Happy Friday! Just a short note today to say: check out the #TopsyTurvyWhatsMyLine challenge on Instagram! 😀

What’s a Topsy Turvy? What’s an instagram challenge? What on earth am I going on about?

So, some of my lovely author friends on Instagram occasionally design challenges, where they set out prompts and other writers respond with stories. Technically you can find Instagram challenges similar to this (often asking for pictures or responses to questions rather than stories) on any topic, but the “Topsy Turvy” series is a collection of writing challenges based on popular culture: spin-offs of favorite novels, TV shows, or games like truth or dare, for example.

And the current Turvy challenge is a fun take on the TV show “What’s My Line”! The challenge hosts gave us a specific line to start with on each day, and from there we create whatever we like.

We’re in the middle of the seven day challenge now. Here’s what I’ve posted so far, with the prompts in the headlines; I wove the prompts into one story, in which Red and Gloria find themselves thrown into a familiar fairy tale . . . with mixed results. The story is narrated by Red (scroll down for goofy drawings of her and Gloria!):

Day 1: How Long Have I Been Unconscious?

“How long have I been unconscious?” I asked, sitting up in a strange, shadowed place.

From somewhere to my left, Gloria spoke. “What, you think I was paying attention?

As usual, Gloria sounded supremely bored by me and my pedestrian concerns, like what happened and why did I pass out? and where the heck are we??

“I don’t recognize any of this,” I muttered, mostly to myself. My eyes were still struggling to adjust to the gloom, but there was a strong smell of dirt and moss. I sat on a stone floor, the rough edges cool under my hands. “Is it some kind of cave?”

“Bit slow today, huh?” Gloria rolled her eyes when I glared at her. Shaking the red plume of feathers atop her head, she added with a sigh, “Well, I guess you have reason. Some kind of magic snatched us out of the bookstore, and you passed out. And now we’re here.”

“And here is . . . ?”

From somewhere distant above us, a resounding roar echoed.

Gloria glanced down at me. “Would you believe me if I said ‘the dungeon of a haunted castle’?”

“Yes,” I said, and added under my breath, “and I have a feeling I know what it’s haunted by.”

Day 2: Who Were You Just Talking To?

“Who were you just talking to?” Gloria asked, her dark eyes narrowing.

“Erm . . . myself?” I shook my head, and succeeded only in making myself dizzy. “Look, I know you think I’m crazy on a good day, but I think I have an idea that can help us. You remember the beginning of the fairy tale ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ right?”

Gloria huffed. Now that I could see better, I located her: she was leaning against the stone wall, occupying the corner furthest from me–and from our cell’s small wooden door. 

“Well,” I said, taking that huff as a yes, “if you recall, in some tellings, Beauty ends up imprisoned when she first comes to find–”

“My father,” Gloria interrupted, “is the reason that we’re here, okay? Stop going on about fairy tales. This is all his fault.”

Day 3: Is He Dead?

“Is he dead?” I asked, horrified.

“Is that really all you can think of to say? No, of course he isn’t! He’s out there scot free while I’m stuck here with you,” Gloria declared, crossing her arms even more tightly across her chest.

“ . . . I definitely missed something,” I decided at length.

“I’ll say. Why were you there in the first place?”

“Where? You mean, before we ended up here? I was at the bookstore. Because–” I blushed. “It isn’t a crime to be at a bookstore! I certainly didn’t expect to be swept into a story!”

“Well,” Gloria sniffed, “while you were there making eyes at Luca, my father was searching for an enchanted book. A book that sent us here.”

Another roar shook the castle above us.

I gulped. “If you knew what was going to happen, why didn’t you stop him?”

Day 4: Why Didn’t You Tell Me You Were Going To Be There?

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be there?” Gloria shot back in response to my question. 

“I don’t report to you,” I retorted, though I knew she was trying to get my goat. Well, she got it. “I should be able to go anywhere I want without you and your family dragging me into crazy magic!”

“Luca’s the one who had the book in the first place,” Gloria observed coolly.

“But he’s not the one who sent us here!” I protested, and sighed. Arguing with Gloria wasn’t getting either of us anywhere. “So what are we going to do now? How do we get out?”

“I’m not responsible for you,” Gloria retorted airily. “Find your own way out. Too bad you can’t fall in love with whatever beast is up there in the castle, seeing as you’re already–”

Somewhere nearby, a heavy door slammed.

I lurched to my feet. “Did you hear that?”

Check out others’ stories on Instagram by searching the hashtag #TopsyTurvyWhatsMyLine, and stay tuned for the conclusion to this story next week! 😀