PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook
Café renovations were completed ahead of schedule, due in part, to the Mayor’s intervention. Officials had hoped restoring the mangled façade, a blaring reminder of that dreadful night, might help people forget, and bring healing to those who had been touched personally by the tragedy.
But a pristine storefront could not assuage the outrage of those who demanded truth from the corrupt government, whom they suspected was complicit in the terrorist attack.
The people commissioned a trompe l’oeil artist to restore the destruction’s visage to the building’s front, reminding the guilty that healing would be possible only when justice prevailed.
~kat
100 Words for Rochelle Wisoff-Fields Friday Fictioneers Flash Fiction Challenge inspired by this photo by Sandra Crook. (Trompe-l’œil (French for “deceive the eye”) is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions.)
Okay…now you need to hear the story behind the story. I took a glance at the photo on my small phone screen and the story evolved. What if it wasn’t real but a trompe-l’oeil of a terrible event that happened only months earlier. So I crafted my little fictional story and posted it. And then the comments started to come in and I discovered that it is indeed “street art graffiti on the front of that building in the seaside town of Swanage in Dorset, England. I swear I had no idea, thinking it to be real remnants of a crash or explosion. Sometimes the truth is odder than fiction.
like mercury colliding... 
January 24th, 2018 at 10:23 am
I love trompe l’oeil
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January 24th, 2018 at 10:27 am
Me too! There are so many wonderful artists in the world stretching our visual perception and imagination. Makes our times truly interesting. 😊
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January 24th, 2018 at 10:28 am
Actually I read that the Swanage Pier where the building is located is undergoing renovation after years of lying in disrepair.
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January 24th, 2018 at 10:41 am
Interesting. My story is fiction of course. 😉
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January 24th, 2018 at 10:39 am
Great tale Kat. Looking up other pictures shows that there are several figures inside that building who appear dressed in1920’s ? clothes!
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January 24th, 2018 at 10:42 am
Wow! Now that is interesting. I had no idea!
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January 24th, 2018 at 2:53 pm
Yes, you’re quite right, Peter. The Tea Shop is a pastiche of Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, so the clothes are appropriate to the period when he painted the original picture.
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January 24th, 2018 at 3:28 pm
Penny and Peter…I had no idea that this was an actual mural. I only saw the image on my phone screen before writing my tale and from that vantage point it looked real. Let’s just say I got quite a surprise when the comments started buzzing about the place. My muse was working overtime on this one! 🙂
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January 24th, 2018 at 3:14 pm
Oh my goodness! I did not realize that this was an actual mural! I was just telling a tale I thought! Now that is serendipitous!!!
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January 24th, 2018 at 4:27 pm
I’m being to think you are a witch Kat – a good witch though!!!
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January 24th, 2018 at 4:28 pm
I’m wondering the same thing. 😳
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January 24th, 2018 at 11:00 am
Powerfully told story to go with the vivid image. Nice one.
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January 24th, 2018 at 11:03 am
Thank you! I am intrigued by trompe l’oeil art. This image had a surreal look to it. 😊
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January 24th, 2018 at 12:31 pm
Amen 💜 Amen 💜
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January 24th, 2018 at 2:02 pm
And Amen💜
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January 24th, 2018 at 2:19 pm
Amen 💜
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January 24th, 2018 at 1:06 pm
Excellent Kat! They rebuilt only to camouflage it back, a unique take for the application of that.
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January 24th, 2018 at 1:57 pm
Makes me remember how quickly the remnants of the twin towers were whisked away. Not that I’m promoting any sort of conspiracy theory, but I thought it was so odd at the time that it was cleared out…all that steel… in such a swift sweep.
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January 24th, 2018 at 1:40 pm
A unique way of pursuing justice. One hopes they will prevail!
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January 24th, 2018 at 2:02 pm
One would hope.
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January 24th, 2018 at 2:55 pm
You’ve come up with an extremely ingenious take on the prompt! I enjoyed the story you made from the concept.
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January 24th, 2018 at 3:10 pm
Thank you Penny! 😊
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January 24th, 2018 at 4:22 pm
I’m not sure faking damage that was fixed is the right idea.
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January 24th, 2018 at 4:26 pm
I’m sure it got some attention!
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January 24th, 2018 at 4:23 pm
Mine’s at http://www.aliceaudrey.com/?p=15613
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January 24th, 2018 at 4:28 pm
I liked your story Alice. Thanks for the link.
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January 24th, 2018 at 5:56 pm
Brava.. 😎🥀
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January 24th, 2018 at 5:56 pm
Thanks Dorna! 🤩
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January 25th, 2018 at 3:29 am
I had never heard of this term before, I must admit. Thanks for this.
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January 25th, 2018 at 4:34 am
You’re welcome. I love that art is everywhere these days…not just galleries and museums. 🤩
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January 25th, 2018 at 4:02 am
…Had to look a few of those words up…a bit thick!
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January 25th, 2018 at 4:32 am
I keep a dictionary and thesaurus nearby my self Martin. 😊
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January 25th, 2018 at 6:48 am
Dear Kat,
Interesting story behind the story. I’m amazed at the artists who can pull this off. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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January 25th, 2018 at 7:43 am
Hi Rochelle,
They are very talented indeed! The ground shakers that paint abysses on roads and sidewalks are really interesting! Thank you again for hosting this challenge.
Peace,
Kat
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January 25th, 2018 at 10:12 pm
I love that you created a trompe l’oeil without realising it really was one. How is THAT for imagination? Well done, Kat!
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January 25th, 2018 at 11:20 pm
Thanks Dale. I was certainly surprised! 😊
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