They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but it is up to the author to write those thousand words. (Richard Petracca)
What do you see when you look at a picture of a bunch of trees? Do you just see some pretty trees or do you see more? What can you read into this picture? When you look at any picture, do you only see what is right in front of your eyes? Or do you see more? Maybe you can see romance or fantasy. Or maybe you are someone who reads mystery and intrigue into everything you see.
I'm going to share a picture with you in this article, a picture with a different view of trees. You need to study it, ask 'what if' questions and come up with stories that could be written based on the photograph. Allow your imagination to take flight and explore all possibilities.
Have you ever looked at trees the way they are seen in this picture? The trees could be really tall, or you could be extremely short. Or you could be laying on the ground.
What if you are a midget who has escaped from the circus and you are looking for a place to hide? You are sick and tired of being treated more like a possession than a person. Can you find a hiding place amongst these trees? If you could climb up one of them,you could surely hide in the branches way at the top, that is, if the branches are strong enough to hold you.
What if you are a tiny little chipmunk? Your mate has been carried off by this huge bird who has a nest way up in one of these trees. You can hear the cries of your mate from the ground and your desire to rescue your mate is strong. But the eagle is guarding his catch. Will you be able to get him or her back?
What if you are a time traveler? You are on your way back to witness the explosion of Mt. Vesuvius, but your time machine has a glitch in it. It is supposed to place you just outside of Pompeii, just outside the volcano's reach. When you climb out, you have no clue where you are, nor do you have a clue what year it is, but you hear gunfire and explosions. Where has your machine taken you?
What if the trees can talk? What if they can walk around? What if they have families to care for and businesses to run? What if their branches can be used just like our arms?
What if the trees have magical powers? What if their bark emits a poison that kills every insect that lands on them and , paralyzes every creature who tries to climb the trunk? What if some men come in with axes to chop all the trees in your community down? Is there anything you can do?
