AMMENDED 3/31/16: The author of this wonderful photograph, Matthew Herring, contacted me this morning, and asked that I credit him by and name, and with his website. I do this whole-heartedly because (a) It is the right thing to do, and I do whatever I can to give artist’s their proper credit for work well rendered; and (b) his photography is AMAZING and you should all browse his collection, and not just the one photo!
Incidentally – this photo won the Urban catgory of the 2013 National Geographic Traveller Photography Competition, and deservingly so. Congratulations (belatedly), Mr. Herring, and thank you for allowing the VisDare crew to use your photo as a writing prompt.
It’s late. We’re having storms. So I’m setting this to auto-post and hoping I can click “schedule” before the lights go out. Because OF COURSE I don’t want this one to go up late! This is too good a photo to pass up, and I want everyone to have all the time they need to add a maahhhhhhvelous entry for it.
1 week. 150 words. Post entries in the comments! For more info see the Visual Dare tab.
Now to go look over the entries for #127: “Lift” before the lights go out.
(If only I could just write, and read VisDares all day! You guys rock my world.)
Happy writing!
Angela Goff 
March 2, 2016 at 6:15 am
It was late, we were alone in the last train. Patiently I watched you as you checked your messages: I admired the way you kept going, as if everything was normal. We were going home, I knew you’d attempt to make peace, perhaps more.
I was a little bemused, hesitant maybe, after all, soon I would leave this silly substitute shape for a human body, and become again the woman I was, always were.
But you, my dear, my sweet sister, could you still be the friend I wanted? Or would you become jealous, envious of the looks of others, the preying eyes? Could you adapt to being what I was now? Of course I would make it as comfortable and cosy as I could…
I would take care of you, keep you dressed, and clean, always close to me.
As we were now, on that lonely train, soon home.
https://ofglassandpaper.com/2016/03/02/visdare-127-snoop/
March 2, 2016 at 8:01 am
We both had similar ideas here. Your characters though, are playing for higher stakes. I like what you’ve written. It could be easily expanded if you chose to.
March 2, 2016 at 8:24 am
I enjoyed this.
A sinister, menacing feel to it.
March 2, 2016 at 11:42 am
Great juxtaposition. Wasn’t expecting that.
March 2, 2016 at 11:48 am
There is a sadness here that comes through with the sinister slant … very nice.
March 5, 2016 at 8:42 pm
I can always identify your writing by the atmosphere you create. Mysterious and smooth. Well done, dear Honoré :))
March 8, 2016 at 10:28 pm
Sad and a touch sinister, perhaps, as has been said. An unknown shape of intentions, just emerging from a mental fog. So many unanswered questions here. Love it.
March 2, 2016 at 7:58 am
Not just an imaginary friend anymore, am I Carla?
Like Pinocchio became a real boy. I’m becoming a real girl, huh?.
Yes you are Brenda, you’re becoming a real woman of substance.
I think I’m starting to come together. Arms though, it would be nice to have arms. Maybe a full set of legs… although these are not too bad really – I can wear pedal pushers. Or do you call them clam diggers? Huh? Do you think my butt’s too big to wear those?
No Brenda, you’ll look great in cropped pants.
Carla, I just realized that I’m naked. I’m not wearing a stitch. And, we’re out in public. We’re on a train. Is this legal? Could I be arrested?
No Brenda, it’s OK. It happens all the time.
Remember when we watched “Risky Business”?
Remember Rebecca De Mornay?
Oh yeah, huh?
Are you calling Tom Cruise?
##
You can see this with the fancy formatting here:
https://tnkerr.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/just-imagine-it/
March 2, 2016 at 8:23 am
This made me smile.
I loved the interaction between the two of them.
March 2, 2016 at 11:42 am
That is spooky woo! I can see that on TV.
March 2, 2016 at 11:49 am
I can imagine this conversation on the train … 🙂
March 2, 2016 at 5:26 pm
Really interesting! I love the concept of it. 😀
March 8, 2016 at 10:35 pm
Left a comment on your blog — but let me reiterate how much I love how the personalities of these two come to the foreground without any lecturing or obvious pointing. Lovely work.
March 8, 2016 at 11:06 pm
🙂 Gracias
March 2, 2016 at 8:22 am
“Well, what does he say?”
“Oh dear. He says he’s found two legs and is sure they’re yours, but there’s a problem with the arms.”
“What does he mean, ‘A problem with the arms’? What sort of problem?”
“He thinks his assistant might have accidentally put them in the bin. He’s going to have a look.”
“Bin! He put my arms in the bin. Idiot! If I could get my hands on him I’d give him a good slap. Or at least I would if I had any hands.”
“It’s OK. He says he’s found them. A bit grubby but still in one piece. He’s going to send them round later.”
“Before he goes, ask him about this hole in my head. Whatever he’s taken out I want put back in. And Marjorie… be a dear and cover me up. That chap in the seat opposite keeps winking at me.”
@mj51day
150 words
https://mjshorts.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/some-of-my-parts-are-missing/
March 2, 2016 at 11:43 am
I love this one. There had to be a humorous side to this photo. Thank you.
March 2, 2016 at 11:50 am
Here again is a conversation I can imagine hearing, late at night, on a lonely stretch of Tube ride … 🙂
March 4, 2016 at 11:35 pm
“Whatever he’s taken out I want put back in…” That simple statement could cover a lot of territory.
March 4, 2016 at 11:36 pm
Nice story Mike!
March 5, 2016 at 8:40 pm
Mike, witty and wonderful. You are so adept at conversation, distinguishing between speakers without any need for identification. And, love the last line. Well done! :))
March 5, 2016 at 8:44 pm
P.S. Love the indignation “Whatever he’s taken out I want put back in.” :))
March 8, 2016 at 10:37 pm
This made me laugh aloud. Such great dialogue, great personalities in these two characters. I can almost see the mannequin leaning over more…and more….trying to read the screen and/or hide from Winking Man. Great entry!
March 2, 2016 at 11:39 am
People live in bubbles these days. I-phones plugged in their ears they are oblivious to the existence of the rest of the world; might even be trying hard to block it out. Unless, of course, they are some sort of perv wanting to chat / grope you up. That’s why I started bringing Milo with me. For a start she saved a seat and I no longer have to endure smelly drunks chomping noisily sitting next to me. Suffering as I do from Misophonia, that brought me to the verge of violence. With her head positioned so that it looks like she is sharing something on my I-phone we could be colleagues.
Milo is also a filter for conversation. People who have enough imagination to start an interesting conversation will deserve an answer. Otherwise we’re busy with our work. I’m never alone now, but then, as a schizophrenic, I never was.
@ailsaabraham
March 2, 2016 at 11:51 am
Oh, well done! There’s so much more there — would love to know more about this young woman and Milo!
March 2, 2016 at 4:37 pm
This is a lot of fun. You subtly keep peeling away layers.
March 3, 2016 at 12:41 pm
A great piece of writing. I loved that last line.
March 8, 2016 at 10:42 pm
Well done, indeed! You made me rethink my opinion about the narrator about every other line – quite a feat, in so few lines, and yet for it to be so smooth and believable! Great entry!
March 9, 2016 at 1:44 pm
Thank you. I just love listening to the photos and writing down what they say. xx
March 2, 2016 at 11:46 am
“What are you typing?”
I don’t look up. “I’m letting Yuri know I’ve got you. I mean me. I mean …”
“It’s okay. After all, I’ll be you as soon as we get to the – what did you call it?”
I should have never started talking to her. “The Exchange Center.”
“Why are you doing this?”
There it was: the question I knew would come, eventually. “I want a model’s look. Like yours.”
“Will it hurt? You, I mean.”
“I dunno. I don’t care. I’m just ready for the change.”
“I think you’re very pretty, just as you are.”
I finish my text to Yuri but can’t look at her. Yuri doesn’t even say things like that. “Why don’t we get off at the next station?”
“Is that where the Exchange Center is?”
I shake my head. “No. It’s the mall. I want to buy you a dress.”
—
“Body Image” – 148 words
March 2, 2016 at 11:49 am
awwwwwwwwwwww – sweet but a sad reflection on modern society too. Good on you!
March 2, 2016 at 11:54 am
Thank you! Yes, I was just watching a story on the news about a mother who wanted to warn others about these seed pods her transgender daughter purchased on the internet — the pong pong balls from Thailand are used to commit suicide: the daughter was being bullied and suffered a painful end. It made me think of body image and well, there we are.
March 2, 2016 at 2:38 pm
Good grief!!! Suicide ping pong balls? People are sick -nothing wrong with anyone.
March 8, 2016 at 10:46 pm
Wow. Such layered commentary on society here – so many pointed details, and in so few words. Brilliant entry. I love this one so much, all the more because it made me wince a little.
March 8, 2016 at 11:20 pm
Thanks, Angela!
March 2, 2016 at 5:23 pm
(http://gone-with-the-southern-breeze.tumblr.com/post/140352708223/visdare-127)
The train rocked gently as we passed through the Underground. Outside, the windows held nothing but pitch, yet the Evolutionary Variform Essence (EVE for short) continued to gaze out long after we had descended. A pulsing blue light beneath the EVE’s eye indicated that it was lost in thought.
The scientist next to the EVE shifted in her seat. “Penny for your thoughts?”
With a whir, the components slowly shifted so that the EVE now faced her. The EVE’s eyes glowed yellow momentarily before it answered, “That currency has not been used since the reemerging from WWIII.”
Fighting back a sigh, the woman simply replied, “It’s an expression – or was.”
She was about to say more, but a vibration from her phone stopped her. Glancing at the screen, the scientist smiled. The woman noticed the EVE looking over her shoulder curiously.
“It’s Chris.” She relayed. “He says he found a solution to your lack of mobile parts.”
~*~*~
I had so much fun with this one. 😀
March 4, 2016 at 11:38 pm
I can tell you had fun writing it. It was so much fun to read! Thanks
March 8, 2016 at 10:53 pm
Such a fun entry! I can see a much larger story at work here behind these few lines. Is this the one you said spawned a whole other manuscript idea? I sure hope so….! 😀
March 2, 2016 at 10:53 pm
And here’s mine “Dress Form” http://www.agincourtdb.com/2016/03/dress-form.html
March 5, 2016 at 10:21 am
Hebe and Lotus loved practical jokes. These mischievous witches played havoc with each other throughout the ages. In July, 1888, Hebe turned Lotus’s hair into sparklers that snapped and crackled. In spring of 1912 Lotus placed a forgetful spell on Hebe’s boyfriend. For a while he couldn’t remember his name or Hebe’s. Fortunately these silly spells faded quickly. Perhaps this kept the two sisters youthful in looks and spirit.
Then in 1969 Hebe changed Lotus into a life size doll. Incapable of moving or talking, she could see, hear, feel, and think. Hebe enjoyed dressing her in awful clothing.
Strangely, this stubborn spell never diminished. Hebe, frantic, scoured her charm book and combed the dusty archives of ancient libraries. Years passed. Keeping Lotus close to her, she continued searching spell reversals, using new technology.
Lotus watched her perusing the internet. Someday Hebe would break the spell. Thank goodness for immortality.
March 8, 2016 at 11:01 pm
O wow. Didn’t see that coming. What a great concept!!! Immortal magical sisters pranking people through history = fabulous twist on the prompt. Love it!!
March 8, 2016 at 11:13 pm
Yeah, this is nice. The concept could spark a lot of stories! Like it.
March 6, 2016 at 6:15 pm
I turned, and faced the wall, and the crack. The reality I’d always known was inside that wall. I backed a few steps away, then a few more, until I could see the truth.
The reality I’d always known was inside a dome.
It was huge, yes, but it was a dome. And I was standing outside it, in a landscape filled with big domes, as far as I could see. As I stood in that new world, I realized every dome as another reality, just like the one I’d always lived within.
From the inside, the world had seemed so big, so limitless. But from the outside, it was just one tiny world in a landscape filled with worlds. Some bigger, some smaller, than the world I’d come from.
Standing in that universe filled with worlds, I decided I should snoop around, and try to visit other worlds.
149 Words
@LurchMunster
March 8, 2016 at 11:03 pm
Ahhhhh, breaking free at last! Knowing how your VisDare entries so far this year have built off one another, I love how your POV character is stepping out into a broader perspective previously unthinkable to him. So many reasons to love this entry. ❤
March 8, 2016 at 11:15 pm
Off on what could be the greatest of adventures. I look forward to more! Indeed.
March 6, 2016 at 6:50 pm
AI
The AI watched as her mistress adjusted the device. “You know that I can help you with that,” she responded.
“I know,” stated mistress. “So many skills have been handed over to the AI. If I give up coding, what more is there for me to do?”
“I only wish to assist,” AI answered in a clipped voice.
“It always begins as help. But when I give up my own autonomy, I become the slave.”
AI tilted her head thoughtfully. “Am I…a slave?”
Mistress looked up, realizing the misstep. “I suppose servant is a better word.”
“Slave…a person who is a legal property of another. A person who is forced to obey.”
“You are not a slave, see? You don’t meet the definition. You are not…a person…” Mistress trailed off.
AI considered these words, “Person…individual, creature, character, human. I must be human to be a person?”
“So it seems.”
150 Words
@denise_callaway
March 8, 2016 at 11:12 pm
Ouch. Those parting lines carry quite the sting with them – in a very, very good way. I can almost see the invisible walls closing in around “Mistress.” Great entry! — and so good to see you in the VisDare roster this week! 😀
March 8, 2016 at 11:17 pm
Now see what can happen? The plot thickens, eh? Pity about the word count limitations here, I could have kept reading quite happily.
Such a pity. Such a great take on the prompt.