Everyone has a story …

Have you ever pondered that?

What’s the story of the guy walking down the side of the highway?

Or the lady crying on the park bench? or airplane seat? or booth in the diner?

Or the family with the little one in a wheelchair?

What is going on in the mind and heart of the corporate executive in the large glass office?

Or the ministry leaders that have separated themselves from the everyday congregant?

How about the child with the constant temper? What’s that story?

Or the coworker who snips and belittles?

What about that person that always criticizes or finds fault?

What could their story be?

 

This stuff is fodder for the writer — story plotting, character development, dialogue boosters. But what about real life? What are the possibilities and options that make up the story for the “snapshots of life” we see all around us?

Are there things that play into people behaving the way they do? What was the event that caused today’s happening?

Is it excusable?

Is it understandable?

Look around you now. Who do you see? What is their story?

I am sitting at Barnes and Noble. There is a lady at the table to my left. She is in her 60s and is hugging her purse to her chest as she texts on her phone. Her plate is empty save a few crumbs and her cup half so. A bag of purchased items takes up the rest of the space on her tiny table. Not at her feet. Not on the chair beside her. On the table.

Her gray hair is pulled into a soft bun. It is chilly out, she is wearing a cream-colored sweater and multi-colored striped slacks with black flip-flops.

We’ve been table neighbors for a half hour. She hasn’t looked away from her phone once.

Tell me one sentence that is part of her story …

Go …

(Commenting in the blog comment section would be great.)

Patricia Meyers
A penman pondering at B&N