Here’s a picture that I snapped of “The Rock” in Morro Bay, California, a huge rounded mountain of stone that juts up out of the ocean just off the shore. I thought it would be interesting to view this amazing formation through the forest of boat masts. But I got more than I bargained for when I put it up on the computer screen. I got something I hadn’t seen at the time, a mystery to solve through a story.
What fascinates me about this picture is that there is one boat shrouded in green coverings amidst the other fishing boats that are rigged and ready to sail. Why? What has happened to the owner of this boat? Why is this boat covered and deserted? Is it just that this boat is the last to be prepared for sailing in the spring? Or the first to be put to bed for the winter? Is the owner away on an extended vacation, or is something more insidious at work here?
The mystery deepens when you realize that here on the Central Coast of California, sailors don’t fold up for the winter. The Pacific coastal waters in this area are both fished and sailed for pleasure year round. Unless the boats are dry-docked for repairs, they are always ready to depart at a moment’s notice. So, why the shrouding of this boat?
And thereby hangs a tale…
Comments? Your story ideas from this photo…
(Hint from Write It Right, Volume 2—Setting: “Write what you know” doesn’t mean subject matter, it means emotion. Mine the depths of your life experiences when you write emotions to find those closest to what the characters are feeling.)