When a spark leads to a story, even the writer can be surprised
I have just finished a five-week 'Spark your Writing' session with a terrific group of writers who produce creative work 'sparked' each week by a word quote and image (painting or photo). It consistently amazes me what different stories we write from the same words or picture -- a personal essay, a prose poem, a creative nonfiction piece, a fictional story -- the options are limited only by the writer's imagination and desire to create. That is the beauty and power of creative response to what is in front of us. In response to last week's sparks, I wrote a short fictional story that I share below. Its style is unusual for me and I had fun experimenting in this genre. I hope you enjoy it, and I'd love to hear what you think of it. THE SPARK …I thought how private we have all become. How self-sufficient. Of course, we are all members of the community we live in. While in the past, they would have been cogs, wheels, brackets, levers, pulleys, each making the