Writing in Reverse

For this assignment, we were told to choose a photo from Bill Sullivan's Turnstile Photography Project and then to write a fictional story about it based off of what we saw in the photo. Here is what I wrote...

His mother dropped him off right on 5th Avenue as he slammed the door and went along his way. He was frustrated, since she did not allow for him to go to a concert that was coming up this weekend. She never approved of the type of people who went even though her son was put into that classified group as well. So instead of getting a ride to school, he decided to take the subway. And as he was heading towards the subway he started to think about the relationship between his mother and him. He thought to himself that no matter how frustrating it is to deal with her, maybe if he sat down and explained to her how he felt, that she would hopefully understand. Understand where he is coming from and why he acts the way he does.

As he started to think about ways to talk to her, he began to calm down and put the frustration aside. He decided he was going to the concert if she liked it or not, but instead of just leaving without her permission, he would first question how come they aren't close any more. He would finally take the initiative of figuring out where they went wrong in the first place since it wasn't always like this before.

He took a seat on the subway and looked down at his spiked bracelet. He examined it for a while, sliding it back and forth while glancing up at the other people staring at him. As they would turn right as he made eye contact, he pulled out his head phones and began to listen to the new album he borrowed from his friend. He closed his eyes and began to let his mind rest as he let the lyrics and rhythm sweep him away.