Last week, Bristol enjoyed a visit from Little Amal, the 3.5 metre tall puppet of a Syrian refugee child who is walking across Europe as an envoy raising awareness of the refugee crisis.

Since July 2021 the moving sculpture made by Handspring Puppet Company has travelled over 8,000km, crossing Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, the UK, the Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine to focus attention on the urgent needs of young refugees.

In typical Bristol fashion, Little Amal’s visit gained the buzz of a party, with drummers, dancers and horde of hundreds joining Little Amal on her journey from Bristol Old Vic to the harbour where she boarded a boat.

There are so many directions you could take this writing prompt in, from the story of an actual refugee child, to a tale of the puppeteer inside Little Amal. With one of countless mobile phones in shot, you could even focus on the role social media has to play in spreading the word.

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

I love the surrealism of this mannequin sitting in a charity shop as though it’s an airport, and like they’ve been waiting for hours to board a flight. They look ready for their holidays!

Can you write a story inspired by this? What other unlikely objects might want to head overseas and lie by a pool? What might be craving adventure or escape?

What does ‘holiday’ or ‘vacation’ mean to you? What could the best experience of this be, or the worst?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

I have a special place in my heart for ‘tree tunnels’ – those spaces where trees flourish with such vigour that they seem to curve their branches right over the path.

At this time of year the new green leaves and hopeful sunlight makes them particularly beautiful, and this Celtic cross seems like a road marker to a different era.

If you were to walk or ride through this ‘tree tunnel’, where might you emerge?

Can you answer that question with a story?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

I enjoy the floral extravagance of this small but overflowing garden. It looks like the house is being swallowed up by flowers.

Who might live here? What makes them so devoted to their garden? Is there a power at play here other than a green thumb? For instance, imagine a character who sees visions while they garden, or who can seed good (or bad) emotions into the plants they tend.

Can you transform this into an extraordinarily colourful tale?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

The world is full of castles that now resemble the fractured memories of skirmishes once fought or strongholds vied over.

This one is Duart Castle on Mull, once the seat of the Clan Maclean and now home to luxury afternoon teas and weddings.

Imagine the ghosts that roam these battlements. How might they show their shock and perhaps dismay at the state of their once proudly and fiercely protected isle. Which modern marvels might entrance them?

Feel free to set your tale in any castle you know or can dream up. What time-slip adventure can you conjure?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

How cute is this extra-long bicycle laden with boxes claiming to contain flowers?

But what if they didn’t really hold flowers? What if that was all a devious ruse? What could they contain instead, and why the subterfuge?

Can you write this into a comic or suspense-filled tale?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

Not all the people we once thought philanthropists stand up under scrutiny. One that may is Raja Ram Mohan Roy, (also written as Rajah Rammohun  Roy, Rammohan Roy, or Ram Mohun Roy) who was born on 22nd May 1772 and is credited as being a reformer, philosopher and scholar. The statue shown here with Bristol Cathedral in the background was created by the sculptor Niranian Pradhan.

My favourite biographical fact about Rammohun Roy is that he successfully campaigned against sati, the now thankfully mostly past-tense Hindu practice of burning widows on their deceased husbands’ funeral pyres.

Can you build a story around a hero, fictional or historical, who instigates a change for the better that makes them worthy of a statue?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

Bluebells are currently painting British woodlands glorious shades of purple and giving us an excuse to pause and admire their beauty.

Like the pastime of hanami (literally ‘flower viewing’) focused on Japan’s cherry blossoms to the passion for ‘leaf peeping’ at Colorado’s aspen trees turning gold, our floral world has some tricks up its billowing sleeves to make us take notice and perhaps even give thought to protecting these natural wonders.

Can you write an uplifting tale about a wild plant with the power to halt us in our busy lives and perhaps even change our behaviour for the better? Don’t forget to use the sense of smell as well for some evocative passages.

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

This gravity-defying snail struck me as so beautiful that I had to investigate and discover that it is a brown-lipped snail commonly seen in Britain’s gardens and green spaces.

Imagine if we had time to notice every natural miracle and celebrate its wonder. What difference could that make to the way we live our lives? Imagine if we had as much attention to give the plants and creatures around as we do celebrities and shopping?

As a small step in this direction, can you write a poem, essay or short work of fiction celebrating the wild lives we share our surroundings with?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

This child-sized jumper was dropped at the entrance to a small section of nature within the city, and slung here to presumably make it easier to retrieve.

How did it end up here? What happened to the child who owned it?

Is the fact that the top is emblazoned with the word ‘Happy’ three times significant in any way?

Follow this story prompt down any dark path that your imagination latches onto.

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.