50-Word Story Prompt: After Bob Thurber's "Before She Was My Mother" (repost)
This is a repost! I had a technical issue and the original post was accidentally deleted. A lot of you enjoyed this prompt it so I’m posting it again and keeping it on the site.
Original post below:
Please read this charming and moving 50-word story from The Woolf and which was republished in Best Microfiction 2022, “Before She Was My Mother” by Bob Thurber.
Today’s prompt is to write a 50-word identity piece about a character who used to be someone different, i.e. a mother who was former beauty pageant winner. See if you can write the story in first person, with a feeling of intimacy that makes us care. I admire how Thurber shows us the mother’s youthful dream and connects it directly with a memory of his own. He leaves us with a feeling of clarity about how the mother has never really let go of that glamorous vision of herself, and we can feel (without being told) that this has affected the narrator’s life deeply.
Feel free to post your 50 word stories in the comments!
I was once a naive, attention-seeking woman chasing fame. Life's hardships awakened my truth, transforming me into a formidable force fighting for justice. The strong, wise warrior I've become would make my former self proud. I've endured life's challenges, emerging resilient and resolute. I'm E. Jean Carroll, unafraid and unstoppable.