Welcome to Vocal's Summer Fiction Series!This series is comprised of eight short fiction Challenges ranging in length from one week to eight weeks long. Each prompt is inspired by a different book from a traditional summer reading list, full of the classics that so many of us read and reread throughout childhood and adolescence to prepare for the school year ahead. We'll start with childhood classics like Matilda and Charlotte's Web, and work our way up through those high school staples like Catcher in the Rye and The Bluest Eye. It’s a little nostalgia, and a whole lot of creativity.

Keep in mind that just because each prompt is inspired by an old classic doesn't mean that your story is required to draw inspiration from that story. Free to write in your own style, or your preferred genre. As long as you've taken the prompt into account, the rest is up to you.

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This Challenge is inspired by Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye - so, we’re asking you to include a marigold flower at some point in your narrative. The marigold can be a brief mention in passing, or have greater symbolic significance, like it does in the novel. It could be a small part of a garden or a floral arrangement, or even a character's tattoo or embroidery in a couch pillow. The details are completely up to you, so long as the marigold makes an appearance.