I like | dislike this story.

The Story Behind the Story by Mary Quast

In 1983, my best friend

and I took a trip to England. We had stayed with friends of the family; Peter was a poet and writer, Audrey was a school teacher. To make slow days go faster we created a game of making up stories about people we saw on the street.

One day in London we rode the Underground to Soho. A very handsome “punk” was sitting near us. I was so taken by his appearance I forgot about the camera in my lap. Our girlish glances had not gone unnoticed and the fellow said something to us when he left the train. He repeated himself three times, but neither of us understood what he said.

Later that night, my friend and I developed a wonderful storyline and spent several days gathering information and names for our story. Unfortunately, our little bit of fun was packed away with memories.

After listening to my new collection of music, I opened up my memory box from that trip and found a story I wrote about an American girl falling in love with a British punk in London. That night I reworked the little story into a big idea.

I called my friend, who by now was an editor. She told me to run with it. So I did; thus becoming a 122,000 word manuscript, Painted Soul.

This story has 1 point.
Vote! I liked | disliked this story.

Back to Stories