Of Doughnuts and Dancing, The Red Dress Club Prompt

It was completely out of character for Hilary to steal. She couldn’t quite believe herself as she quickly slipped the frosted treat into her bag, glancing around the room nervously. The other students were gathered around the lab desk of Brandon Adams, who was putting on a rap performance with a partially dissected frog. Hilary felt sweat dampen her armpits, and waited for someone to point her out and scream “THIEF!”. But as always, Hilary seemed to be wearing a cloak of invisibility, and no one paid her any mind.


Two periods later when Hilary was safely in the school library, she brought the pastry out for examination. For the past three weeks, the school had been abuzz with stories of flow-nuts. They were the invention of the school genius, Jason Kruggs, an underachiever of massive proportions. Jason should’ve been bound for the Ivy leagues, but instead he wasted his time partying and hacking into the computers of large corporations. He once slipped a code into the design programs of a large architectural firm in town. When the architects tried to use the program, their designs would fall to pieces, and an animated wolf would stalk across the computer screen, proclaiming “I HUFFED AND I PUFFED AND I BLEW YOUR LOUSY HOUSE DOWN!”

So it wasn’t surprising when Jason came out with his flow-nuts. No one knew exactly how Jason had invented them, but there were plenty of theories. Some claimed it was a mixture of X and a specially processed sugar. Others felt like he used an herbal base – ginseng and valerian. Whatever his method, Jason supposedly devised this new drug and laced it into the frosting of glazed doughnuts. The consumer who ate the doughnut suffered very little side effects (possible stomach complaints being the most common), but would find a vibe – a flow – taking over the body. Soon enough, a user would be dancing all over the room, grooving to invisible tunes, the body overridden with rhythm.

Hilary didn’t buy it. Not one bit. There couldn’t possibly be a drug that would make you dance, not even from the school’s most legendary genius. She set the flow-nut on top of her neat, brown-paper covered Earth Science textbook. The flow-nut looked innocent, decadent in its sprinkles and sugar. Hilary had never taken a drug in her life, but it wasn’t as if kids were overdosing from the sweets. More importantly, if she could dance, if she could really dance, would other kids notice her? Would she lose her invisibility and start to make friends? Just thinking about it made her heart beat nervously. She hated being such an outcast, with the wrong clothes that never fit her apple shape and her springy, unruly curls.

Hilary glanced around the library, but it was quiet. Ms. Potter was bent over her computer, inattentive. Before she could change her mind, Hilary lifted the doughnut to her mouth and took a bite. The sugared frosting melted slowly on her tongue. It tasted just like a normal doughnut. Soft and chewy. Before she could change her mind, Hilary quickly downed the rest. Then she waited. Nothing. She didn’t feel any different. The room looked the same.

Hilary sighed with disappointment and opened her textbook. As she began answering questions about rock formations, Hilary didn’t notice when her foot started tapping. She didn’t notice when music and a beat filled her ears. But when she found her head bobbing to music, her eyes widened in surprise. Soon, her whole body was bouncing, and she’d pulled her curls down from her ponytail. She was up on her feet, dancing with abandon, the music piping through her veins as she danced and rocked across the library floor, unable to fight the movement in her body.

This week's Red Dress Club prompt was to write a piece based on this delicious picture:

You can go read more creative writing on doughnuts this week at The Red Dress Club.

Also, critique is always welcomed.