REVENGE - A 50 WORD PHOTOSTORY

She planned it before he died, so at the right moment they took his body away. The drop of blood they returned was bigger than she expected, but she hung it up in the sitting room, and turned to the fashion channels. No more sport, she whispered. My turn now.

STUCK - A 50 WORD PHOTOSTORY

She sees the light at the end of the tunnel, but she’s been comfort eating so much she can’t get out. And it’s safe with her chocolate and her sweets. So she watches the light thinking that tomorrow she’ll change her life. But now, she’ll sit here. Eat some more.

CAUGHT - A 50 WORD PHOTOSTORY

He fell over in the middle of the labyrinth. They said it didn’t matter, but he stumbled again as he got up. For the rest of the week he felt lost. It was as if he was blindfolded. He dreamt of walking round. And round. There was no way out.

THE EMPORER'S NEW HAIRCUT - A 50 WORD PHOTOSTORY

Harry doesn’t really believe the hairdresser when he says this is the latest cut. Even when he sees the result, Harry leaves a tip. The laughter in the salon follows him out to the street. A child points at him. It’s good to be ahead of fashion, the hairdresser said.

CAUGHT IN THE NET - a 50 word photostory

He wants to know how she found out. He was so careful. But she accused him straight away. He hadn’t even got into bed. She doesn’t say she saw the grid marks on his naked body. That she recognised the chair he’d got them from. That she’d sat there too.

On Hardship (and Kendal Mint Cake) - a 50 word photostory

They start the explorers off with cosmetics. Ranulph Fiennes drops out when he’s caught crying because they’ve discontinued his perfect Chanel lipstick. Then Sir Edmund Hillary faints because his corset is laced too tightly. Bear Grylls lasts the longest. He’s spotted trying the gladiator sandals, his glittery false eyelashes fluttering.

(More fifty word photostories here.)

(pps You all did know I'm climbing Kilimanjaro, right?....!)

Dummy - a 50 word photostory

She makes Claude at evening class. At work she boasts that she has a new man. A fencer. He can’t come to drinks, she says, because he’s always sharpening his sword or washing his moustache. She laughs at him. It’s much better than when they used to laugh at her.

(This is one of the fifty word stories I write to accompany my photographs. You can read more here, or write a 50 word story of your own and add it in the comments box. But be warned - they are addictive!)

OTHER LIVES - A FIFTY WORD PHOTOSTORY

Sharon takes pictures of pebbles. She’ll move on to shells one day, or even the sea, but for now the pebbles are too fascinating. She imagines lives for them: the dreary stoniness of the grey ones, the soap opera dissatisfaction of the holey ones. And snap, she captures it all.

THE CURE - A FIFTY WORD PHOTOSTORY

She is so determined to overcome her fears that she swallows the mixture the local so-called witch sells. It’s made from unicorn’s tears and grass stains, tastes like a rainbow, is called fairyheart. She’ll do anything to get more of it now, even the most frightening things in the world.

You can read more fifty word stories here

Dark - a 50 word photostory

Her friend Tanya has a night-light.

When the dark comes, a lit-up ladybird keeps Tanya safe.

Susie’s mum is cross. Susie should grow up and not be scared of everything. And stop telling stories.

Every night Susie lies alone, watching the light disappear. Listens out for footsteps. Says nothing.


This story is exactly fifty words long. It's part of a series of 50 word stories I've been writing to accompany photographs I take. Sometimes the photos and stories are a direct match, other times there's something about the photo that sparks off an idea. I'm not sure why I started doing them, but I know they have helped me to look a little bit harder. To take the kind of frame Anne Lamott talks about in Bird by Bird and apply it to bits of my life that I wouldn't otherwise notice.

You can read more 50 word stories here.

HE JUST LIKES ATTENTION - A 50 WORD PHOTOSTORY

There’s nothing wrong with the boy, his mother says, apart from liking attention.

So they ignore his dresses, the songs he screams, even his self-inflicted injuries. But when he replaces the faces in every photograph with his own, they worry.

He's deserves a better audience, says his mother.

DYING - A 50 WORD PHOTOSTORY

It was on Monday when Joe first saw the colours surrounding people. The red round Mrs Robins was so strong he couldn’t look at her. His friend Caryn was yellow, like sunlight. He ran home. Gasped as he saw the bright beautiful white light coming from where his father waited.



More 50 word photostories here.

CURLING - A 50 WORD PHOTOSTORY

Toast crusts make your hair curl. She tells her daughters this, watching the way they both cram their mouths full, put their fingers up to their heads hopefully. It’s just a way of getting you to behave, she wants to yell. But she cries instead. Tells them they’re good girls.



More 50 word photostories here.

PRICKLY - A 50 WORD PHOTOSTORY

Graham tells her she should be softer. What has she got to lose? But he doesn’t know the last man she loved left her in debt and still hurting. It’s only recently she’s started to trust again. She rubs her arm, feels the goosebumps like small prickles under her skin.


More 50 word photostories here.

HUNTED - A 50 WORD PHOTOSTORY

She told Harry she was an expert rider. Even rode point-to-points. Such fun, she said, tossing back her hair. She thought he’d only be a one-night stand. Not her Mr Right. Mother’s desperate to meet you, he tells her. She’d almost given up on me meeting a proper horsey girl.



More fifty word photostories here.

STRAIGHT THINKING - A 50 WORD PHOTOSTORY

She’s learning to change her mind. She’s putting all the old twisted thoughts behind her, and concentrating only on positive happy things. Like puppies. Who grow into barking dogs. What about daisies? Chains to tie you down. Rainbows. Which automatically mean rain. Babies. No, she doesn’t want to go there.




More 50 word photostories here, and do feel free to leave your own 50 word version in the comments section.

FILLING THE WELL - A 50 WORD PHOTOSTORY

Who would have thought they would miss water? After the decree about only drinking wine, there were celebrations. Everyone came into work late the next morning. And the next. Until they cursed at Chardonays, moaned over Merlots. I don’t like to tell you what they did to the Pouilly Fuisse.

More 50 word stories here.

WHEN STORIES COME TO LIFE...

One funny thing about a blog is that you are often sending thoughts and stories out into the darkness, particularly when there aren't many comments about them. So it's always a welcome shock to find that people have not just actually read my stories but have done something about them. Remember this Fifty word story?

Well, last week I was contacted by a design student called Chris Ford, who has produced this wonderful animation based on those fifty words.

I'm delighted.



Hope you enjoy it too!

Run Rabbit Run - a fifty word photostory

Don’t go to any trouble, he says. He means it. He’s going to tell her it’s not her fault, it’s his. He’s not worth the trouble she goes to. He won’t say it embarrasses him. That one month together isn’t worth celebrating anyway. She should get a life. Without him.

Shhh... a fifty word photostory

Their honeymoon was cut short when a romantic midnight walk goes horribly wrong. People whisper about the insurance settlement, but no-one likes to talk too much. She wears black, rarely leaves her house. Opens the door only at night to a stranger no one likes to talk about. Just whisper.

More fifty word stories here