Promptvent - Day 21

25 days of winter prompts to thaw your writers (ice)block - and this year it's all about being Cozy.

Hello and welcome to day 21 of Promptvent!

If you’d like some wintry musical inspiration whilst you write, why not try listening to ‘On A Snowy Winter’s Morn’ by Holly Jones on Spotify.

Listen to me read the guided invitation via audio below or if you prefer to read the transcript, that is also available for you underneath the audio.

Welcome back to our Promptvent village advent calendar where you find yourself standing once again before the cozy Christmas window.

Bundled up in your warm woolen mittens and thick scarf, you are eager to to know what wintry word of the day awaits you. What world will you step into and discover today? You lean closer, and can feel the eagerness in your fingers as you pull off your mittens and reach for the iron latch on the window, lifting it with care.

Inside the advent window are your most nearest and dearest all gathered together from across the miles and seas and times. They are all chatting to each other merrily, with various foods on paper plates and drinks in their hands. You can’t believe they are all here in one place. You feel your heart gladden and grow warm. Slowly they begin to notice you peering in and they beam and wave at you vigorously.

All of a sudden the red wreathed door to your left opens, inviting you further. You step through the door, stamp the snow off of your boots and hang your winter coat up on a golden brass hook. The warmth of the room is very welcome to your rosy cheeks and cold nose.

You are greeted with many hugs and kisses, until one of the party calls everyone to attention. ‘Right team - let’s get to work!’ Everyone begins to hand out red aprons to each other and you follow suit wondering what they are for. You are led further back into the room where large tables are set up with caskets and warmers, labelled ‘Soup’. There is fruit, sandwiches, vegetables, and drinks in green crates. Everyone lines up towards the tables as someone unlocks a latch in the far end of the wall and opens it up to reveal a long line of hungry looking people. There are families, elderly people on their own, homeless people, all people who have fallen on hard times and in need of some giving this Christmas.

You and your friends make a production line, filling a paper bag with food and drinks and ladling warm vegetable soup into cups for cold hands. Each person is given a small wrapped gift and they thank you from the bottom of their hearts as you try to hold back the tears, wishing them warmth and safety this Christmas.

A musician sets up nearby and bonfires are lit to keep everyone warm as people nourish themselves. The environment is cheery and you feel a special kind of magic around everyone tonight. You make a wish for each person in your heart as they trail off to their various abodes and lives.

Before you all depart, each one of the volunteers are given a gift wrapped in golden paper with red ribbon. You unwrap yours, it is a notebook and pen with your name engraved on it. You open the notebook and see one word in large cursive script written at the top of the page.

It reads: GIVING

You smile and think about all of the people you have met today, how heartwarming it felt to do something to help coupled with the solemn knowledge that there is still so much more to do and to give. Then you pick up the pen - and you write.