The Forgotten Photograph
Prompt - You find an old photograph in your attic. Everyone in the photo is smiling—except for one blurry figure, staring directly at you. The more you look at it, the clearer their face becomes.
5 Minute Prompt - You find an old photograph in your attic. Everyone in the photo is smiling—except for one blurry figure, staring directly at you. The more you look at it, the clearer their face becomes.
The attic is dusty and smells of mold. Why did we buy such a dump? I know Tim says it will be worth a lot once we fix it up, but with this mess, it will take years before we get to that point.
I find an old trunk full of belongings from the previous owner. In one, there is a pile of photographs that look to be at least 50-60 years old. There is one that looks like a family photo, full of children, parents and grandparents. There are even a couple of scruffy looking dogs.
In the back of the group, it looks like a man is standing with his arms around 2 of the older gentlemen. But I can’t see his face. I wipe at the picture, thinking something is smudging it, but it is clean. I hold the picture about an inch away but can’t make out any details.
I look at the other faces, looking for any distortion, but they are perfect. When I look back at the blurry man, I think I can see his eye, and maybe his ear. I swear I couldn’t before. I keep staring, trying to make out more details, and as I stare, a face takes shape. I know that face, it’s Tim….
I hear a muffled yell from downstairs, it sounds like Tim has banged into a wall, maybe even fallen down.
No!!! One thing I hate about such short prompts is when I finally figure out where the story is going but I have to stop because, the rules. 5 minutes and pencils down.
What do you think happens next? Are you going to try this prompt? If you do, please share! I would love to see what you create! - Ash
The rules:
1. Set a time for 5 minutes.
2. Get writing. Don’t overthink it, let the story take you where it wants to go.
3. When the time stops, you stop (ok, you can cheat a little, finish your current sentence, then stop.)
4. In my game, you are allowed to fix spelling errors - but leave the rest of it alone!
5. Share your creation in the comments below.
If you would like to know more about 5 minuet prompts, check out:
