I took this photo on the Buda side of the Danube in the Hungarian capital – something about the grandeur of the building behind its metal exo-skeleton caught my eye. It made me wonder who was inside, whether they too were a faded beauty – a relic from another era shored up by modern ugliness.

Are they contented in their situation, or mourning the savage socialist years that still mark the city?

Your challenge is to take this idea and run with it – write a piece inspired by the mix of elegance and necessity, age and modernity, and make of it what you wish.

If you write something prompted by this, please let me know by sending an email to Judy(at)socket creative.com. With your permission, I’d love to share it on SkyLightRain.com.