Ugly Foot Finds Its Doppelganger

“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.” 
~ Albert Einstein

Inspiration! It can happen anywhere!

Ideas are born in the strangest places, ignited by bizarre objects or strange people. Or a random photo from my daughter’s honeymoon pics.

Here’s the scoop: Lily was excited to get a window seat. Then the passenger behind her rested his/her ugly, bandaged foot on Lily’s armrest. She couldn’t stomach the sight of it. Her hubby gave in and traded seats. (After all, a happy wife is a happy life, right?)

If you were in an English class and were given an impromptu assignment to write a paper based on the photo below, what would you write?

Nonfiction? How to politely elbow that foot off your armrest? How acts of violence can get you kicked off a plane? The importance of cleansing wounds? *yawn*

Humor? Is there anything that could possibly be funny about that foot? Hmm…what would Erma Bombeck have written?

Horror? Remember the movie The Crawling Hand? It scared the heck out of me when I was a kid! How about writing a sequel called The Prowling Foot?

The Crawling Hand trailer – 1963

Sci-fi/Paranormal? Ugly Foot Finds Its Doppelganger in an Alternate Dimension?

Fairytale? A parody on Cinderella? Would the prince dare to try the glass slipper on that foot, or would he turn and run? What if the toe wound made Cinderella’s foot swell and she couldn’t fit it in the glass slipper? There would be no happy ending. Instead, maybe an outbreak of Athlete’s Foot destroys the kingdom?

Romance? Good grief! I’m not going there.

Mystery? One with lots of subplots and dead bodies with missing toes? *Shudders* Definitely not a story I could write!

 “Everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, 
and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”
~ Sylvia Plath

 Could you stomach sitting next to that ugly foot? Do you find ideas in weird places? What inspires you to be creative?

You know what that photo inspired me to write? A crazy blog post!

“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” 
~ Henry Ward Beecher
This entry was posted in Authorly Stuff, Creativity, Creepy, Funny, Writing, YouTube Video and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

10 Responses to Ugly Foot Finds Its Doppelganger

  1. Old Kitty says:

    For that ew pic – the story would have to be dystopian zombie apocalypse, x-rated. SOMEONE is going to lose a limb in the most gory way ever – but waste not, want not.LOL!! Take carex

  2. Patti says:

    Oh, I like the zombie idea. I could never sit next to a foot like that. i would politely or maybe not so politely ask them to remove their foot.

  3. Susie Lindau says:

    That is one UGLY FOOT! Eeewwww! Is that an actual photo? Gross! One of my friends wipes everything down when she flies and from now on, I won't think that is just being paranoid! Erma Bombeck was and is my hero!Funny post Lynn!

  4. The nerve of some people! Your daughter and son-in-law were more polite than I'd have been, Lynn. (A lot of armrests fold back into the seat, which would have blocked the foot-propper.)At landing, when seats go into upright position and trays are refastened, did the foot propper stow his foot? Put a sock on it?

  5. UGH. I'd of put my foot down and toed the flight attendant to get the owner of the foot to retrieve his ugly piggies and toe the line or pay for a second seat. 🙂 Fun and clever post, Lynn. Thanks.

  6. Haha! My first 'Ewwww' for the day – and just before bed too. I dunno, since it's on the topic, foot in mouth mistakes inspire me…might have to write one of those soon 🙂

  7. debrakristi says:

    Gross! I don't think I could have handled it. I would have asked them to kindly remove their foot. There's just no way!

  8. Ick. What an ugly foot. I would have asked the foot's owner to remove it too. I love it how you turned the story to a topic about inspiration.

  9. My inspired piece would probably be about vomit—nothing against that "ugly" (it's not really!) foot. I just have a weird thing with feet. I can't eat around bare feet without feeling super nauseous. Probably indicates some kind of smelly foot-trauma as a child. ;-)Your title ROCKS, by the way. Thanks for the smile-inducing post!

  10. Pingback: Time Travel Baby - Writer's Prompt to Stretch Your Imagination - Lynn Kelley, AuthorLynn Kelley, Author

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.