Monthly mindscape - October - Blue Jay of Happiness

This time round I want to mix up my usual formula. If you haven’t read my monthly mindscape posts before, usually I use prompt dice to set a few topics for a short story. I do no prep work and just write what comes into my head, with varying success.

It’s a bit of fun and stretches my creative writing muscles. Last month, I used the prompt dice but I was also inspired by some images I’d seen on Instagram. So I thought, for this month I would find an image I liked from an account I follow and use that as a short story prompt.

Here’s the beautiful image I’ve picked for this month by the wonderful Patricia (@unfounddoor).

unfounddoor

So here goes, let’s see how this works out…

Mood of my window

Every morning she tiptoes across the stone floor to her window. Opening the shutters, she looks out to the sea, sky and land. The picture she sees here determines her mood for the day ahead.

If the sun is shining, the waves are calm and the land looks vibrant – she knows her day will be good. Doom stricken clouds, an angry sea and a land that seems lost means… not so good.

She couldn’t remember how long she had let this window decipher her mood, but she enjoyed the simplicity and anticipation. The feelings she felt, she felt intensely. There were rarely in-between days or so-so moods.

She liked to welcome every emotion and every gust of wind with open arms and a playful heart.

Today, there were many gusts of wind. And also sweet sunshine and a jubilant sea. It would be a fun day.

Slipping on her red ballet pumps and tossing her keys in the air, she headed inland to the Sunday market. The smell of freshly baked bread, flowering jasmine and seasonal fruit weaved through cobbled streets.

She smiled at some sellers, winked at others. She visited her favourite coffee shop and sat outside to people watch. Sipping her coffee she smirked and made up backstories for the people walking by.

She wandered to the beach and struck up conversation with a group of friends playing volleyball. Joining in on their game, she quickly became that ‘fun’ stranger you meet on holiday.

Little did they know how lucky they were to catch her of a day her window deemed ‘fun’. If the storm came early, they would not see her in such favourable light.

As the sun began to set, she headed home, picking up wine and pasta on the way. She spent the evening relishing the colours of the day.

The next morning came far too quickly. She could already hear the rumblings of thunder and knew what would be awaiting her on the other side of those shutters. The window indeed showed her gloom. It also showed doom and just a hint of melancholy.

Closing the shutters with a sigh, she picks up her blanket, walks slowly to the sofa and cries. Today will not be a fun day.

And there we have it! I knew I wanted to incorporate the ‘mood of my window’ hashtag into the story as soon as I picked the picture and quite liked the idea of someone actually feeling the mood of their window.

Thanks again to Patricia for the inspiration (if you don’t follow her already, go go go!) – I would love to know who’s inspiring you creatively at the moment, leave a comment below or find me on Instagram.