Stony Guardians

Writober 2025: Our Deepest Fears>Prompt Post

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🐦‍⬛Example poems are copied here for educational purposes.
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🎃OctPoWriMo 🦇Writober Flash Fiction 👻Halloween Photography Challenge

Today’s Theme: Gargoyles

There was recently a report of dive-bombing owls in Seattle’s Lincoln park which reminded me of when my friend’s son was attacked by an owl. I can only imagine the horror of talons swooping down from above. The fear of gargoyles is like that, carved little winged demons looking down on us, coming to life and swooping down to exact punishment on unaware pedestrians. Or are they protectors looking over the city, only punishing evil-doers? Either way, gargoyles evoke a fear of attack from above.

As we walk around in our daily lives, we seldom look up. Most of the time we are looking down at our feet, looking for anything that might trip us. As writers, we need to look at our worlds from all sides and that includes looking up to see what’s above us, but also to get up high to get a gargoyles point of view.

You may find some inspiration from Creepy Capitol Carvings.

OctPoWriMo

It’s easy to get used to looking at things in the same way. We spend our days sitting, standing, walking, then sitting again. It’s important to look at things from a new perspective. To lay on our backs and look up. To get up high and look down. Really look. What does the gargoyle see? What gives it the right to judge? Why does it attack?

Example Poem: “In the Pinewoods, Crows and Owl” by Mary Oliver from American Primitive

In the Pinewoods, Crows and Owl

Great bumble. Sleek
slicer. How the crows
dream of you, caught at last
in their black beaks. Dream of you
leaking your life away. Your wings
crumbling like old bark. Feathers
falling from your breast like leaves,
and your eyes two bolts
of lightning gone to sleep.
Eight of them
fly over the pinewoods looking down
into the branches. They know you are
there somewhere, fat and drowsy
from your night of rabbits and rats. One
this month you caught a crow. Scraps of him
flew far and wide, the news
rang all day through the woods. The cold
river of their hatred roils
day and night: you are their dream, their waking,
their quarry, their demon. You
are the pine god who never speaks but holds
the keys to everything while they fly
morning after morning against the shut doors. You
will have a slow life, and eat them, one by one.
They know it. They hate you. Still
when one of them spies you out, all stream
straight toward violence and confrontation.
As though it helped to see the living proof.
The bone-crushing prince of dark days, gloomy
at the interruption of his rest. Hissing
and snapping, grabbing about him, dreadful
as death’s drum; mournful unalterable fact.

~ Mary Oliver

Whose point of view is the poet exploring?

Prompt: Imagine two fears that hate each other. Take the point of view of one of them and explain why they hate the other. What will happen if these two fears meet?

Possible form: A Rondeau

Writober Flash Fiction Challenge

Day Fifteen Image

Click on the link and take a look at the image. How might this image relate to today’s theme? Write a piece of flash fiction, anything from a six-word story to 999 words. Feel free to bring in the OctPoWriMo prompt and the Photography Challenge prompt, anything that inspires your story.

Halloween Photography Challenge

Thank you so much for joining me for this year’s October challenges. Remember to support each other by visiting and commenting on as many links as you can as we explore our Deepest Fears in anticipation of Halloween.

If you enjoy these posts and the work I do here, please head to my buymeacoffee page and show your support! Thank you so much. Every bit helps keep this site going.

Music to get us writing: