Bulletin #1 - The Fiery Doorway - NoQu 2025

NoQu 2025

Day 1

Total Words: 1,667

Ambience: Campfire at Frog Lake

Chapter 1: The Fiery Doorway

"The Phoenix... wings his way in the glimmer of the Northern Lights over the plains of Lapland, and hops among the yellow flowers in the short Greenland summer."

-Hans Christian Anderson, The Phoenix Bird…

It was a strange feeling for November, being roused from sleep on account of being too warm. Your bleary eyes crack open… but you’re not sure if the fog of dreams has really cleared. Perhaps alarm should’ve set in, seeing the flames. Instead you are filled with wonder, watching its crisp boundaries right around your rug. A doorway of white coals with a multicolor glow blossoms out of your hearth. You can’t help yourself. You pull your comforter off and stand, wobbling towards it. It’s real.

Prompt: Have a character kindle a fire, whether metaphorical or real.

Cold dew clings to your feet. At least the grass underfoot is soft, soft as the moonlight filtering through the gauzy clouds above. You take a moment to soak in the strange and sudden change of view-- the hilltop, the woods below, the strange stones arranged in a careful design around you. And in that moment, a new light joins you-- the same sort as the doorway, but dim, like a meadow filled with fireflies.

“Welcome,” the chilling voice wraps around you. You whip around to face the light, perched atop a stone pile.

“Who-- What are you?” Your chest feels cold and tight.

“The phoenix who summoned you here.” He spreads his wings, showering small sparks that fizzle out too soon.

Ambience: Campfire at Frog Lake

The silence is filled by summer crickets. You aren’t sure what to say. It’s not that you’re sleepy anymore. You’ve never felt more awake.

“You want inspiration,” the phoenix continues. “I am a creature of inspiration. I will help you… if you will help me.”

“What could you possibly need?” You manage to say, bewildered and not a little overwhelmed.

“I do not glow as brightly as I can. But to regenerate, I require tokens to rekindle me to my full glory. I am weak, and cannot gather them on my own. Bringing you here has taken the last of my strength.”

“You mean I can’t go home unless I help you!?”

Dare: Write 1,000 words in 20 minutes.

The moment weighed on your chest, cold fear splitting your heart. And finally:

“Yes.” The answer comes like a single toll of a bell in the pit of your stomach. “Understand, though, young one. This journey will open your eyes to new heights.”

A flame appears before you, hanging there, waiting.

“Reach out and grab it.”

“Why?”

“Trust me,” he said gently, nodding towards the soft pinks and blues between you.

Incredulous, you do. You reach out towards the strange fire, and in your hand it turns to a smooth, blank parchment.

“This is a map that will lead you to each token in time. It will lead you to the place where our fire will be unquenched. And then, only then, you can go home.”

Question: What is holding your character back from achieving their potential?