What in the world is a "prompt"?

I've lurked here for a while and posted occasionally, but I am still not sure what a "prompt" is. I thought it was a random idea seeded from Chambers, but then I saw people posting prompts from their fan fiction. Once again, I thought it was just random ideas, but I have been seeing people posting their own creative story ideas as prompts and saying that they don't have time to do them. It's also the case that prompts are somehow tied to karma but I am not sure how.<br><br>I mean, I appreciate free prompts, but its hard to find prompts for the type of story I want to write. If you have can you please share them with me, but I don't want just *any* prompts. <br><br>What type of prompts am I looking for specifically? Have you read my stories? Have you read my other Chambers posts? Do you know my likes and dislikes? Do you know what I've been personally over the last year? <br><br>You see, I don't do prompts. Nobody but the author knows what a story is about. <br><br><br>So if you use prompts, I'd love to hear your thought process.<br><br><br>P.S. I'd never buy a car in which I have no idea what the car is, what it looks like, or what features it comes with.