So, where do story ideas come from? For many writers, it’s stuff like this.
I live in the middle of acreage, surrounded by fields. No one could possibly reach our wi-fi, but it’s encrypted anyway. A thunderstorm darkened the sky and knocked out the power, so in the dim light I turned on my phone’s mobile hotspot to quickly save the blog post I was working on.
Alone in my house, thunder rolling, I glanced down at the phone screen and saw, “Two connected users.”
SPOILER: I’m okay, and there was no internet ghost or wi-fi burglar in my house. It turned out the tablet I’d used for notes at the weekend’s conference was still powered on and open to wi-fi. But it’s a good start for a story, you think?
Good one! I might twist it a tad ‘We never bothered to password protect it. Why bother when your nearest neighbor is 40 acres away?’ It seems ridiculous that your mind starts to wonder, should I get up and check the house? Calm down and stop acting so jumpy? Or, how fast can I get to my horse, jump on, ride bareback without falling or crashing in the dark to nearest house? Overreacting? Should I send them neighbors a text to say I might be on my way or will I wake them with something that will just be embarrassing tomorrow? I don’t even know them that well and have sort of avoided them. This will be the first time I’ve ever texted, will they even know who it is? PJs or try to get into my jeans? Make noise or stay silent? Do I call it an emergency or try to sound more casual? I don’t think I would like them that much; don’t want them to get the wrong idea about getting buddy buddy. Maybe just go to bed and try to forget about it. It’s nothing. You know it’s nothing. Except…there ARE two users on our connection.