Here is your weekly Visual Dare! You can use this photo in one of two ways:
* incorporate it into your current Work In Progress - literally, or figuratively
* use it as a 100 word flash fiction to get the brain going in a different creative direction.
Give it a try! Feel free to post your creative responses to the prompt in the comments below (if it's 100 words or less, plus personal comments, of course!).
Here's your dare:
Photo by: Peter Gutierrez
Where does this take your writing - even for a short burst?
Let me know in the comments - in summary or 100 word excerpts!
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Benigna hadn’t left the apartment in four years. Not since the day she returned home from shopping and was unable to lift her knees high enough to step out of the gondola unaided. The teenage gondolier had become undone, loud swearing then horror, that he would have to lift her, all 350 pounds, up and over onto the boat landing. He was a strong boy but Benigna provided a lot to work with – so much flesh and rolled stockings that couldn’t cover her veins or arthritic joints.
ReplyDeleteShe stumbled but landed upright on the dock. Only one more journey in her life awaited.
Love this, JoAnne! You always pack so much into so few words!
DeleteHer heart sank like crumbling plaster falling into the water. The canal would remain inky black; the sky a washed out grey. Only the Mage knew what to do. She had dispatched a messenger as soon as the magic crept in, knowing the curse was too much for her apprentice level powers. Her horror was unmatched as the vibrant blues and yellows of the buildings she loved faded into slate. Even the polluted green-brown of the river road was no match for the evil magic pouring into her beloved city. She fought until the smokey spell swallowed her as well.
ReplyDeleteWell Jenn, this is awesome! "...the smokey spell swallowed her as well." beautiful! So glad you joined in Angela's challenge. I agree with you - this photo brings to mind many stories. :))
DeleteWOW. I'm not sure what I expected after that riveting first sentence, but it was a 100-word ride through unexpected amazingness! I need to know the story behind this one!
DeleteJesus in a friggin’ gondola!
ReplyDeleteWhat a way to start your honeymoon. Jean-Michel was throwing up in the bathroom and Chrissie had dropped her wedding ring into the canal as she leaned over the balcony when the airline food caught up with her in its turn.
All French people wanted to honeymoon in Venice & she’d known it was all wrong when his mother gave her the ring. An heirloom and miles too big! Headline – clumsy English woman tears apart French family….and Venice smelled just as bad as they said.
Ca va, cheri? Non, ça ne va pas !
O my goodness. A honeymoon for the books, indeed! I like the promise of a huge family rift approaching in the closing sentences. Is this part of your current WIP, or a spur-of-the-moment entry? :D
DeleteNo this was totally spur-of-the-moment. Love the idea of working from other people's prompts, it gives the imagination a free kickstart which is invaluable.
ReplyDeleteCurrent WIP is a prequel - fantasy, demons, Black Shaman and Wiccan priest ...this was a nice change actually !