December 4th Writing Prompt: Allergy

December 4, 2023July 31, 2023 Michael DeAngelo 0 Comments

While traveling through the wilderness, a group of explorers discovers an unfortunate truth: one of their members is terribly allergic to one of the plants that is grown in abundance in this region. How bad is this allergic reaction, and what will happen because of this?

Ideas and questions:

The necessity of which the characters are traveling through the region might affect a decision to turn around. If the group is trying to get medicine to a nearby town, they might decide to risk the life of one of their own.
You could explore the idea that the plants have magical properties. It might be more difficult to run away from the problem if the plants bloom suddenly, and the group cannot turn back the way they came.
If the allergy is non-lethal, it could still cause issues that they group might not have foreseen. Perhaps the way forth is mired by enemies, and the group risks detection if the person fighting off allergies sneezes!

Does the allergy present in an atypical way? For instance, could it end up having magical repercussions if the person who is experiencing the allergies is powered, or has studied the arcane?
Are the symptoms deadly or just problematic? It could be that the character breaks out in hives, or it could be that their airway begins to close. The style of your story will probably rely on how bad the symptoms are—but not necessarily.

Challenge:

Make sure that you greatly explore the effects that the person experiencing the allergies is going through. Describe the sensations, the diminishing of certain senses, the discomfort from which they suffer.