A weird thing I saw in a coffee shop in Portland three years ago

Honestly, three years back, I was in a Portland cafe and saw a guy writing on napkins for like an hour. Last month, I found out he was using a prompt about a barista who could see people's memories in the coffee foam. He told me he built a whole short story from it, just setting a timer for 20 minute bursts. It made me think about how the best ideas can come from just watching regular stuff. Has anyone else turned a random moment into a full story?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavincampbell6d ago

My dentist's waiting room gave me a horror plot.

adams.faith5d ago

My dentist has this old National Geographic from 1987 on the table. The cover is a close up of some deep sea fish with transparent skin. I actually find it kind of calming in a weird way. It makes me think about how much is down there we don't know, not in a scary way but a curious one. Those waiting rooms are just full of other people's boring anxiety, not real horror.

the_eva6d ago

That dentist waiting room horror plot sounds way too real (and scary). What was the specific thing you saw there that gave you the creeps, like a weird magazine or a painting or something? The napkin writer's story came from watching foam patterns, so the tiny details seem to matter.