"******* ******* & Writing"

What is served on a plate, is folded around the edges and resembles an odd looking clam?  You see them, usually after dinner, when the check arrives?  It’s a dessert type item that people all over the US both dread, and like…though it seems innocent enough.  I’ll give you a hint, they are served in Asian food restaurants.

They are of course fortune cookies.  And what do fortune cookies have to do with writing?  Well, more than you might think.  The fortunes inside make awesome writing prompts, or story starters. 

For instance.  I had one that said, “Beware of the man sitting across from you.”  At first I was, “What the heck is this supposed to mean?”  I was with a writer friend of mine, and I made a joke of it at the time (this friend is male).

How it can be used as a story starter:

The above fortune became my story “The Misfortune Cookie.”  It was about a girl on a blind date, and the date was going very well.  Until she opened that fortune cookie.  Something warned her that she was in grave danger, and she made a hasty exit from the ladies room.  She goes out in front of the restaurant, and starts to cross the street, the totally bewildered guy following her when the screech of tires is heard, and….well, I won’t give away the ending. 

Another fortune cookie that I received in my past, came from Wendy’s Hamburgers, who had a restaurant in what is now the “Center of Science and Industry” (AKA COSI), who at the time was the “Son of Heaven” exhibit.  Wendy’s for the event, served the cookie caged papers.  My family and I were about to go on the first ever cruise, and my fortune cookie made me really nervous.  It said, “Leave your boat, and travel on dry land.”  I showed it to my parents, and my dad laughed at that.  Turns out the cookie may have been right.  For the day we were supposed to get on the ship…we missed the boat!  Literally, we left home late, and even though we drove straight down from Columbus Ohio, to Ft. Lauderdale, we still missed the boat. 

So any time I get one, I keep it, and type it into an excel document for possible projects. 

So I’ll give you one to try out, or try out one of the others mentioned above. 

“You will meet a tall handsome stranger.”

Enjoy and Oh….

GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!