Heatwave Prompts

Find a cool corner and have fun with these new prompts

London is in the middle of a heatwave which has inspired me to sit by a fan (or several) and come up with some prompts about how people cope when the temperatures soar.

Exercise 1: The secret A/C user

Josephine has a state of the art, very expensive portable A/C unit that she hides in her writing shed at the bottom of the garden because her partner, Abe, vocally opposes A/C units (eye sores/shows weak character/environmentally dreadful).

Describe the bliss Josephine feels when she turns it on. (100 words).

Exercise 2: The fan hogger

Rudi and Cindy are on holiday somewhere that is experiencing a heatwave. There is only one fan and there are no others available. At night Rudi struggles to sleep as Cindy insists she is more in need of the fan than he is. She won't let it oscillate and she won't share any of its benefits with him.

Describe how uncomfortable, sweaty and angry Rudi is as he lies in bed, overheating. (150 words).

Exercise 3: What heat?

Danny is determined to prove he can function normally in the intense heat but as Lidia watches him through the window, gardening, cleaning the car, painting the fence - determined to do tasks as though it isn't 38 degrees outside - she wonders who this act is for.

Describe Lidia's confusion as she watches Danny, red-faced and sweating, carry out his unnecessary tasks. (200 words).

Exercise 4: DIY coolers

Allie's fan is broken, there is no way to get another one and nowhere she can go to cool down.

Describe Allie's inventive ways to cool down at home. (250 words).