Aphelion

Inspiration comes at the most unexpected moments, sometimes you desire it and other times it just pops up.

Vila's right. Boredom can be a venue for ideas. Mindless tasks can set your mind free to wonder.

I'm not sure how or where my inspirations comes from. All the ideas for stories just popped into my head except two.

I got an idea for a story from the history channel once, and another idea for a story from a local pool hall that I frequent. These two stories are the only ones that I can trace back to a root source.

I've been attempting to generate inspiration when I walk my dog in Stackhouse Park, a local wooded natural sanctuary full of nature trails, deer, groundhogs, and even a bear or two. Black bears.

It's great exercise for the park is very hilly and the trails run on and on.

My walks in the park have given me great ideas for things at work, but no stories yet.

I wish I could generate inspiration at will or have a favorite spot that starts the process for me. But I don't as of yet.

Increasingly, my three children are my inspiration.

I remember this summer where my daughters were lying in the grass, looking at shapes in the clouds. It soon became a game between the two to see who could see the most original or outrageous thing in the sky.

The eight year old said, "I see a mythical creature coming out of a toilet."
The eleven year old said, "I see a bald man with a plunger stuck to the top of his head."

That exchange right there lead to "Business Unusual", the example story for the August Challenge.

Nate