In-Between Writing Prompts

            In the dream writing world I picture myself cradling a turquoise ceramic cup of chai, gazing past my computer out the window at an idyllic landscape...preferably kittens or rabbits frolicking.  I'm reminded of a scene from one of my all-time favorite films, Funny Farm, where the folks desperate to sell their house try to make it appear as perfect as possible.  'Cue the deer', the man quips as a lithe doe bounces across a snowy countryside.  And sometimes I wish I could just say that, too.  Cue the perfect writing scenario.
            In the very real world I am surrounded by an army of my daughter's Monster High dolls with various missing limbs.  Stacks of grading have slid into one another to create a sizable fire hazard.  And while the chai is mostly in my mug, the dog stampedes me periodically, managing to knock a good third into a Rorschach blot on my jeans.  I have seventy-four things to do in the space of a few hours, and if I ever waited for the perfect writing time to appear, I'd be a few decades in before even getting a shot.
           Instead I've learned to write during the in-between moments.  And rather than attack bigger projects I simply hope to cull good lines and sweet turns of phrases.  They are just as valuable as a formidable page or two of prose and often birth poetry or new projects.  The in-between moments have zero limits.  I remove the grandiose expectations of a writing session.  These lovely sprints are not bound by pre-established plots or loitering characters.  I allow myself free reign during these stolen writing moments to experiment, exaggerate, and revisit what didn't work before.  Don't get me wrong, there are writing disasters, too.  And there are writing miracles.  In fact three new poems recently emerged from lag time in the dentist waiting room.
    The key?  Do not overthink these in-between moments.  There's no space for editing or outlining.  In honor of the stolen writing moments, I present a list of very random prompts that should be treated as such.  Respond with fervor.  Catalog and save them, and if perchance you find that perfect writing scenario, dig out your in-between scraps of writing and go to town!

*What is the first thing a woman would say when the man she doesn't want to marry proposes?
*In a costume shop, the night before Halloween, what would a desperate college student be willing to take to wear to a party?
*A seventy-year-old man finds his ten-year-old backpack and finds...
*A collection of watches are all set to specific times for what reason?
*Name the worst way to tell a high school student he didn't get into the college of his choice.
*Force a character to quit a job she loves.
*Write a sentence that begins and ends the exact same way.
*List everything that could go wrong in a classroom.