On 1000words.org

Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a big fan of uniting word and image for maximum impact. 1000words.org., headed up by Natalie Bower, are great advocates of just that. Theirs is one of a number of websites around at the moment which encourage flash, or micro-fiction. 1000words asks authors to write a story of less than 1000 words to accompany an image – either one of their own, or one supplied on the 1000 words pinterest board. Why not have a look…and have a go? Below is an excerpt from my offering, published today. To read the whole thing, click here.

_____________________________

Times without number I had passed the broken man on my way to work. He used to make me smile – a painted rebel with uneven blobs in a world of urban straight lines. It seemed as if his was the point where municipal order met with the homely disorder of uneven lines, and I loved him for it. Right there, on that little intersection was a clash between neatness and decay, straight lines and rebellious splotches.

Of course most people were altogether unaware of him. They clacked across him in their smart sandals, or stepped on his blobs in their shiny city shoes. Occasionally a workman would thud across him in his dusty boots, or a runner would bounce over him in her high-tec soles. Student flip-flops slapped across his splodges, and high heels would sometimes wedge, with a curse, in his gaps. Was I the only one who ever really looked at him, I wondered?

One day, as I was doing just that, I noticed that I was not the only one…