Imagine a story of traveling through life.

Imagine.
Imagine. (John Lennon mural in North Park by Rik Erickson and Sam Ballard.)
This is the story of a man who sold his shadow to a little man in grey.
This is the story of a man who sold his shadow to a little man in grey. (North Park art installation The Man Who Sold His Shadow by Derek Weiler.)
He tries to get his shadow back.
He tries to get his shadow back.
His beloved stops noticing him.
His beloved stops noticing him.
He puts on his seven-league boots and travels the world.
He puts on his seven-league boots and travels the world.
Footsteps.
Footsteps on the sidewalk.
Are we all still going to meet at the corner?
Are we all still going to meet at the corner?
Cats hidden in flowers.
Cats hidden in flowers.
Covered eyes.
Deliberately covered eyes.
Secrets.
Secrets.
Skeleton drinking.
Skeleton takes to drinking.
Light as a feather.
Light as a feather.
Into space.
A journey into space.
Walking forward through life.
Walking forward through life.

Did you enjoy this odd little story?

I took these photos during a walk through North Park on Saturday!

If you’d like to read some thought-provoking short stories (and several poems) click here.

Two short stories about caging wild things.

My writing website Short Stories by Richard keeps expanding.

This weekend I’ve published two unusual short stories.

Both tiny works of fiction concern the difficulty of caging wild, undefinable things. Things like divine beauty and absolute truth.

Aviary Observations is about art, capturing beauty and our human limitations.

Soul to Soul is about putting into words deeper truths that cannot be adequately expressed.

Both quirky stories contain humor! We’re human after all.

You can click the above links if you’re curious.

How to possibly move the Earth.

I wrote another small story yesterday.

The words came to me in Balboa Park while I listened to my friend Mitchell playing didgeridoo. People walking down El Prado would pause before the strange, resonant instrument. A brave few would dance.

As people came and went, I wondered what effect their movement might have on the planet. Both Mitchell and I are curious about strange, cosmic things.

The title of my short story is Spinning the Earth.

If you like to use your imagination, click here!

A story about stars, dust and memory.

Stars.

Very early this morning I woke from an unsettling dream. Parts of it coalesced into a short story that I finished writing a few minutes ago.

The title of the story is Vacuuming the Dust. This one might be difficult to read. It’s about denial. It’s about stars, dust and memory.

I think the story is done, but I might change a few words when I read it again.

If you’d like to read about life and time’s passage, click here.

A small story inside the Coronado Library.

Yesterday afternoon I spent some time reading in the Coronado Public Library.

I was sitting comfortably in the library’s Reading Room, my eyes resting on Donal Hord’s sculpture Mourning Woman, when I became aware of happy, excited voices drifting in from the Children’s Room.

And a small story whispered into my mind.

The story isn’t about Death–it’s about Life. So I changed the Mourning Woman to the Silent Woman. I also changed the season, and the appearance of the Reading Room.

If you’d like to have this very small story whisper to you, click here.

A restored streetcar, a crazy driver, and ghosts.

Do ghosts ride on a city’s restored streetcar? Can you say with complete certainty they don’t?

There’s one apparently crazy streetcar driver who likes to converse with ghosts. His unseen riders remember old times that the living have forgotten.

You can read this strange, emotionally charged story by clicking here!

A short story about the mystery of Fate.

Yesterday I published a new work of fiction on my writing website Short Stories by Richard. This morning I made some important changes and now feel satisfied.

The story’s revised title is The Hand of Fate. It’s about things we see and know nothing about.

If you’d like to read the small story, click here.

A final decision to write.

The older I become, the more I understand that life is fleeting.

Because of that, I’ve come to a decision.

I will now dedicate my spare hours to writing fiction.

Why?

While I enjoy walking everywhere and taking photos of San Diego, I feel that my efforts in creative writing might be more important. Apparently some people think my works of fiction have merit.

It doesn’t seem possible, but my website Short Stories by Richard has received visitors from school classrooms in four different countries now. Most of the students are reading the story One Thousand Likes. Many people around the world have also begun to read An Unexpected Sunflower, which is my very first short story and still my favorite.

So now I’m really going to concentrate on writing. Which means Cool San Diego Sights and my other photography blogs will be put on pause.

I’m hoping a few more worthwhile stories will come to me!

If I’m lucky!

If you’d like to read and follow my writing, you can click here!

Thank you for sharing my journey!

UPDATE!

Well, obviously, that wasn’t much of a pause. As I type this update several months later I’m still walking, taking photos and blogging. I can’t seem to stop. Oh, well. Sorry about the misinformation! The best laid plans…

A few short stories about light in one’s life.

To an ancient person, light is a life-sustaining gift from a distant bright god. To a modern person, light is electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by the eye’s retina. To an artist, light might be some of both . . . and much more.

When I write, I’m never certain what precise thing light represents. In many stories it seems to symbolize a life-sustaining hope, or a radiation of the spirit detected by the heart. It might signal a burning love, living with eyes wide open, or intangible rays from beyond that define life’s shape. A glimpse of ultimate truth. A bright gift that is magical, momentary, precious.

I don’t know. What is light to you?

Following are seven short works of fiction where light is an integral part of the story:

Light at the Edges

The Firefly

One Lone Candle

One Strange, Shimmering Dream

How to Paint Angels

A Dance in the Lightning

Walking on Light

A story about the pages of one’s life.

I’ve completed another short story. The Star Maker is about the torn pages of one’s life. Folded together. Made into something perfect.

From our own complex stories we create our own stars.

Read the small, surprising story by clicking here.