Demonym

[ DEM-ə-nim ] 

Noun

1. A noun used to denote the natives or inhabitants of a particular country, state, city, etc.
2. Descriptive term used by a writer as a pen name.

Let’s Write…

** Either a story beginning, a story ending, a piece of flash fiction, a poem—inspired by the word, demonym, where does it take me? Where does it take you?

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Where I live, no one goes anywhere; instead, everything and everyone comes to us. And yes, I mean every word of that. So, once you come here, you don’t leave. You can’t. 

 I can’t tell if it’s a weird way of life, but we hear it enough from the newcomers. I haven’t known any other place but this one though. We call it, The Triangle.

 It’s an amalgamation of time itself, of history. A massive junk pile all pulled together to create this floating island we call home. There are pirate ships and trade ships from centuries ago. We also have things called helicopters and airplanes too! They don’t work the way they’re supposed to, apparently.

 All the newcomers freak out when they get here, and so it was no surprise when this beautiful… yacht, I think they called it… showed up. It’s my job to kind of introduce new people around, show them the ropes, and calm them down. 

 “There’s really nothing to worry about,” I said to the captain. He was a tough-looking man. 

 The usual barrage of questions about how to get out of here, and the like, ensued. Eventually, I got them through all that. Then, once they accepted, at least a little, that this was their new home, we got down to some more details. 

 “What about food? Water? Shelter?” said a mother clutching her daughter. 

 “Everything comes to us,” I said, and I meant it. I said it confidently because everything always came to us. 

 Well, that was the case until we learned about what was going on in the outside world. Two weeks later, and it was clear we were in trouble. The fish stopped coming. 

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Notes/Thoughts/Ideas

 Where did everyone go who got lost in the fabled Bermuda triangle? What if they were all just trapped in a place where they couldn’t escape, and where all electronic technology couldn’t work? That’s the idea here. 

 There’s a cool world to explore. All the lost ships, aircraft, and so on that have been long forgotten, all pulled together into a junk heap that these people now call home. 

 It can be as big of a world as you want too, but we can go big with political systems, religious systems, and economic systems. 

 Then, the conflict I thought of was that this place where everything just comes to them becomes affected by the outside world for the first time. Concepts of pollution and things like that can be explored. 

 Now, they need to find a way off their small world. Or, the conflict can be an internal one, but I like the adventure story. Escape the Triangle, fix the world, and debate whether to return or not. An added internal conflict. 

What do you think of Demonym?

 Sound like a cool place to explore further? 

Leave your thoughts, your own story beginning/ending, flash-fiction, or whatever in the comments! Where did demonym or my story take you?

If you liked this story, check out my podcast of short stories, More Than A Story.

Today’s word is from Dictionary.com.