Sunday, December 23, 2012

Writing Prompt: Carved Wooden Box

Writing Prompt: You find a beautiful wooden box in a dusty old attic. The lid has a Nativity carved in it. What's in it? Who did it belong to? Write for 15 minutes. 

I hope you write along with me! Post your writing in the Comments Section.

This prompt was inspired by "The Christmas Box" by Richard Paul Evans. I also did a post about it over at The Write Soil.
Posted by Dawn M. Hamsher at
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3 comments:

  1. Dawn M. HamsherDecember 23, 2012 at 6:29 AM

    It was Christmas break and I visited Nan like I always did when I came home from college. As boredom overtook me, Nan suggested I go into the attic to see I could find something that I might like to have. It would be her Christmas gift to me.

    As I rummaged through the contents of my grandmother’s attic, I opened a hope chest and there underneath two handmade quilts was a wooden box. My hands felt a carving on top even before I saw it. When I pulled it into the light I saw an ornately carved Nativity scene on the top. The rich colored wood swirled into figures of Mary holding baby Jesus, Joseph watching her, two shepherds, animals, and an angel hovering above the stable.

    I sat for a long time in the quiet of the attic, touching each figure. The smooth wood was cool under my fingers. Finally, I opened the box. The lid pulled upwards easily, but I was disappointed to find that the box was empty.

    I sighed. It would have been cool to find something of value in there. As I sat holding the box, though, my thoughts turned deeper. It wasn’t yet Christmas and the emptiness of the box reminded me of the empty manger and how I should be anticipating Jesus’ birth. I smiled at that, but then a new thought hit me. The empty box seemed to represent the empty tomb. Suddenly everything from church and Sunday School made sense. The gravity of my faith hit me.

    When the tears finally stopped, I wiped off them off with my sleeve, and hugged the box tight to my chest. I had found my Christmas gift.

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  2. AbhishekDecember 28, 2012 at 1:33 AM

    Hi,

    Nice prompt .. hope you had a lovely christmas...

    We are hosting a small giveaway on goodreads at http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/39538-the-light.

    Kindly consider joining us and also sharing about the giveaway on your site.

    Abhishek

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dawn M. HamsherDecember 28, 2012 at 7:48 PM

      Abhishek, Yes, I had a wonderful Christmas. Thank you for stopping by.

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