The Girl Who Takes Pictures of Locks

Charly took pictures of locks, any lock she saw. She kept them on her smartphone and scrolled through them every night before she went to bed. She called each of them by name and whispered words of strength over each one. She knew where they were, what they held.

And who they protected.

She always finished with the same picture — five battered padlocks on a rusted orphanage gate. These were the oldest, brave locks and true, the ones she knew best. Her heroes. They had held out the horrors. They had saved her life.

And she would never fail them.

This story is based, very loosely, on a dear friend whose pictures of locks have become a particular delight of mine. No use trying to sort out why — my delights are often completely inexplicable to anyone who isn’t actually me. To my knowledge, my friend has no mystical power nor was she ever in an orphanage, though I would not be the least bit surprised to find out either one were true. I definitely had her in mind when I picked the prompt for the writing challenge even if I didn’t know at the time that Charly would resemble her a bit. .

This story also didn’t want to easily settle into the 100-word pocket. I don’t know a ton about Charly, but she feels like the kind of character who would be interesting over 10,000 words. Perhaps one day I’ll have that kind of room to give her. For now, enjoy this little look.

But, wait. You’re going to write a story, too, right? You are! I know it!