Illustration by Ana Hinojosa.

Illustration by Ana Hinojosa.

Everything, in its own way, has a life story. Because objects can’t write their autobiographies, it’s up to us to speak on their behalf. For today’s prompt, consider the life story of an inanimate object. For example: In my (Pixie’s) bedroom, there’s an antique vanity table that I picked up at a thrift store a few years back. All I know about it is that it was built in 1920. I don’t know where the wood used to build the vanity came from. I don’t know anything about the previous owners—what they kept in the drawer, what perfumes they spritzed while sitting in front of the mirror, or what events they primped for. I imagine this vanity has seen quite a bit of living in its nearly 100 years of existence, and just by conjuring up images of the forest where it originated, the wood shop where it was built, and all of the people who sat in front of it and made themselves up, I can build a pretty compelling life story about a piece of furniture.

Look around your house or neighborhood. Consider chairs, toasters, fire hydrants, pennies dropped on the ground (who used them and what did they pay for?), stuffed animals, wads of gum stuck under a desk—any object will do. Construct a life for said object; this can be done through writing, or a comic, or a song. You can tell a life story through an obituary, a first-person essay (“I was born on…”), or a series of connected poems. Heck, you can even turn a clock into Cogsworth or a candelabra into Lumière. Please send your stories to us (along with your first name, last initial, age, and city) at [email protected] with the subject line “Creative Prompt” by Monday, September 21 at 6 PM EST, and have fun!

Last Wednesday, we asked you to do some snooping around for stories that sparked your curiosity/imaginations. On the following pages, check out what some of you uncovered.