Writing Challenge Tuesday: Message in a Bottle

Dammit. Now that song is stuck in my head. Oh well, it’s already there, might as well inflict it on everyone else. Sorry about that. Okay, not really.

So, I’m away on a trip right now for a sort of working vacation, but I return home tomorrow. Hopefully refreshed and full of verve for writing. Realistically, full of hatred for snow and missing the Vegas warmth. Ah, well. Plus side, my area isn’t being hit nearly so hard as most of the northeast, so I can’t complain so much.

On my trip, I’ve been thinking about travel, about messages and how different it is to be in one place or another. What we leave behind, and what we come back to. There’s a scene in White Collar (love that show) where Diana Barrigan and Neal Caffrey are pretending to hook up in a hotel. Long story. While they’re there, Diana tells Neal about a secret; that travelers and particularly children of diplomats and traveling businessmen often leave secret messages and art for other travelers.

Sitting in my hotel room this weekend, I thought about where a message could be hiding. Sadly, I didn’t find one. But it did make me consider how I’d go about leaving one for someone else. So, for this week’s writing challenge, I wanted to put forth a concept - how would your protagonist leave a message for the people who came after them? Would it be a tragic last ditch effort, or a gesture while on a journey? Would they hide it behind a painting frame, or under a lamp, or along the back rim of a television in a recessed entertainment center?

If they left a message, what would it say? Warnings as to what they faced, or messages about life? Would it be practical, or philosophical? Would they check for other messages as they walked through life? What if they found one? Could it be pertinent to their situation, or would it be something random and beautiful?

Thursday, I’ll be writing about a brand new 8tracks mix. Oh, and you might be curious if I left a message behind in my hotel room.

I’m not telling.