The pain is bad today, her knees and hips skewered by it. If she could reach the window, she’d look over the blank grey facade of the repair shop, the tumble of balding tyres and broken down trucks to the river.
When she and Joe were small, they would sneak away from their chores to wriggle their toes in the long grass, hop from one boulder to the next, see how close they could get to the lap of water without smudging their feet in the pale dirt. They would paddle, shrieking until they’d grown used to the cool throb, eventually standing knee deep, the curious catfish tickling their legs. Joe would play grass whistles and she would try, making him laugh as the blades slipped through her stubby fingers.
Dear Joe – forever ten, forever blushed by the sun, forever smiling. She closes her eyes and dreams.
What Pegman Saw is a great new writing prompt run by K Rawson, intriguingly based on Google Maps. From an initial image, you can search Street View and find inspiration based on what you find. Great idea and very inspiring. See here to join in and to read the other tales.
Word Shamble 
Truly lovely piece. I felt like I was there.
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Yes, in just a few paragraphs we get right into the head of the main character, powerful writing.
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Thanks so much! Glad it worked for you 🙂
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Ah, thank you! Lovely prompt – very inspiring 🙂
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Evocative piece; I really get the sense of age and withdrawing into wistful old memories. Interesting take on the prompt — confused me at first (there being no repair shop there),but there is such a sense of nostalgia in the image. If you don’t look too closely at the cars, you could be looking back in time, back to when your brother was still ten, before you knew about whatever horrible thing happened.
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Ah, sorry about the confusion, Joy. The thing with this prompt is, because it’s on Google street view, you can click on the photo and take a tour of the town! There is a repair shop opposite this building, and a river and all manner of run down, evocative buildings. I wrote the story thinking of her being in this building, her mind stretching out to the other places in the town. A great prompt idea, though. Thanks Joy
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