Creative Inspiration: Tell Us A Story…
J.K. Crum's Mary Has a Little Lamb, available at Michael Mitchell Gallery
While cruising the website of the Michael Mitchell Gallery, we were taken with this painting by J.K. Crum called Mary Has A Little Lamb. Each of us connected in very different ways, and we wanted to know what the heck YOU thought was going on here. So, we asked our friends on Facebook and blog followers to send us their creative writing inspired by the painting. Here are a few–enjoy! —SH
CROSSING
“Have you ever been to the other side of the river before?” Vinny asked the lady with the lamb, shifting a little in his seat, careful not to crush his bushy tail. He eyed her from beneath the brim of his yellow hat. She was beautiful, certainly, but strange.
“No, sir,” she answered, and he could tell by the smirk in the corner of her mouth that she did not intend to expand on her answer. No, she simply continued dangling that carrot in front of her tiny lamb’s nose. The lamb only watched, eyes trained on the orange treat. Vinny expected the creature to lunge for the snack, but his only movement was a small twitching back and forth of his stubby tail.
“It’s a lovely day for the trip,” Vinny pressed her, only because he was afraid of spending the entire trip in silence. He tugged on the reins of the tree a little, keeping the boat’s path straight. He watched her avoid his face with her eyes. He resigned himself to a quiet trip, realizing she was not going to address the fox across from her. He was used to passengers who wouldn’t speak to him, but they were usually afraid. This lady, in her red dress, with her raised eyebrows, with her strange playfulness, did not seem to fear him. She just didn’t want to talk. He concentrated on the sound of the water rolling past the trunk of his tree.
“Why is your boat in a tree, Mr. Ferry Man?” He looked up from the reins in his fists to meet the lady’s eyes. He was surprised to find that her cheeks now matched her garment, blushing brightly. Perhaps she was shy after all.
“Keeps the boat from springing leaks,” he replied. She nodded at his answer and went back to playing with her pet. Vinny could see the shore coming up, and the outline of the market behind it. Holding the reins in one hand, he reached down and drew a single rose from the bundle he gathered from his home to sell on the other side of the river.
“For your first crossing,” he said to the lady as she looked up. He held the rose up as an offering, and for a moment she stopped dangling the tiny carrot.
– Laura Jane Graham
RICHARD & MARY
After hours of endless conversation she was still completely oblivious to their predicament. Eventually, the conversation paused and it was during this pause that the young fox picked up a rose and fondled it in his hand. He then looked at her and said, “Mary, what is it that attracts you to me?”
Mary took a deep breath, looked up from what she was doing and said with a slight smirk on her face, “It’s because you get me”
– Richard Brendel
UNTITLED
There once was a fox with a boat
Who invited a woman out for a float.
He said, “It sits high off the water,
I’ll give you a flower,
And you can bring your miniature goat.”
– Jim Lundy
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