My city is full of artists using innovative means to spread a little cheer. At the start of lockdown, messages like these popped up on street corners, sticking out of flowerbeds and hedges.

They foster such positivity that some days I’ve found they make me smile, and others, when I’m feeling a little grouchier, they’ve made me turn away with a frown.

It reminds me how little of how we react is actually about with the thing we’re reacting to.

Present your character with a well-meaning act of kindness, and give them an extreme emotional response that’s really all about some news they received that morning. How much can you show without telling your reader the exact nature of that news? How can you stagger the reveal though what is said and done?

If you write or create something prompted by this, please send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com to let me know. With your permission, I may publish it on SkyLightRain.com.