*****
My husband and I were in a restaurant. The hostess led an older couple to the booth behind us. I thought they were a married couple...until I heard the man ask the woman, "Are you a steak eater?" Ah ha! Definitely not married. Probably not friends. Maybe acquaintances. What if...
...this was a blind date? Who set it up? Why?
...they met at their church or where they volunteer? Through a personal ad? At a karaoke bar? During a marathon?
...they were childhood sweethearts, reunited after all this time? What if they'd had a crush on each other but never asked each other out? Why? What if he was the neighborhood bully, now looking to make amends? What if she was the bully?
*****
My husband and I were in the car, sitting at a red light. In the left lane, one car ahead of us, a pig snout jutted out the open passenger window. A small hand curled over the window frame. A child, wearing a pig mask leaned out. It was a good pig mask, too, not a chintzy plastic one. When the light turned green, the car pulled ahead, but not before the child stuck out his or her arm and gave everyone a wave. What if...
...it wasn't a child at all? Who - or what - was it?
...the child wore the mask the way some kids carry around a stuffed animal or a blanket, for comfort? Why a mask? Why that mask?
...the child was scarred or burned? How?
...every child in the family had a mask they wore - goat, bull, giraffe? Why?
...wearing the pig mask was punishment? What if the child had stuffed themselves full of food and was being punished for being a "piggy?"
(That last handful of questions takes me to some very dark places, so we'll end here, shall we?)
(That last handful of questions takes me to some very dark places, so we'll end here, shall we?)
*****
How about you? Do you already notice what's happening around you or do you need to challenge yourself to wake up like I did? Where do the "What if?" questions take you in either/both of these scenarios? Have you seen or overheard anything funky lately?
Been funny if the snout belonged to a real pig. You would've thought you were in the middle of a Geico commercial.
ReplyDeleteHa! :)
DeleteMadeline I love doing this. I always find myself wondering about the stories behind people that I see each day. Are they having a good day? Bad day? Have they recently lost someone? Are they falling in love? Etc.
ReplyDeleteI tend to do that more in airports than anywhere else, but it's a good exercise for everywhere. :)
DeleteI LOVE your what ifs!!!! Especially that pig mask! Oh the places my mind goes. Now I want you to post more :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! And you never know - that pig masked child might end up in a story.... :)
Delete(What's funny is that there's a story in my upcoming ebook collection where a person is wearing a pig mask! It's an old story but one of my favorites.)
This is awesome. I'm going to have to borrow this if I may.
ReplyDeleteAt the airport I play spot the species. I try to figure out what species the people were in another life. Ogre, fairy, elf, lizard, etc.
Borrow away! Maybe we need some kind of bloghop where everyone has to write a story about people wearing pig masks. :)
DeleteI love the "spot the species" idea!
I need to do more of that type of thing. Things like that are great to give you that idea for a scene, or even a story. The kid being punished by wearing the piggy mask for pigging out is sad though. I'm sure there are some parents out there who'd do that though.
ReplyDeleteYour comment makes me ask more What if? questions -
DeleteWhat if one of the parents were punished the same way? What if the parents are obese and they don't want their child to be like that and this is their attempt at "helping" their child...?
So many stories, so little time. :)
I love your what if questions! That's how I get my best ideas too . . . it's always interesting to wonder about people and situations, and find stories in the world around us. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how many stories are out there! What I love is how a bunch of writers can look at the same person or situation and come up with so many different story lines that will then twist and turn into other story lines...
DeleteOh how fun. I love your questions and now I want to know more about these people too. I love coming up with scenarios like this when I'm people watching.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend, Madeline!
You CAN know more about them, Julie...just make up your own stories! :)
DeleteEnjoy your weekend!
I daydream like this all the time, but very few of those meanderings turn into actual stories, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteI was at a stop light the other day, reading the promises made on the side catering company van when I noticed a bottle of water sitting on the back bumper. No one around actively working in the area- just sitting there. Did the van driver put it there and simply forget about it? Or did someone drive by, throw a bag over their head, inject them with a sedative and throw them in their trunk, leaving the bottle there as voiceless witness to the crime? These are the things I wonder...
Run with it, Beverly! :)
DeleteWhat if they could get fingerprints off that bottle? Whose would they find? What if someone poisoned the person's water and then threw the bag over their head...?