So I have this idea rolling around in my noggin and I call it Variations On A Theme. Here's how it will work: Each month or so, I will post some sort of prompt here that can be manipulated a number of different ways. When you've completed said prompt, drop me a note or something with the link. Then, at the end of the month, I'll put up a list of all the ones that I know of, and we can compare results and congratulate each other and whatnot. So here's the first one; let's see if this works:

Write a fragment of a story about a character who is relatively young (under 40), who will die in a few years, but has no inkling of this. You, as author, do, though, and let that knowledge affect this story however it will affect the story.