Writing Prompt 60: Steel Ball
Last week's writing prompt features a photograph of dappled sunlight shining through open foliage, a wide aperture defocusing all but the sharpest branches in the middle of the hedge.
This week's picture is the opposite. A huge steel ball, taller than the man standing nearby, rests heavily in mud, a thick chain attached to machinery pulling beyond the photographic frame. The handwritten copy tells us the date — 30th May 1954, the weight — four and a half tons, and its use — clearing. A quick Google search reveals the giant steel ball demolished trees in the surrounding area in preparation for the construction of Cleveland Dam and Capilano Reservoir in North Vancouver.
I'm thinking this week, why not try writing something that reveals opposites: light/heavy, thick/thin, monotone/colourful, loud/quiet — opposites attract or so the old saying goes, there's a tension here creating interest, suspense, a need to know more.
Does that make sense?
Until next time.
The Giant
I saw him standing at the edge of the crater while smoke billowed around him, picked up by the wind breezing over the mountains.
Thin orange flames licked up the sides of the enormous hole in the ground. Wearing thick gloves and carrying a small metal container the man picked up several rocks that rested at the rim of the crater, unconcerned by the heat and fire.
His foot slipped as he went to stand. I drew in my breath sharply. The man steadied himself before he looked right at me.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.
“Why are you?”
“They’ll be here soon,” he said.
I ignored him, starting down the rocky embankment to where the man knelt. He didn’t say anything as he gathered more rocks depositing them carefully in the container by his feet. I peered across the crater. The impact had been so loud, audible from miles away, I was surprised the whole place wasn’t crawling with people: photographers, journalists, scientists. Yet the only people here were me and a man I didn't know.
The man removed his thick gloves, revealing unusually long fingers and freckled skin. The flames were beginning to lessen but I still felt flushed with the heat.
“Your shoes will melt if you stand there any longer.”
The man wore heavy boots with thick metal soles. My trainers were feeling warm. I looked about for a safe place to stand. A small patch of grass lay behind me, the edges crisp and blackened from the fire.
Story first posted January 2019 // Photo:Tanya Clarke 2017 - the original photograph is from a series documenting the building of Cleveland Dam, North Vancouver in 1952
