Imagine That!

 

I saw the discarded bag in the park. It lay on its side, empty apart from a water bottle.

I recognised the bag’s logo: ‘Deliveroo’. I’ve never seen a Deliveroo bag out and about without a delivery driver before. 

Where was the driver?

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a trainer-clad foot sticking out from behind a tree. I hurried over to offer assistance, and – oh hang on, no, that’s not what happened.

Let me pick up the story again: Where was the driver?

I looked around and, at the bottom of the hill, saw a group of people hurrying away, glancing furtively over their shoulders. They must have kidnapped the driver. I pulled out my phone to call 999, and – oh hang on, no, that’s not what happened.

Where was the driver?

I took a closer look at the bottle inside the otherwise empty bag. Was it a clue? What could it mean? Perhaps the driver had managed to scrawl a note as he was dragged away, and stuff the note in the bottle, hoping that someone would find it. And I’d found it! I reached into the bag to retrieve the note from the bottle, and – oh hang on, no, that’s not what happened.

Where was the driver?

I looked around, couldn’t see anyone, took a few photos, and posted them on this blog.

I’ll leave you to guess which of the above scenarios is most factual, but they (or similar) flashed through my mind the instant I spotted the bag.

The plot thickened the next day, by the way. Someone had moved but not removed the bag....

 

Perhaps I should use the pictures as a writing prompt in a workshop.

The possibilities are endless.

Feel free to add your own below!

A ten-year-old girl told me she wanted to be a writer, and asked what she should do?

I suggested she write a story about something she saw on her way home from school. Anything at all. A dog, a car, a tree.

Even a Deliveroo bag.

Writing prompts are all around us.

 

Imagination is the power of the mind over the possibilities of things. 

– Wallace Stevens