How cute is this extra-long bicycle laden with boxes claiming to contain flowers?
But what if they didn’t really hold flowers? What if that was all a devious ruse? What could they contain instead, and why the subterfuge?
Can you write this into a comic or suspense-filled tale?
If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.
My flash fiction ‘Family Psychology’ is being aired on Chris Arnold’s BBC Upload radio show this evening (7-10pm). It’s a micro tale from my Reflex Press collection The Stairs Are a Snowcapped Mountain, and inspired the title.
The story itself draws on memories of playing a game my sister and I dived into on rainy days, when we turned our home into the whole world. The UK’s pandemic lockdowns brought that to mind vividly!
There’s a lot of talent on the show tonight, but mine is the only scrap of fiction.
Update: If you missed it, listen in here – my micro is at approx 1.38min: bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0
It’s available for 21 days.
Upload your own stories here: bbc.co.uk/send/u16896881
Not all the people we once thought philanthropists stand up under scrutiny. One that may is Raja Ram Mohan Roy, (also written as Rajah Rammohun Roy, Rammohan Roy, or Ram Mohun Roy) who was born on 22nd May 1772 and is credited as being a reformer, philosopher and scholar. The statue shown here with Bristol Cathedral in the background was created by the sculptor Niranian Pradhan.
My favourite biographical fact about Rammohun Roy is that he successfully campaigned against sati, the now thankfully mostly past-tense Hindu practice of burning widows on their deceased husbands’ funeral pyres.
Can you build a story around a hero, fictional or historical, who instigates a change for the better that makes them worthy of a statue?
If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.
Set in the earliest days of the 1900s, this exquisitely immersive novella by Cara Viola invites you to stride into the archives of Glasgow’s glorious Kelvingrove museum when it has been built but is yet to be filled with treasures.
Our guide is 19-year-old Madeleine, a young woodworker with a talent for recreating priceless artefacts, who arrives rain-drenched on pages soaked in Carla Viola’s lyrical writing.
We soon learn three things about Madeleine: she is from Great Yarmouth, the only thing she will miss is ‘her’ marsh, and she keeps secrets, a fact told sideways as she meets Mrs Deepdene, the wife of Madeleine’s employer (and a formidable character in her own right). Madeleine “tried to see the other woman’s face, to gauge whether she, too, would be someone who kept secrets.”
The Kelvingrove museum feels equally ripe for secrets, breathed into life by the author’s vivid writing: “From the shadows of the Gothic tradition, the structure rose into the sky, where, at a tremendous height, solid walls divided into many-armed turrets (…) The door had not been locked since the last workman left, yet nobody wanted to venture inside. Kelvingrove was a building lying in wait.”
Bluebells are currently painting British woodlands glorious shades of purple and giving us an excuse to pause and admire their beauty.
Like the pastime of hanami (literally ‘flower viewing’) focused on Japan’s cherry blossoms to the passion for ‘leaf peeping’ at Colorado’s aspen trees turning gold, our floral world has some tricks up its billowing sleeves to make us take notice and perhaps even give thought to protecting these natural wonders.
Can you write an uplifting tale about a wild plant with the power to halt us in our busy lives and perhaps even change our behaviour for the better? Don’t forget to use the sense of smell as well for some evocative passages.
If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.
This gravity-defying snail struck me as so beautiful that I had to investigate and discover that it is a brown-lipped snail commonly seen in Britain’s gardens and green spaces.
Imagine if we had time to notice every natural miracle and celebrate its wonder. What difference could that make to the way we live our lives? Imagine if we had as much attention to give the plants and creatures around as we do celebrities and shopping?
As a small step in this direction, can you write a poem, essay or short work of fiction celebrating the wild lives we share our surroundings with?
If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.
This child-sized jumper was dropped at the entrance to a small section of nature within the city, and slung here to presumably make it easier to retrieve.
How did it end up here? What happened to the child who owned it?
Is the fact that the top is emblazoned with the word ‘Happy’ three times significant in any way?
Follow this story prompt down any dark path that your imagination latches onto.
If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.
This Friday, 22nd April 2022, is Earth Day, and the perfect excuse to celebrate the nature that surrounds us, even in cities.
Rewilding Britain are aiming to raise £50,000 through The Big Give’s Green Match Fund to support the Rewilding Network. They say: “This decentralised, distributed network of rewilding projects across Britain is a hugely powerful tool in catalysing rewilding. Members range from landowners and farmers to businesses, NGOs and communities. If you make a donation between 22nd and 29th April your contribution will be doubled!”
Why not use this as a writing prompt?
You could create a tale about how getting involved with a rewilding project helps a troubled person, or give your characters some nature-friendly habits such as having them cycle instead of drive or borrow instead of buy to subtly raise awareness of how simple changes can make a positive difference.
If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.
Walking past any block of flats, I’m often struck by a sense of the dizzying wealth of characters behind the windows and doors, each with their own potential narrative.
One day, a cage set on a sunlit balcony set my imagination whirring.
Who might live in this particular flat? What brought them here? What sets them apart from their neighbours? What do they keep in that cage??? During the recent lockdown periods, I suspect we all noticed the goings on in our locality’s more keenly. What might this resident have noticed? Might they have confided in whatever lives in this cage?
Can you weave a tale that creates a close-knit community, a selection of strangers living in close proximity or a single individual living high above the public street? What might they see, hear and share or keep to themselves?
If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.
A splash of bright blue caught my eye and I spotted this postage stamp stuck to the pavement.
It made me wonder who was trying to mail this part of the city, where to and why. Who would have received it and what might they have used it for?
If the entire street had been swept up into this package, what might have happened to the residents? Could they have found themselves tipped from their homes like dollhouse figurines, or would they have ended up wherever the stamp was carrying this important post?
Can you turn this into an intriguing tale?
If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.