Picture a school playground. Kids are running, shouting, jumping, climbing, swinging and playing basketball. Groups form then someone leaves and a new group is created. Most kids seem happy and well-adjusted. However if you look carefully, somewhere on that playground is a child being tormented.

Sometimes the tormentor is a classmate, sometimes it’s a neighbor, sometimes it’s an older child. The one given is that the bully is bigger, stronger and domineering to the point of terrifying the smaller child.

Playground bullies often grow up to be workplace bullies or domestic abusers. Their skills are well-developed by this time, so they know just the right words, just the right postures, just the right ways to belittle others into doing what they want.

Your character most likely ran into a bully sometime in his life. Imagine the story he would tell. He would speak of the terror that took over his body anytime the bully drew near. He’d tell about the ways he tried to hide, tried to brush off the comments, tried to elude by staying near a playground supervisor.

Your task is to write a story in which a bully plays a prominent role. Your protagonist can be the bully or the bullied. Dialogue and description are important for both will create the ambience needed to convey the intense feelings that the victim experiences.

Will there be a happy ending in which the victim overcomes the bullying? In which the bully is severely punished? Or will the ending be one of continued torture, not just from the playground bully but by adult bullies as well?

Have fun with this one.