On a coastal walk following a storm, I saw this skull in the grass a few hundred metres from the shore. I think it might be a sheep’s skull and wonder if a particularly vigorous wave thrust it here. Or did a passing fox take a fancy to it, carry it so far and then give up this trophy?

When I was a child, my artist mum had a passion for such finds, and once stunk out our holiday rental trying to boil a foraged skull clean.

There are so many directions you could take this writing prompt in – from where the skull washed up from, how it ended up on this shore, or the person or creature who finds it and what they decide to do with it. Alternatively, what thoughts and dreams might have played out inside the shelter of this cranium?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please let me know by emailing judydarley (at) iCloud.com. I’d love to know the creative direction you choose.