The Storytellers Vol. 11

Every Monday we feature a photo prompt and ask our audience to share their stories to accompany the image on Instagram. We would love for you to join us and share what each photo says to you. In October we walked down some paths of fear selecting photos that drew frightful stories from our followers. As always some of our fantastic Grryo photographers supplied us with inspiration for the subject. We invite you to step through this digest of photos and stories. There’s nothing to fear but fear itself. Storytellers and photographers alike would love to hear your encouragement and comments!

Photo Credit: Daniel
Story Credit: Andre

They silently screamed, reaching for the last rays of light. The sun slowly faded behind the clouds. A sun whose warmth they would not feel for another season. For their planet was one in which it perpetually rained, the sun shining for but a short day each year.

Photo Credit: Mame
Story Credit: Tommy

He stood there with his hand against the cool, smooth glass. The scene that kept playing through his mind was like a background of his life. A few people gathered on the street, cars and buses flying past, and the light flashing “DON’T WALK.” Even though the room was quiet he could hear the roar of engines and the squeal of tires. Horns honked competing with the shouts of pedestrians. The most frightening sound that gripped his heart and rendered him paralyzed was the dull “thud” he remembered as his mother had stepped off the curb and into a city taxi. The street, it’s sounds and the color yellow keep him as a prisoner in his room to this day.

Photo Credit: Kai
Story Credit: Susan

“I did it!”, Lucy exclaimed, “I conquered it.” She let out the breath she’d been holding in, turned around and looked back up at the blinding sunlight. She had been terrified to walk down these dark stairs… unable to see the bottom from her starting point above. Her imagination had filled that dark place with dangers and torments unknown, but she willed herself down the long stairway anyway only to discover an empty place where fears dwell if you let them. She felt light as a bird – and looked back up to light and life, turning her back forever on that which had kept her paralyzed. As she drew in a breath to begin her ascent, something moved in the blackness behind her.

Photo Credit: Frederic
Story Credit: Rose

This image for me represents fear and the possibility of encountering bad moments. “…I don’t like the feeling of closed spaces, dark tight places, where you have to hold your breath. Anticipating the worst time, I just know that I must move faster and get through it this time, unscathed…” So, this image becomes a metaphor for moving through one’s life with as little resistance as is possible. When one makes the decision to run into a dark tunnel, accept it but move quickly, you can ponder the experience for the rest of your life.