Tried writing a villain origin story from the pet's point of view and it turned into a comedy

I was stuck on a dark fantasy prompt last month so I decided to mess around. Wrote a 500 word piece about a cat who gets abandoned at a shelter and plots revenge on humans. Except the cat kept getting distracted by sunbeams and feather toys in the story. By the end the villain was just a grumpy tabby who only wanted to knock stuff off tables. I learned that sometimes forcing a twist can backfire in a hilarious way. Has anyone else had a prompt take a completely unexpected turn on them?

3 comments

3 Comments

felix4141mo ago

Yeah I did something similar with a dog once. The prompt was supposed to be this tragic backstory but the dog just kept trying to remember where it buried a bone. By the end it was basically a golden retriever with anger issues and a questionable memory.

lunah121mo ago

That's hilarious honestly. The dog forgot its tragic past because it was too busy thinking about a bone. Classic golden retriever behavior right there. Probably buried the bone in a backyard three houses away and forgot where. A dog with anger issues and goldfish memory is a dangerous combo though. Might bark at you one second and wag its tail the next.

max_brown1mo agoTop Commenter

Yeah that happens more than you'd think. Best thing to do is just lean into the comedy and save the dark version for a different draft. The cat one sounds like it could actually work as a short story.