{"id":4690,"date":"2025-06-14T16:14:58","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T20:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/?p=4690"},"modified":"2025-06-14T16:14:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T20:14:58","slug":"a-decision-made","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/?p=4690","title":{"rendered":"A Decision Made"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week\u2019s writing prompts were picture driven. The Story Spark was: Male Energy. It began with a comment by novelist Ann Tyler during an interview with Robert Costa on \u201cCBS Sunday Morning\u201d on 5\/25\/25 \u201cI\u2019ve been looking at men closely and appreciating them all my life.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Here are the pictures I chose:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \"\"<\/p>\n

A Decision Made<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

He stood outside his workshop, staring into the distance. \u201cWas it real, or just my mind playing tricks on me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He remembered that day. It was a day on which he had had enough. The lake was calm. He knew he couldn\u2019t swim. All that was needed was to wade out and keep walking. That\u2019s all. It would be over.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He began his slow walk to complete his end. The water was now up to his waist when he saw it. He had to blink several times to determine if the image that had implanted itself on his retina was real.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I mean, the monster was a myth. It was a tale told by seekers who wanted to believe that dinosaurs still existed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But he was determined. This was to be the end. That was, until that beast turned to him and spoke.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou do realize that what you are doing is a permanent solution to a temporary problem?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t be real. What do you know about me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am very real, and though I may not know you personally, I can sense who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen tell me,\u201d the man replied. \u201cWho am I?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThough you are one with hardships and troubled thoughts, you are a good man. You are one who cares for others and strives to do your best.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen why does everything I try to do fail? Why is it that the people I love get hurt by others? Why am I unable to keep them safe?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause you are human,\u201d was the monster\u2019s reply. \u201cBecause you have a strong heart that is filled with compassion and empathy. Because you are good.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo what? Where will all these failures get me? What makes it so important that I survive?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause you are you, and you are what is needed right now in these turbulent times. Because you know in your heart and soul that even with the little you can do, you will eventually make a difference.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The man stopped mid-lake and watched as the creature dove beneath the waters and disappeared. And thought about what was said. He chose to return to life.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, there he stands outside his workshop, staring into the distance. Was it real, or just his mind playing tricks on him?<\/span><\/p>\n

He said out loud to himself, \u201cThe monster was right. Feeling there is little I can do is no excuse for doing nothing. And giving up my life would be worse than doing nothing. I will persist. I will do what I can to fight the wrongs in this world. Let others see what I do, and perhaps they will join me as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We can make a change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week\u2019s writing prompts were picture driven. The Story Spark was: Male Energy. It began with a comment by novelist Ann Tyler during an interview with Robert Costa on \u201cCBS Sunday Morning\u201d on 5\/25\/25 \u201cI\u2019ve been looking at men closely … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[408,177],"class_list":["post-4690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-original-stories","category-story-writing","tag-picture-prompt","tag-writing-prompt"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4690"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4696,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4690\/revisions\/4696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}