This real-life news report is just too good to pass up. I had to share it with you.
What would you do if most of the people in your town moved away, disappeared, or died?
According to Chuck Sheppard’s News of the Weird—and this qualifies—an older woman moved back to her hometown in Japan to find that it was no longer thriving. In fact, it was down to about 37 people.
What did this intrepid woman do?
Ayano Tsukimi began to create dolls to replace the former inhabitants of the town. The dolls are stuffed, life-size representations of people. According to the news report, the facial features of these dolls are “unsettling.” To date, Ayano has created about 350 dolls, which she places throughout her formerly robust town.
I can’t decide if this is creepy or sad. What do you think?
Now it’s your turn: Choose from the following options:
- Write a short story about Ayano, her town, her dolls, or any combination of the three. This scenario feels ripe for a science-fiction (sci-fi) story, but you can write whatever kind of story you like.
- What would you do if you entered an almost-empty town? Write about what you think you would do, where you would go, how you would feel, what you would like to discover, and so on.
- Write a story of a character finding an empty town. Ray Bradbury loved to write stories of this kind, whether they happened on Earth or Mars. Yours can happen anywhere.
