Creative Prompts for Writing Stories

The phone in room 515 rang seven times. Charlotte began to get nervous. They were late for the recording and they couldn't be late on the first day. Carlota would have liked to think ill of Adrián, but there was something in that mysterious character that caused her a certain tenderness. Or something that maybe wasn't tenderness. But he didn't want to dwell on it either. The receptionist cleared his throat an apology and asked if he wanted him to try again. Carlota told him yes, to try again. The receptionist nodded and picked up the receiver while keeping his gaze fixed on Carlota's gaze. The receptionist shrugged his shoulders, as if implying, and Carlota (who understood immediately) snorted. She was beginning to feel annoyed with Adrian. Until that moment, he seemed like an exemplary teacher, attentive to all instructions, somewhat shy but friendly, and always welcomed proposals for improvement or changes suggested by the team. In addition, he used to participate in the previous meetings with a particular sense of humor. His course looked very good, at least on the script. That was going to be his first recording but he had always maintained that it was something that did not worry or make him nervous. But it wasn't true. Although that seemed to Carlota something habitual. Some teachers were nervous the days before the recording and it was part of their job to support them in this process and give them peace of mind, explaining that, indeed, it was something normal; and that everything was going to be alright. That they had confidence in their excellent previous work and in the team. "The structure of your course is impeccable," Carlota had assured him two weeks earlier. "Everything is perfect". And that was exactly what Adrián was thinking as he left the hotel, just at the time he would have to be putting on makeup for the recording, ready to descend into the depths of the city's underground labyrinth. The first subway station he found that morning swallowed him in one bite.