Weekly Prompt: Vending Machine
Write a story about a vending machine
Several months ago, while taking a walk at night I passed by a vending machine. I stopped, stared at the machine, and thought, “Okay, I’m sure I can figure out a story about a vending machine. That led to my tale, Dark Hearts, about a vending machine that dispenses a beverage that gives people the ability to read minds.
Now, it’s your turn: Write a fifty or 100-word story about a vending machine. The machine can be anywhere in the world and dispense anything your imagination can conjure. We’re all familiar with vending machines that spill out beverages, candy, and sandwiches. Japan, where I live, has vending machines that sell just about everything: ice cream, umbrellas, amulets, fish broth in PET bottles (it looks like tea, but please don’t make that mistake, though many have), underwear, bananas, popcorn, celebrity photographs, eggs, artificial nails, pizza, ties, and, of course, surgical masks.
Second to the microwave oven, vending machines are the greatest invention of all time. I can’t imagine a world without vending machines.
My Tokyo apartment building has vending machines in various locations, including multiple machines that dispense coffee. In the late spring the hot coffee is swapped out for cold coffee, and in the fall the process is reversed. If you’re looking for a vending machine cup of hot coffee in June (and who isn’t?) you’re out of luck.
Singapore boasts a book vending machine (yay!) and the United Arab Emirates has one that dispenses gold.
The first vending machines popped up in London in 1883. They sold postcards.
Fire up your writing engine. Let’s see what your vending machine does.
As always, please use a descriptive subtitle. (Think of your subtitle as bonus words.) If you’re in the mood to write a non-prompted story, that’s welcome, too.
