Our nouns. Choose at least five nouns from the following list and integrate them into your new piece: The balloon. The squirrel. The river. The clown car. The thunderstorm. The Peking duck. The airplane. The mouse. The red rose. The French pastry. The wedding. The tombstone. The camper van. The bee. The caltrops.

The bridal party arrived at the wedding in a bright pink clown car that reminded the bride of the funny car they called the Peking Duck which  the groom used to race at the drag races in the west. That was where they had met. She had parked her campervan next to the tombstone and was busily preparing her breakfast of muesili, followed by a French pastry when she saw him standing by the river. The squirrel hat had made him look like Davey Crockett and he smiled lopsidedly at her. “Come for a burl in the Peking Duck” he said. Smiling she nodded. They raced along. Fast. Her heart thumped and it was as though the skies were celebrating her new love, releasing balloons followed by a squadron of airplanes flying overhead. “For you my red rose.” and he opened his arms skywards. Simultaneously a thunderstorm lit the sky. Lightning and noise giving a display equalling the thumping of her heart. “Go faster, go faster” she cried.

“You’re no mouse are you my love” he said as he revved the engine to full throttle sending them hurtling down the road at breakneck speed.

“Faster, faster.” He complied not knowing that the state troopers had set caltrops around the next bend. The spikes exploding the tyres set them on a trajectory from which The Peking Duck would emerge as scrap. After six months in hospital it felt as though they had been living together. She was grateful that wards now were mixed. In days gone by they might not have seen each other again but instead their love had grown. The day she had been stung by the bee that arrived on the flowers she had received he had asked her to marry him.

Now here she was outside the church about to wheel down the aisle. Her heart swelled with the joy of being alive.