Lemons. 

Lemons? 

Limes?? 

How am I supposed to write about lemons? Or limes? This prompt is so silly. I can’t even remember the last time I touched a lemon, let alone ate one… 

Lemons. Lemons????? LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS. 

How will I do this? 

What do I have that is related to lemons or limes? Something I wore? Something I ate? I remember… I remember lemon protein bars. I mean they weren’t bad per se, pretty okay actually. But they weren’t special, not unique, not memorable. Utterly useless for this prompt. Still… I guess I can jot it down. Better than nothing, right? 

Anything else? 

I recall the fizz and tang of drinking lemon-lime soda. Starry. Sprite. 7-Up. They were good. But not that good. Too bad we don’t have any more- would have liked to try one to refresh myself right about now. It’s better than the protein bar idea, though. Got to write it down. Anything else?? 

Digging through my closet, I unearth an old shirt with a pizza stain near the right sleeve. This yellow shirt might work- I could say it’s lemon colored. Sort of, at least. It’s a relic from STEM day in 4th grade. I hardly remember anything about it. A below-average idea, but it could maybe work. I doubt it, though. 

Anything else??? 

Looking in the kitchen cabinet. Why does this cornflour have lime hydrate? What even IS lime hydrate? Some kind of weird lime hybrid? That sounds nasty. Disgusting. Utterly sickening. Why would anyone want to put lime in their cornflour? It’s cornflour, not limeflour. I’d imagine it’d taste super sour. 

Anything else???? 

Nothing else. 

That’s bad. Too bad. 

Why did they have to make this prompt about lemons? Anything else would be better than this. I’ve spent an hour agonizing over brainstorming. And there’s no guarantee that the ideas will actually work out. So far, all of my ideas have been barely average. Incredibly boring. Hardly compelling. Not worth reading. 

I could try fiction. Fiction? 

Something in space could be cool. Like a spaceship. How does that connect to lemons or limes, though? That’s always the problem- finding the connections. Maybe the spaceship could have a lime garden? No, that’s too weird. Are lime gardens even a thing? Even if they were, who would want to grow limes? 

Could the spaceship be made of limes? What am I thinking? That’s, like, so bizarre… but I think it could work with some effort. Everything would have to be lime-related; it could burn limes as fuel, or the spaceship could be edible, or it could be shaped like a lime. All of those,

maybe. Kinda unrealistic, but that’s what fiction is about, right? Unrealistic things in an unrealistic setting. 

Maybe the spaceship has to land on a lime or lemon planet? Yes, I think that could work! The planets could have different characteristics based on the fruit- the lemon one could be really sunny, maybe really hot and have a lot of deserts. The lime one could have a lot of trees something really lush, but it should have a hidden danger, too! A giant serpent, perhaps, or a really deadly plant. Maybe the spaceship is running out of fuel. And maybe it could only land on one planet- and maybe they decide to land on the lime one because it looks like it has more resources. Then, plot twist, they get eaten by a serpent-plant-snake-thing!!!! 

I could try to convert some of my previous ideas into fiction. I think the soda one has the most potential- maybe it takes place on a beach, and there’s a kid selling lemonade, and then his stand ran out of lemonade and he only had Sprite. 

No idea how to write about this though. That’s annoying. The lime hydrate idea could work as well- a prank, for instance. One character could create bread with a bunch of the limed flour and trick everyone eating it. Hey, these ideas are actually improving! I wonder what ChatGPT says though: 

You: story ideas on lemons/limes 

ChatGPT: Sure, here are some ideas about lemons/limes. 1. The citrus connoisseur 

2. Zest for life 

3. Sour Not 

Not useful at all. They would take way too long to write. Besides, they’re not even that creative. Anyone could think about those ideas. My ideas are way better than these. I thought ChatGPT was smart! 

I’ll just have to think of my own. Sad. 

You know what would be funny, though? Writing a story of someone writing a story, like me drawing a painting of me drawing a painting of me drawing a painting of me… I think the idea could work. It's the best out of all of my other ideas, though. Maybe the story’s uniqueness can win me some prizes. 

After all that time, I’ve finally finished brainstorming! That was tedious. I’ll have some lemonade now. We only have a little left, so I gotta drink it quick before anyone else steals it. I’ve run out of juice for now. I’ll revise my ideas later.