Hopscotch

With an original image from Midjourney

Image created on Midjourney

When Charlotte pictured Rosie, the image she always saw was of the two of them playing hopscotch. They had always jumped the grid together, neither wanting to leave the other behind.

It had been nearly fifty years since she had seen her childhood friend. How her heart had broken when Rosie’s family had moved to another city when the girls were twelve. They had corresponded for a while, but neither had been very good at it, and they soon lost touch.

And now, through the miracle of the internet, her daughter, Rose, had somehow found Rosie and invited her to Charlotte’s birthday party. Rosie’s plane had already landed, and Rose had gone to pick her up. They would be walking through Charlotte’s door any minute.

What would Rosie think of her, with the wrinkles that had started to add what she preferred to think of as character to her features? Or that she now needed a cane to get around?

Lost in thought, Charlotte startled at the sound of the front door opening. Rose called in, “We’re home, Mom.”

Charlotte hurried to the door, as quickly as her cane allowed, pushing aside her anxious thoughts. She stopped, staring in wonder at her dear friend, whose face showed just as much character as her own, and who also sported a cane—on the opposite side to Charlotte’s. And yes, though Rosie had changed as much as Charlotte, the impish smile with which she greeted her was exactly the same. Charlotte held her arms out, grinning wickedly, “Want to jump hopscotch?”

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I love that I can use the images I create on Midjourney as prompts for stories. I have a series of images similar to this one. I think one of them will make it into my shop. (By the time you read this, it may have already done so.) Some of them are rough, like this one, and some are quite detailed. I like this one the best.

At first I thought I would write this story about someone whose memory was fading, remembering herself as a girl. But then the idea of best friends finding each other again after many decades apart came to me. I hope you enjoyed the result.