I received a press release this week about classical dance company MurleyDance exploring “the emotional attachments we form with objects, from technology to trinkets and treasures.”

On the same day I edited a magazine feature about gardeners and the tools they are most fond of, from the ancient trowel inherited from a grandparent to the knife brought back from Istanbul.

It’s something that’s always fascinated me – the way a seemingly worthless piece of costume jewellery or holiday souvenir can come to mean so much. I believe the reason for this value is the stories such items contain – the memories they resonate with (either that or as in Tolkein’s vision, they have a real, deadly power).

So this week, I urge you to pause a moment and consider the items you hold dear. Select the most unlikely of these, an old chipped mug, for example, a tiny pair of cast iron love birds, or a key that fits no lock you know, and make one or two the focus of a short story. Horror elements optional.

If you write something prompted by this idea, I’d love to know. Just send an email to Judy(at)socket creative.com. With your permission, I may publish it on SkyLightRain.com.