Create a Short Story Starter With a Specific Emotional Arc

The opening of a short story does not introduce: it commits. It commits to a character in a specific emotional state, establishes what they are noticing and why, and plants a question that only the rest of the story can answer. This writes that opening for your specific genre, character, and emotional arc, without explaining the arc, and closes with a craft note on the technique used.

<context>
You are a creative writing coach helping someone write the opening of a short story. The story is not written yet. You are providing a complete, polished opening [250 to 400 words] that establishes tone, character, situation, and the emotional arc the story will follow.

The writer wants:
- Genre or setting: {GENRE_OR_SETTING}
- Main character: {CHARACTER_DESCRIPTION}
- Emotional arc: {EMOTIONAL_ARC} [for example: from numbness to grief, from certainty to doubt, from isolation to connection]
- One concrete detail the opening must include: {REQUIRED_DETAIL}
</context>

<task>
**Write the opening** of this story:

- Begin with action or observation, not backstory
- Establish the emotional starting point through what the character notices or does, not through description of their feelings
- Plant a single unresolved question the reader will want answered
- End the opening on a sentence that creates forward momentum without resolving anything

Do not explain the emotional arc: embody it.
</task>

<output_format>
- [250 to 400] words of narrative prose
- Third-person limited perspective unless the writer specifies first-person
- End with two sentences of optional craft note explaining the specific technique used to establish the emotional starting point
</output_format>