Today’s make something prompt:

Write a 10-word fantasy story. Bonus for illustration.

Fantasy is not exactly my genre. By day I’m a business writer. When I have time for creative writing, I gravitate toward poetry, essays, and memoir. My reading tends toward those same types of literature, with a generous helping of non-fiction that might make me a smarter, better person.

So, to brush up on “fantasy,” I did some quick research. Most of what I found was no big revelation. But I did discover a theme I knew I wanted to explore: portals. Children’s Literature Classics reminded me just how many fantasy stories involve a portal that takes the characters from one world to another. The children pass through a wardrobe in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Harry Potter and friends travel to Hogwarts via Platform 9 and ¾. Coraline discovers an alternate reality when she passes through a small door in the wall.

So I wondered, as a writer, what sort of portal might take me to a magical place? And how might I describe that in 10 words … with a bonus for illustration?

Here’s where I landed:

Writer hits “enter.”
Poetry finds instant publication.
Receptive readers revel.