Our next writing assignment is The Tunnel.
It can be any kind of tunnel, from a rocky cave entrance with deep-hidden secrets, to a journey through a modern road or rail tunnel.
It could be a scenic tunnel effect made by trees, the Tunnel of Love at a fairground, an animal’s burrow, a coal mine, or even a child’s colourful play tunnel!
The topic was chosen because in a piece of writing, a tunnel can function as a portal, with some kind of surprise at the other side.
The emotions created by enclosed spaces can also be a trigger to realising important truths, or making decisions about life, with a change happening to your character between entering and coming out the other end.
Your tunnel could be metaphorical, representing a frightening or sorrowful experience. Or perhaps it is a place of safety, to shelter from dangers outside?
As always, your assignment piece can be poetry or prose or any other style of writing, with no limitation on genre.
And if you can’t get inspired by tunnels of any kind – simply do some other new writing on a different subject.
Our next meeting is Tuesday 5th March, so tunnel out and come and share your latest writing.
Tunnel Vision
It might surprise you to know that, with a terminal diagnosis hanging over me, I think about death sometimes!
The most common mental image we have of dying is of our soul, spirit, conciousness (whatever you want to call it) leaving our body and travelling through a long, dark tunnel.
There is a light at the end, where peace awaits.
In a way, it almost seems the reverse of our birth. Although I’ve never met anyone who remembers their first day, we have the idea that we struggled along a dark tunnel – but the light at the end brought Life, though most of us seem to find no peace awaiting there!
Perhaps the two are entwined. Many of us love the idea that Death is not the end, just the beginning of a new chapter in our existence, or maybe even the start of a new life in another body.
We all know the saying “There is light at the end of the tunnel” and equally most of us give a wry smile and remark that the light at the end of our personal tunnel is probably the 2.25 express train out of Liverpool Street!
Well, I don’t know whether there will be a tunnel waiting for me, and sadly I’m pretty sure there won’t be a way of letting anyone know if there is, but at least it’s something to think about while I’m waiting.
And if there is a tunnel, let’s just hope it’s a Tunnel of Love and not something like the dreadful Dartford Tunnel – the bane of my entire driving life!