I reread the page for the third time, trying intently to focus, but knowing that my mind was already beginning to drift by the third sentence. The door to the frat house flung open. I ripped my eyes away from my dreadfully boring homework as Mike strutted into the room. A mischievous kind of smile was plastered on his face. The kind I had seen many a time before. "Do you want to do something stupid?" he asked. I shook my head and tossed my book onto the couch. "Screw it. My brain is fried for the night. What do you have in mind?" Mike walked over to the big bay window and flung the curtains aside. Pristine white snow coated the ground. "You always talk about how we need to go sledding at the park since you missed it the last time." "Give me one second." Without another word, I ran up the stairs of the house. At the top, I rapped on one of the white doors. It opened a second later. A bearded face greeted me, a neutral expression peering up at me. "What's up?" "Can I borrow your Santa costume?" His brow furrowed. "My Santa costume?" "Yeah. And a sled or something. Any ideas on that?" His eyes widened in realization. "You're not..." I smiled and nodded. He sighed. The next thing I knew, I had a $200 Santa jacket in my left hand, a Santa hat on my head, and a gray storage box lid in my right. I ran back downstairs. Mike hadn't moved. "Let's go!" I said with a grin. I threw the jacket on, shoved something in my pockets, and carried the gray lid close to me as we emerged into the cold. Mike dropped his Hummer's tow cable and I grabbed onto it. I took out my phone and sent a quick message in the dorm group chat, urging all of the freshmen to come outside immediately. Mike drove slowly, relatively speaking. It was a smooth ride. I only flipped over like twice. As we crept closer to our dorm down the college's main street, I saw the confused guys beginning to congregate. "Ho ho ho!" I bellowed. They began to walk towards the road, and the familiar Hummer they all knew far too well. "Merry Christmas!" I gripped the tow cable with one hand, then reached into my pocket and removed a handful of mints. I threw them as far as I could, which admittedly wasn't very far since I was sitting and only had one arm I could use. The freshmen doubled over in laughter.

Clarence and Eileen married in 1917. Clarence was an electrician and they settled on a country plot seven miles from town. Life was good. They were happy when their first child, John was born. The lone son was followed by five beloved daughters: Penny, Marjorie, Joslyn, Mae, and Polly. Of course over the years there were ups and downs, highs and lows; there always are, but the family was close knit. Together they weathered storms and together they savored the good times. Penny was the first to marry and soon had a baby girl of her own, Suzette. Clarence loved being a grandpa. He used to stick a Hershey bar in the front pocket of his shirt for Susie, and she soon learned to look for it whenever grandpa paid her a visit. It was a sad day for the family when they discovered Clarence had pancreatic cancer. In those days nothing could be done. Clarence bore it as well as he could. On the nights the pain was so bad he couldn’t stand it, he would drive the one mile up the road to the church. In those days churches weren’t locked and you could always get in. Clarence would get on his knees looking for relief from God, in whom he put all his trust. After a time, the cancer took over and Clarence was hospitalized. The pain was immense and his life ebbed away. Eileen was with him, never leaving his side, and as the end drew near, John and the daughters rushed to the hospital to be with him. When he lifted his hand one final time, Penny grasped it and held tight. Two floors up in the same hospital a very different scene was taking place, Clarence’s youngest sister, Martha, was in labor. Martha was aware Clarence was in the hospital and not doing well. It seemed that Clarence and Martha’s babe would be like two ships passing in the night, one destined to leave the world as the other entered. As the pains increased, Martha became lost in her labor and thoughts of Clarence slipped away. It was a hard labor. The doctor was worried about the baby. Hours passed, and Martha, exhausted gave one final push and her infant was born. A baby girl. Martha waited a moment and then was happy to hear the baby utter one small cry. Martha had been worried but hearing the cry reassured her. She asked to see the baby, the nurse looked up, concerned, the doctor nodded but said, “Only for a moment. Hurry.”

Hi everyone, Thanks for waiting so patiently. I was hoping to get this prompt out sooner, but due to personal reasons, I've been too busy until right now (and even at that I'm still going to be pretty busy). Check it out in the classroom section, and I look forward to seeing what you all come up with!

The gray mini van’s tires crunched gravel as it came to a stop. Four college aged guys jumped out of the van. It was spring break and they were excited to begin the long awaited camping trip they had been planning for months. Loaded with camping gear and backpacks, the guys headed towards the woods. Skipper led the way, which wasn’t a surprise. Skipper was tall and built like a truck. He played on the college football team and wherever he went, it seemed natural for the others to follow along. Cal was close behind. Marty and Charlie walked side by side arguing about where the best place was going to be to make camp and then hike to the first geocache. As they neared the entrance to the trail, Skipper suddenly stopped. Cal was looking down and ran into him. Next to the entrance was a severe looking older woman with thin gray hair and a plain faded black dress. She was sitting on a rickety lawn chair and was flanked on either side by two dour children: a girl wearing a ragged striped pinafore and a boy with tattered brown shorts and a stained white t-shirt. Leaning on the woman’s knees was a cardboard sign with words scrawled on it that read, “Help Mother Wattles or have bad luck.” Mother Wattles, if that was her real name, stared at the boys. The children stared straight ahead. Skipper reached for his wallet and handed her $10. Mother Wattles produced a basket for the money and nodded her assent. Cal followed suit and dropped a $5 note in the basket. Charlie hastily grabbed the first bill his fingers touched in his wallet and gave $20. Mother Wattles nodded to both in turn. Marty handed her a pack of gum, minus the piece he was chewing. He tried to move on quickly but Mother Wattles extended her leg making him pause. Her eyes looked down at her sign, Marty’s eyes followed, then she looked at Marty. Marty looked at her sheepishly. He smiled weakly and shrugged his shoulders but Mother Wattles’ steely gray eyes made him shiver. He lowered his eyes quickly and stepped around her leg,running after his friends.

Go check it out in the classroom section. I look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with!