Photographs To Inspire - Lynne Garner

Last month I blogged about how I'd started to take photographs to support my blog posts - Picture It. I received a few positive comments (thanks folks) however the one left by Bill Kirton really struck a cord:


"A great idea, Lynne, and I bet, as readers of the blog looked at each, ideas for stories started nudging into their minds. That's certainly what happened as I read it. Wouldn't it be interesting to post just one of them and have people submit 500-word flash fiction stories inspired by it. 
Great displacement activity."

So whilst I've been out and about with the dog (we do a lot of walking) I've been taking photographs of the 'odd' things people have left behind. I guess you know what's coming next. Yep I'm throwing down the gauntlet. Here are three images I'm hoping will inspire your muse. I'm not expecting you to craft a 500-word flash fiction story (but don't let me stop you if you get that urge) but it would be nice if  you could share any ideas they stir. 

Perhaps the runner who owned this injured themselves and
whilst being helped by a good Samaritan it was forgotten?

Not just lost but maybe a 'sign' by our local spy?

Possibly play was delayed whilst everyone attempted to rescue this from the jaws of a very large and smug looking black hound?

So go on what have these images 'said' to you?

Lynne Garner

I have three new distance learning courses commencing on the 6th July via Women On Writing:

Comments

julia jones said…
The single lost glove (like a single lost shoe) is especially evocative. I remember a picture book much loved by my brother and myself where animal after animal managed to squeeze into one fur-lined glove to survive the winter. I can remember perhaps one picture, no title or author, possibly a couple of character names (fleet foot the fox) but the wonderful things was the way in which the glove continued to expand, no matter who turned up. I like to think of is as a parable ...
Bill Kirton said…
Fascinating and, since it's partly my fault, I'm happy to be the first to respond.
By the way, I think the way we respond to such stimuli reveals rather more about ourselves than we might want. Anyway…

The drink bottle: You pick it up and find that the other side is a tangle of complicated circuit boards, wires and lights. Alarmingly, it begins to tick (or play a Glenn Miller classic) and you find that some of the wires have reached round your hand and you can’t throw it away.

Alternatively, it’s attached to a cable that runs away through the surrounding leaves and undergrowth. You follow it and it takes you deeper into the forest.

The glove: As you reach to pick it up, it scuttles away.

The ball: You’re a tidy person so you pick it up in order to dump it in a waste bin. As you walk along the path towards the bin, a scruffy wee girl runs up with a broad smile on her filthy face, yelling ‘You found it. Oh thank you, thank you’. She grabs the ball and runs off playing keepie-uppie, dribbling and generally behaving like David Beckham (without the money).
Bill Kirton said…
Damn, Julia beat me to it.
julia jones said…
Mmmm, but at least you were trying to Keep Britain Tidy. I was putting the case for a total relaxation of immigration control!
madwippitt said…
Goodness. That first pic immediately made me think 'Blakes 7'. Don't ask. too long a story and I need to go do some work. But these pics have certainly got me thinking!

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