Random writing prompts and a word of the day

 To help my older students start writing fiction, I used a prompt generator at diyMFA. I also added a word of the day from NextStepEnglish: https://nextstepenglish.com/word-of-the-day-conflagration/.  Our word was conflagration, a very large fire that destroys buildings or large pieces of land. As we shuffled the prompt generator, we picked...  "shopping mall Santa, lost something important, has bullets but no gun and a picture of a modern building". We discussed these elements together and wrote both together and individually. Each of the students wrote their own version of this story while I wrote one, too. 

I do believe that an English teacher should be able to write anything they ask their students to write and to proudly demonstrate their craft. I realize that there is the risk of the teacher's work being judged harshly, but how can we expect the students to be brave enough to write and share with others if we are not willing to write and share with them. So, I wrote with the same prompts as my students and will share it with my students at our next lesson. In the meantime, here it is for you to read, too.

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                                                    Angry Santa

Sandy, the shopping mall Santa, had been planning this attack for weeks ever since he had been fired

from his minimum-wage janitorial job.  Disguised in the famous red suit, Sandy sauntered towards

the City Center Shopping Galleria and approached the two wide glass doors at the entrance. Because

the bullets in his pocket were noisily rattling,  he shook his shiny Christmas bells even harder.

Jing-a-ling. “Ho-Ho-Ho!” Somewhere between his dilapidated home and his rusty truck, Sandy

had lost his gun. A pocketful of bullets would not help him carry out his plan. As he bent down near

the large fir tree, Sandy pretended to glance at a finely wrapped present. Now or never, he thought

as he prayed the mall cops or security would not investigate his actions. Do or die.

 He placed a glass bottle filled with gasoline and a rag behind the largest gift. With a flick of his fingers,

he lit a match and lit the rag.  Nonchalantly, he turned and slowly exited the mall. “Merry Christmas!”

he bellowed loudly. Before the conflagration began, Sandy was safely in his old Chevy truck and

headed to the highway. Turning on the radio, he sang along, ``I'm on the highway to hell…”