INTRO: So my kids and I were doing one of those makeshift story card decks tonight, and I thought it might be fun to do something similar here that anyone could contribute to as a way to keep our minds occupied and away from our DOCs.
So here are the instructions:
Go to Google search and type “Photography random” into the image search bar.
Post a pic of anything at all, and continue the story from the most recent person’s post in the thread.
I’ll start with the first two posts as an example and we can all keep it going from there.
It was a crisp fall evening in the city, and the street lamps flickered dimly overhead as a man scanned the surrounding cityscape, contemplating his true purpose in life.
As he looked to his right, he laughed to himself at the irony of the “no waiting” sign between two strangers. He wondered if this may have been “his sign” that the time to become who he was meant to be should start in this very moment. And he decided that it should.
Up until this point his life could only be described as one endless tunnel.
Dark and grimy, yet comforting in it’s isolation.
The kind of tunnel you run into when everything around you just becomes…too bright.
Many places to hide bad things in.
A paradise for those who wanted to remain hidden
He had no idea who that person was supposed to be.
“Maybe I’ll change if I pretend hard enough”
Thoughts like this were running wild inside his head. Just like the tunnel itself, it was streamlined and a well rehearsed routine at this point.
However linear the tunnel may be, it’s slowly being chipped away into something else. Because this thought alone created some cracks in it’s foundation.
He was beginning to see a light. Even better, a sign.
A sign for change. However insignificant it seemed to the other people passing by.
As he jotted down his meandering thoughts, he realized that he had spent his life up to this point constantly rolling the dice. Gambling away every second of time he had been blessed with.
“There are so many times that I should have died,” he wrote with a pause. For a moment, he felt frozen in time, sitting stoic in the reality of how lucky he had been while others he had known in his walk were not.
“More coffee, hun?” The waitress asked in her sweet southern drawl. It was a welcomed interruption from the rabbit hole he was falling into.
“Yes, please… and thank you.”
He wrapped his cramped fingers back around his pen.
“But for some reason, by the grace of God… I was spared from the inevitable outcome I should have found myself in through my carelessness. I have a divine purpose in being here today… and I feel I am getting closer to discovering it at every new turn.”
…Drifting off - another daydream found him! Mind wondering alone again, racing, creeping through the endless corridors of memory. How we laughed as we gazed in awe of our surroundings. Yes! as we drove the winding road of the back country, watching the sun blaze ahead, life felt so complete. Haunted by a
stagnant time forever etched into his mind, but trying to snap back into this new realization, he struggled to come to terms with his choices. As time passed, as he had hoped would his guilt (not so, shaking his head for what seemed the thousand time), the constant reminder hit home…“I have lost her for good”!
Now it was getting late. One by one customers began leaving. He started feeling the loneliness begin to creep in, “Where to now”, the echo of his sadness was obviously holding him prisoner! “Its my fault, why! oh why did i let her go”
“Could there ever be the chance, i have prayed many nights and i will continue, as i’ve learnt a valuable lesson of and in life, be careful what you wish for”.
in the thralls of he’s addiction, contemplating the countless nights he was missing in action!
“Now look where you are; ok kiddo enough - time to shake this off and get a grip”…
…Laying there under his cold sheets, mind twisted and jaded - again the mind began to race…
“Shit It’s going to be one of those nights”!
Knowing where it was heading, he closed his eyes and stepped onto the platform, as the train came to a stop allowing him to get on board; “Where to Sir” the voice rang out in its familiar tone…
His voice! like the night prior and beyond, a pattern that was becoming the new normal; So, he let go and revisited memory lane…
The day was overcast, but after what seemed an endless battle of cat and mouse; She agreed to meet him at the boardwalk, down by the pier overlooking the coast…
It had been at least 6mths, "No! more like 9! the words just seemed to burst out, the overwhelming urge to stream could be felt way down deep; but this time he managed to settle the pain with a sharp blow to his temple…The pier was their place, it was there he had first taken her; it was there he had kissed her for the first time - and it was there, he had asked her to marry him!
Yet the memory he recalled, of the birds singing and the crispness of the early Fall breeze - left the slightest smile. Moments shared as they would walk and talked, trying to understand the other with joy and laughter gave him much food for thought, this was their church, their place of refuge.
But now, at this seemingly last-ditch attempt, to salvage anything! it would turn out to be the last time he would be in her presence…
Gazing from a distance, he sat watching her walk to their spot; with a heavy heart he knew this may be his last chance, knowing it would take a miracle.
… How he had prayed many a night wishing for this opportunity, and now just when he was about to give up, she finally responded to the million pleas he had left on her answering machine which took him by surprise -
So, gathering all the strength he could muster he made his way slowly to her.
As each step drew her closer, the air became blissful and the sky a dull grey; not even the echoes of the waves ahead and now all around him could gain attention. Focused on the prize in front of him he treads, one footstep at a time shaking and nervous, trying desperately to come up with enough words to keep her engaged, in the hope of gaining a single grain of trust…
But wait! before he could even understand what he was seeing, she was gone - as quickly as she settled, she began to run! catching him off guard, he didn’t know what to think let alone how to respond…“Should I run after her” was all he could muster, “YES QUICKLY”…
The voice inside begged him to chase but in his frightened state he found himself frozen - like time stood still, etched into the scenery.
…She was gone! the realization wasn’t far off, and when it finally hit home all he could do was fall to his knees and cry, like he had never cried before…
Suddenly, he found himself in an emotional child like state. He knew this game all too well in their courtship. That familiar feeling of cat and mouse sunk back in. But this time, he felt like the mouse caught in a trap of his own doing. Being preyed upon by his very own subconscious and feelings of self doubt.
“Snap out of it stupid! Wake up!”
Startled by his own obtrusive thoughts, he quickly blinked and said, “No. I can’t sit still this time. I have to find her and tell her what I need to say. It’s time to speak from the heart.”
