed him to Baba Onifade, an herbalist and native doctor.

On seeing the child, Baba Onifade told the parents that it was a very severe case of malaria.

He began performing some incantations. All of a sudden, he stood up and went into the bush to get some leaves. On his return, Mama Ayantunga felt happy. They thought that the deities had revealed what needed to be done to him.

After giving Olamide the leaves, however, his condition did not improve.

Soon, he began experiencing stiffness, painful muscle spasms and other troubling symptoms.

Baba Onifade immediately referred him to the hospital.

Mr and Mrs Ayantunga were shocked. Hospital! They wondered why they needed to go to the hospital when the native doctor could do better.

They immediately called Dr Jolaoso.

On hearing the news, Dr Jolaoso asked, "Have you collected those vaccines?"

The parents were unresponsive.

Dr Jolaoso loved children, and she sprang into action, directing an ambulance to the native doctor's residence to rescue the boy.

His parents followed behind as Dr Jolaoso began to weep.

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THE DEAL OF A LIFE TIME

kilvnrex — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 22:27:18 GMT

Sam had prepared all night, so much that he could hardly get a good night's sleep before his big day. He had gone through every single slide, and every single information in the proposal, all he needed to do was crush it when he spoke with the investors at noon. But like every entrepreneur about to hit their first million, Sam was so nervous that time looked slow while he waited for noon to come. After sleeping at 5:00 am in the morning, he was already up by 7:00 am after dreaming that he went late for his presentation. Now he was awake, unable to sleep, and the only thing to do was to cross check every single thing he had spent his entire night checking.

Sara: Calm down my love, I believe you got this, you have gone through everything for the 10th time since yesterday and so far everything looks perfect. Sam’s wife said while preparing breakfast in the kitchen. This time Sam sat in the dining room, mind closed from everything going on around him. He didn’t even reply because he did not hear her until she brought some pancakes to the dining table, looked at her husband with a smile and gently rested her hands on his shoulders.

Sara: My love, you got this already and everything is perfect, what you need to do now is eat and maybe take a nap, you hardly got any sleep yesterday, in as much as I want you to seal this deal for us, I also want my husband to be in the best mental and physical state, I don’t want you to exact all your energy and health in this presentation and then fall sick out of exhaustion and are unable to deliver afterwards.

Sam had been a struggling software engineer who had worked with a couple of big firms but was paid peanuts. He finally left his last company to focus on his start up when he made a revolutionary software that caught the interest of a lot of investors. Now he finally has the opportunity to showcase his work and get investors to invest in him and he was not ready to let this lifetime opportunity slip away from his hands. Sam had always been a hard worker, one who paid attention to details, but he had always been so unfortunate to meet people who wanted his hard work but were not ready to pay enough for it. This time things were going to change and Sam would be getting the kind of recognition he deserved.

After being forced to eat and stay away from his laptop, the only thing Sam could think about is just how he was going to start his presentation. He had run the numbers in his head, went through everything and felt there was something still missing. For a person like Sam, when he feels something is not missing, it means something is actually missing because of how much he pays attention to details. But this time, Sam could not find what was missing. Something was feeling wrong, but even though he had gone through everything, he could not place his hands on it.

Thinking about this, Sam did not even know how exhausted he was until he finally dozed off only to feel a light tap on his shoulders while he slept on the couch. With anxiety he jumped up startled and confused. Calm down husband, it’s just a few minutes past 10:00 am, I knew you would want to go very early so I decided to wake you up on time (Sara said to him smiling). Okay, okay, thank you my love, I will quickly freshen up and we can start going. 10 minutes later, Sam was all dressed up and ready, with his wife already with the car keys, they both stepped out of the house into the car driving to the company that was going to change Sam’s life.

On reaching the company, Sam and his wife walked into the reception only to discover that there was no one at the reception but seeing cars parked outside there were definitely people inside the company, while he wanted to sit and wait, Sara had another opinion. Why don’t we go around and see things for ourselves (she said) After all, this might be one of your future partners very soon. I'm sure they will be happy to know we came early, and besides they had already said in the mail that the meeting would be held in the conference room, so we just need to look for it.
https://img.leopedia.io/DQmTQysTXThHPRHzcgLsySAAFiq2mKAN5X8Cgnh6vY21LPp/2151893421.jpg

Image by magnific

Still nervous, Sam reluctantly followed his wife to the elevator at the reception and there there was a floor labeled "conference room”. Seems like we don’t need to look for it after all (sara said as she pressed the elevator button.) On reaching the conference room floor, Sam saw a crowd of people gathered at the reception listening to the CEO give instructions and the instructions the CEO was giving made Sam remember what he felt was missing from the entire presentation.

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The diary of an orphan

wakkymfon — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 22:25:45 GMT

The sun set, the birds flapped their wings, singing praises to nature in appreciation of another beautiful day. The cock crowed telling people it's morning already.

In the cold of the morning, little David began to wonder around a palm fruit plantation praying to God in his harmless mind if some fruits could drop to give him food for the day. He began to pick some palm fruits into an old sack that his parents left behind; but ants wouldn't let him be. They were fisting on him but he had no choice rather than continue.

Within his mind, David was thinking; if I give up because of these ants, what will I eat, how will I buy my books, pens and other writing materials? I need to go to school, graduate and become a medical doctor. As he was pondering over these, warm tears rolled down his eyes. Then he recalled his father's word to him while alive, "David my child, I'll work hard to make sure I see you through school. I want you to become a medical doctor" David couldn't hold himself anymore. He cried bitterly but there was no one to comfort him.

Once in a little town lived Mene, his wife, Miriam and their only son David, whom they treasured so much. Mene and Miriam were happily married. Though they were poor but one thing that bonded them was love.

Every morning, after preparing David to school, Mene and his wife would use their old boat to cross a nearby river insearch of palm leaves inorder to produce broom for the next market day. They did these continuously and they never lacked food, they were able to pay David's school fee and provide other needs.

They promised themselves that their son shall not stop were they stopped. So they enrolled him in an outstanding school. Hoping that one day their child would make them proud and atleast bring them out of poverty.

David, my child, his father said. "I'll make sure I send you to school to become a medical doctor. What I couldn't achieve, you must achieve. Take your studies serious and leave the fees to us.

David was so happy because he lacked nothing despite the fact that his parents were poor

At age six, David was preparing for the third terminal exams in primary two. He never joked with his studies because he wanted to make his parents proud.

David, his father called. I'll will clear your fees on Friday. I and your mother will try to gather enough palm leaves this week in order to produce more brooms. Okay!

Yes father, David replied. He jumped for joy on hearing this because the headmistress had earlier announced that debtors should clear their fees without which they will not be allowed to write their promotional exams.

Mene and Miriam crossed the river as usual to find more palm leaves because the plantation close to them wasn't big enough.

By evening, they gathered enough. Packed in their boat and began to paddle home. But in the middle of the river, the wave rose, the river became unstable; even the boat became heavier. They struggled to paddle through, but couldn't. That was how they got drown.

Back home, David had returned from school. Ate the food his mother kept for him and was on his study table reading.

Evening came, but Mene and Miriam didn't return. David began to worry, he said to himself "my parents have never stayed long like this. What could be the problem? He asked rhytorically.

While he was wondering, some Fisher men stopped by their hut and broke the unforgettable news of his parents' death. David cried and even wished he could join his late parents.

After two days, the bodies of his late parents were found and were buried as well.

Life became so difficult for David. He was left with nothing. But he didn't give up.

That term, the headmistress on hearing the sad news had compassion on David and cancelled his debt. He was allowed to write exams. David came out as usual with flying colours, this made the headmistress so happy.

During the holidays, David worked so hard, he will visit the palm tree plantation close by, gather some fallen palm fruits and sell them in the market. He didn't rest. He kept on doing that till the beginning of another term.

There were days he ate just once inorder to save his money.

Another school year began, and David set out to school, by then he was in primary three. He bought all his writing materials with the money he saved and also paid part of his fees. There were days he will skip classes inorder to gather palm fruit to sell and make ends meet.

One evening, he was so hungry and he felt so sad. There was nothing to eat. He could not make enough money that week. He remembered his parents' care and promises. And cried all through the night calling his late parents to come to his rescue.

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The Price Of A Dream.

treasuree — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 20:52:42 GMT

Tunde came home from Lagos on a Thursday without telling anybody, the bus from Ojota dropped him at Challenge at 8pm, and by the time he reached Bodija, the whole street had gone quiet except for the generators.

He had planned to surprise his mother. Maybe make her shout and slap his shoulder the way she did, Instead he pushed the gate softly and heard his father's voice coming from the back of the compound, low and urgent.

Baba Tunde never talked low, that man had one volume, and it was "market".

Tunde crept past the parked Corolla, the one with the cracked side mirror his father refused to fix, and stopped behind the kitchen wall.

"No, no, Alhaji, I said Friday," his father was saying, "Friday morning, the boy must not know."

Tunde's chest tightened....

"The car is clean, engine no dey worry anybody, you promised me one point eight million," A pause, "Ehn? Because the boy's visa interview is in three weeks, that is why, the embassy people want proof of funds, I no fit show them my face and say 'my son wants to travel.'"

Tunde's hand went to his mouth.

"Of course he thinks I don't support him, let him think it, he is angry now, but he will thank me later, please just bring the money Friday."

The call ended, Silence, then Tunde heard something he had never heard in twenty-six years, his father sighing, long and tired, like a man putting down a very heavy load.

He should have walked away. He knew that, but his feet didn't move, and a stone scraped under his shoe.

"Who is that?"

Tunde froze...

Baba Tunde stepped around the corner with a torchlight in one hand and a cutlass in the other, the cutlass he used for the plantain stems, when the light landed on Tunde's face, the old man's whole body changed, the cutlass dropped, his mouth opened and closed.

"Tunde? What are you doing here? Why you no call?"

"Daddy..."

"How long have you been standing there?"

Tunde swallowed, "Long enough."

His father looked away fast, the way people do when they've been caught naked, he picked up the cutlass and tried to laugh. "Ah, you know say your father dey talk too much on phone, Na small business matter. Nothing serious."

"Daddy, you are selling the car."

"Which car? Who said that?"

"I heard you."

"You weren't supposed to hear that," Baba Tunde said quietly, all the market had left his voice, "You weren't supposed to hear that at all."

The generator next door coughed and died, now there was only the sound of crickets....

"Why did not you tell me?" Tunde's voice cracked. "Three months ago I called you and begged for help with the application fee. You said you had nothing. You said I should 'face my life.' I didn't talk to you for two weeks, Daddy, two weeks! I told my friends you didn't care."

"I know."..

"So why?"

Baba Tunde sat down slowly on the overturnedy bucket by the wall, in the torchlight he looked smaller, greyer, "Because if I told you I could help, you would relax, You would stop pushing. You are like me, Tunde, once the road is easy, you start to walk slow." He rubbed his knee, "And I didn't want to promise something and fail, the money was not there, not until Alhaji agreed to buy the car."

"That car is your whole life! You drove me to school in it, youu drove Mummy to the hospital when she—" Tunde stopped, his eyes burning, "You love that car more than you love your own legs."

"I love you more than my legs."

It came out so plainly that neither of them knew what to do with it, Baba Tunde looked embarrassed, as if he had said something rude, Tunde let out a wet laugh and wiped his face with his sleeve.

"Daddy, I can't let you sell it."

"You can't stop me, I am the father here....." He tried to smile, "Besides, a man my age should be walking. Doctor said so."

"Which doctor?"

"Any doctor."

They both laughed then, quietly, awkwardly, two stubborn men in the dark behind a kitchen, after a while Tunde sat on the ground next to the bucket and rested his head against his father's knee, like he used to when he was six.

The kitchen light came on his mother's silhouette appeared in the window, hands on hips.

"Who is that outside? Tunde? Is that my son?"

"Mummy, go and sleep!" Baba Tunde shouted, his market voice back in full, "We are having a private conversation!"

"A private conversation, in the dark, with cutlass?"

Tunde laughed harder, his father squeezed his shoulder once, firmly.

"Friday," the old man said, "Don't say anything, you hear? Let me do this."

Tunde looked up at the cracked side mirror shining dimly in the torchlight.

"Okay, Daddy," he said, "But I'm driving you to Alhaji myself, one last time."

_{Image Is Generate With Chatgpt.}

The Hive Creatives Magazine From The Inkwell Curators - Issue # 56

theinkwell — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 16:10:03 GMT

![HiveCreatives.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/theinkwell/23ynUbVxMsh7iN2oZRmz3xui5Y674JG12sz7HS95gvg8pDR1NWczt3XcbQXFzu72k1C1A.jpg)_{Image generated with Leonardo.ai}Welcome to the Hive Creatives Magazine! What's it all about? The Ink Well curators are branching out! For years we have been curating the fiction and creative nonfiction short stories posted by writers in our community. And now we are excited to curate and showcase creative work from across the blockchain — from beautiful photography and artwork to riveting stories and essays. Why? We love creativity! Read on to see what we have in store in this edition of the magazine.

Featured Creative: @harveyword ## [ Monomad Photography - Two Photos from Suwa in Japan ](https://ecency.com/@harveyword/monomad-photography-two-photos-from-suwa-in-japan)

_{Discovered in Black and White}

Image Credit: Author's own image

Featured Creative: @janadeluna
Loss and death always go hand in hand with life

_{Discovered in Shadow Hunters}

Image: Author's own image

Featured Creative: @carisma77 ## [My little cat was aggressive for a short while—what happened? 😡🐱 (ENG-ESP)](https://peakd.com/hive-196708/@carisma77/my-little-cat-was-aggressive-for-a-short-whilewhat-happened-eng-esp)
_{Discovered in Hive Pets}

Image Author's own image

Featured Creative: @rinconpoetico7 ## [A Halloween Night ](https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@rinconpoetico7/fiction-a-halloween-night-una-noche-de-halloween-enes-3p3)
_{Discovered in the Inkwell Community}

Image: Pixabay

Featured Creative: @sanjeevm ## [Goodbye is difficult but duty takes precedence](https://peakd.com/hive-126152/@sanjeevm/goodbye-is-difficult-but-duty-takes-precedence )
_{Discovered in Reflections}

Image: Author's own image

Featured Creative: @cryptoandcoffee ## [This Is Actually Quite interesting](https://peakd.com/hive-178138/@cryptoandcoffee/this-is-actually-quite-interesting)
_{Discovered in The Pub}

Credit: X.com

Featured Creative: @emreal
The Cobra That Chased Me

_{Discovered in the Inkwell Community}

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The Inkwell Combined Writing Prompt #56 ~ Fiction or Creative Nonfiction

theinkwell — Tue, 27 Oct 2026 04:55:00 GMT

![fill1970-a-restaurant-3136935.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/theinkwell/23uQvaQUDXaBvWjR5xYbmBaFpv14edPksoo8q4VAosQTXHf7XHAaWrr77oZ4NNpK2qtvg.jpg)

_{Source: Pixabay}

Welcome to the Weekly Writing Prompt from The Ink Well

We provide one weekly writing prompt for short story writers. You may choose to use the prompt to write a fictional story (made up from your imagination) or a creative nonfiction story (based on your real-life experiences).

IMPORTANT NOTES TO BE CONSIDERED FOR CURATION
If you want to be curated, you must follow these rules:

You must write the story yourself. Use your own words not an AI tool, to write your story. And do not use editing tools like Grammarly to revise your writing. Grammarly should be used to catch minor errors, not to rewrite what you wrote.
You must read and comment on the work of two other community members for each story you publish in The Ink Well. Remember: We look for this when we curate your story. If we don't see this engagement, we will either provide a reminder or skip curating your post.
You must include one of these tags on your post:

Fictional stories: #fiction
Creative nonfiction stories: #creativenonfiction

It is also very helpful to the admin team when authors add Fiction or Creative Nonfiction (or CNF for short) to the story title!

Before You Post in The Ink Well

Be sure to check out our community rules before posting in this community. You can find them at the top of our home page. They also appear at the top of a new post window.

Please also check out these additional helpful resources:

Learn more about our community and the expectations of community members in our FAQ post and our treasure trove of tips and guidelines.
Peruse our collection of great writing resources on everything from character development to how to write dialogue in our catalog of storytelling tips.
Learn more about creative nonfiction, how it differs from fictional stories, and tips for success in our post on creative nonfiction tips.
Remember that we are always about quality first. Never about quantity. To achieve awards in The Ink Well, take the time to write quality stories and check them for errors. See the topic of the month, "Don't Miss This Step" in the March 2025 newsletter to learn about using tools (and using them properly) if you are not already doing this. We do notice when you don't take the time!

Last Week's Winning Story of the Week

Thank you to everyone who shared a story for the last prompt, "Spooky"!

Each week we pick one of our favorite stories of the week and award the author 5 Hive.

And we have a winner! Congrats to @emreal for his story, The Cobra That Chased Me.

Here's what our curators had to say:

@emreal writes a very clever and interesting creative nonfiction story for the "spooky" prompt about trying to get home at night after a party and fearing the darkness and the night creatures — especially after some of the frightening stories his sister had told him. He was absolutely certain that he was chased by a cobra, but it turned out to be a palm leaf. Enjoyable, well-told story!

Congratulations, @emreal!

Short Story Writing Prompt of the Week

This week's prompt is: "You weren't supposed to hear that."

We have had some fun with spooky tales and nightmares in recent weeks. Now let's turn to something that can happen to anyone, anytime.

Imagine that someone says something that is only meant for certain ears, but someone else (or perhaps many other people) hear it too. How does something like this occur?

Read the full post

The Ink Well Treasure Trove of Tips, Reminders and Guidelines

theinkwell — Sun, 05 Jan 2025 05:06:48 GMT

Source: Pixabay

Here it is!

Our treasure trove of helpful guidelines, reminders and tips for successfully participating in The Ink Well community. This information was formerly included in our monthly newsletter, but we decided that it deserves a permanent spot in our collection of resources.

Many of the reminders in this article are common issues we see in The Ink Well posts. We are sharing them here so you can access them anytime.

Thank you to everyone who works hard at writing quality stories, following The Ink Well rules and guidelines and supporting other authors in the community!

1. Do not use AI tools, except to check for spelling and grammar, and to create images

We have asked that you do not use AI tools to generate stories. What you do elsewhere is your business, but we do not allow it in The Ink Well.

Additionally, we ask that you do not use AI tools like Quillbot to rephrase and rewrite your stories. If you do that, you are still using AI to generate and manipulate content. It is not your natural writing and if it is detected by our tools, you will not be curated.

The one tool we sanction for assisting with the quality of your writing is Grammarly. It is simple and free to use for checking spelling and grammar. Please only use it for simple spelling and grammar corrections.

NOTE: Do not use the AI features to rewrite your stories! Our AI detectors will identify your work as AI and it will not be curated. (We provided a full walkthrough of why stories that are edited and rephrased with AI tools show up as 100% AI in our AI detection tools in the February 2025 newsletter. We recommend you visit that post.)

AI for image generation is okay.

2. Check for errors before posting

In The Ink Well, we look for quality. If you dash off a story without refining it, this is obvious to the reader, and to The Ink Well admins. If we have trouble understanding sentences, or words are missing or misspelled, or the pronoun "I" is written in lower case, or periods are missing from the ends of many sentences, then it is clear you did not take that little bit of extra time to review your content before posting it.

The good news is there are some simple tools:

-- Make use of Hive tools: Most online editor tools, including the ones you use to draft your stories, such as Peakd, will underline items in red that are likely misspelled or not used correctly.

-- Draft your content in Google docs: Google docs has a good editor feedback tool too. It will underline items in red, and you can click on them to select the suggested fix. It is very easy to do and it is explained in the post Help for the Grammatically Challenged.

-- Use the spell checker in Grammarly: Grammarly is a free tool for checking the quality of your work.

However, note that you should not use the rephrasing or rewriting capabilities of Grammarly, or any other tool, because it will get your story flagged as AI developed.

-- Review your work before posting. You will most likely find a missing word, a grammatical error, a misspelling or a sentence that does not start with a capital letter, etc. Reading through carefully is one of the best things you can do before you submit your story.

3. Do not portray violence (or sex) in your stories

It is important to know that stories featuring violence are not allowed in The Ink Well. We won't accept or curate stories involving rape, incest, beatings, stabbings, murders or abuse. This is clearly stated in our rules.

Why?

First of all it is offensive and harmful to some people, especially those who have endured violence in their own lives and are suffering emotionally from those experiences.
Second, we cannot screen who views our community content or prevent sensitive audiences from viewing it. We have no way of ensuring that stories in The Ink Well will only be seen by appropriate readers.
And third, The Ink Well admins choose not to read stories about violence and abuse. This job is challenging enough without facing gruesome shootings, beatings, rapes, child molestation, etc.

So we have defined and enforced rules around this. They are simply this: Don't publish stories in this community about violence, rape, or abuse. You can see the full details in the article on our stance on violence.

Read the full post

Catalog of Storytelling Tips from The Ink Well

theinkwell — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 06:09:21 GMT

_{Image source: Edar on Pixabay}

Those who post in The Ink Well find out one thing fast: we are here to help writers improve. You will likely hear from us when we believe you have something to work on — whether it's character development, grammar, a missing story arc, or other important elements of quality fiction. Ae're amazed by the continual growth of skills and writing quality in The Ink Well!

Over the many months since The Ink Well community launched, we've been writing tips to support our community members in their writing journey. Here you will find a catalog of topics. Please refer to this list anytime you are looking for inspiration or ideas for how you can continue to build your skills and improve your craft.

Catalog of Storytelling Tips

This collection was previously called the "Catalog of Fiction Writing Tips." However, so many of these tips apply to all storytelling, including creative nonfiction, that we decided to rename the collection.

We've organized the tips in broad categories to help you quickly find what you're looking for.

Getting Started

Writing Basics

"Do's and Don'ts" of Fiction Writing

IMPORTANT NOTE: An important thing to remember in the "do's and don'ts" category is to consider the audience you are writing for, and to heed the "writer's guidelines" for any publication or platform you write for.

Read the full post

hive-170798 community on Hive

The Adopted Daughter

The Lighthouse Letters

When an Eavesdropper Learned What a Family Refused to Learn

The Danger of Rejecting Modern Medicine

THE DEAL OF A LIFE TIME

The diary of an orphan

The Price Of A Dream.

The Hive Creatives Magazine From The Inkwell Curators - Issue # 56

Featured Creative: @janadeluna

Loss and death always go hand in hand with life

Featured Creative: @cryptoandcoffee ## [This Is Actually Quite interesting](https://peakd.com/hive-178138/@cryptoandcoffee/this-is-actually-quite-interesting)Discovered in The Pub Credit: X.com Featured Creative: @emreal The Cobra That Chased Me Discovered in the Inkwell Community

Featured Creative: @emreal

The Cobra That Chased Me

The Inkwell Combined Writing Prompt #56 ~ Fiction or Creative Nonfiction

Welcome to the Weekly Writing Prompt from The Ink Well

Before You Post in The Ink Well

Last Week's Winning Story of the Week

Short Story Writing Prompt of the Week

The Ink Well Treasure Trove of Tips, Reminders and Guidelines

1. Do not use AI tools, except to check for spelling and grammar, and to create images

2. Check for errors before posting

3. Do not portray violence (or sex) in your stories

Catalog of Storytelling Tips from The Ink Well

Catalog of Storytelling Tips

Getting Started

Writing Basics

"Do's and Don'ts" of Fiction Writing

Featured Creative: @cryptoandcoffee ## [This Is Actually Quite interesting](https://peakd.com/hive-178138/@cryptoandcoffee/this-is-actually-quite-interesting)
_{Discovered in The Pub}

Credit: X.com

Featured Creative: @emreal
The Cobra That Chased Me

_{Discovered in the Inkwell Community}