Survival
They left it there. As if it hadn’t held all they owned––the scrounged up, the stolen and the bartered. There was a time when it was full, heaped with what they thought of as survival gear. The first day out, on the road outside the city, they knew only two things would keep them alive, water and weapons. Water they had. A whole case of it hidden on the bottom of the cart. Weapons were another beast all together. They’d never believed in carrying. Never felt the need. Until now. It wasn’t until they’d pushed the cart over seventy miles of potholed asphalt that they abandoned it. They had their weapons now. Along with blood stained clothes they never got clean. They left the cart in the back of a looted Walmart. Seemed fitting, they said, then walked away with their shotguns and pistols held at the ready. They never looked back.
V-Ronn!
OOOOhhhhhh….how intriguing. Full of it. That and the stench of bad decisions made that can’t be taken back.
PS…There seems to be a colour scheme to your photos of late…dusty and destertess. (Is that a word??) 🙂 Me likey!!!
Carmen
I think we can make it a word! The color palette here in the summer is pretty much brown and orange with all shades in between them. Not very exciting but it does keep things uniform. I love the bad decision bit you wrote too. So many ways you could go with an image like this right?
V-Ronn!
So many ways! One has to wonder if it’s somehow connected to our perception in life…hmmmm 🙂
Mary Izzo
Ooh. Great stuff Carmen. I picture a young guy, dazed, hungry in the dead heat, belly down and barely able to pick himself up. He has just enough energy left to get himself across the street to the Railroad tracks . . . end it all.
Carmen
Oh I like your version too! You have to love images like this that can evoke a different story from everyone who looks at it…
Carolyn L Szatkowski
Carmen, This a great ekphrasis project. The story reflects the emptiness of being left behind, whether as a cart that was once useful or a metaphor for a person who was once useful. Well done.
Carmen
Thanks for your comments Carolyn! I love your take on it.
Kathryn Kern
Love the start Carmen:) Intriguing like the first Steven King book I read when I was 17 called the ‘last stand’ (?) Can’t wait for more…….
Carmen
Thanks Kath! I was thinking of something post apocalyptic while I was taking this shot. It was at the back of a large shopping plaza. No one was around, just garbage bins and this cart. The story seemed pretty organic while I was standing there. And then I got into my air conditioned car and went grocery shopping…;)