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community, contribute, creepy, exercises, key, life, mansion, mystery, photography, poetry, stories, writing
I urge people to join in, comment with your paragraph of fiction to accompany the image. It doesn’t have to follow my story or reflect the same themes. It can be a poem or in a different language (provide a translation please 
). Anyone who wants to join in, is welcome. This photograph will be reblogged under Ermisenda on tumblr and added to the Picture it & Write gallery on Facebook and Pinterest.
Please continue to write however you’re inspired, but add a tag to the beginning of your post if there’s mature content in order to keep Picture it & Write an engaging event for all of our followers.
They key stared at me with its penetrating grey gaze.
“May you enjoy your stay,” the maid curtsied. My grandmother’s mansion creaked as violent winds whipped the windows. It was an eerie night. I had hoped to finalise the paperwork over the inheritance in a day but complications had risen.
“I could have been on the flight home by now…” I muttered, staring out the window dappled with droplets. I turned my gaze back to the illuminated key on my side cabinet.
When the maid had left, curiosity got the better of me. Why did my grandmother have this ornate silver key? I snatched it and went to find what it opened. Chillingly, I noticed how the key weighed more than it should. It pulsed as if a heart.
– Ermisenda Alvarez
P.S. This week’s photo was taken by yours truly while roaming the streets of Amsterdam!
Everyone is welcome to use the button, just link them back to the Picture it & write category or Ermiliablog! Share your love for Picture it & write on your blog with the image below. Be proud, and stylish 
!
Ermilia 
Pingback: Picture it and Write: Inheritance | Joe2stories
A fine silver key
Forged by the most skilled craftsmen
Opened doors for kings
🙂
Here is my offering for this week
http://joe2stories.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/picture-it-and-write-inheritance/
Enjoy
Joe
That I did Joe very much- thank you.
pick a key, Annie
my grandfathers gift to me
I like the bright one
what do they open?
such imagination, child!
they open nothing
grandfather is wrong
one key opens ev’rything
opens my pocket
frees my imagination
he thinks he gave me nothing
Haiku is the key
Brings out the inner artist
Writing together
Great poem Anne 🙂
Look at you two go! Bouncing creativity all over. Your story, Joe, truly sets the beginning of a grand novel. I wonder where the hunt for his inheritance will take the young boy! Thanks for contributing. 🙂
We do this a lot don’t we? 🙂
I bet that key is heavy! I like the grumbling over the missed flight coupled with the storm. It sets a good eery mood for the living key.
And nice picture! I was actually hunting for a good picture of a key something like this for my current chapter of Jenny. Here’s an excerpt: Jenny’s Key.
I really wanted to grab the key from the window. When I went inside the store they had that part of the store blocked out. It might be really worth something! Thanks for the compliments. I tried to evoke the eeriness of the photo into words.
Your descriptions are truly magical. ‘Jenny listened to the feet disappearing down the corridor, trying to imagine its shape from the echoes of their armored boots.’ So fantastic, as well as the floor drinking the blood. You brought the bloody scene to life and made me feel as she had. Great storytelling! You’re a magician with words, Annie. 🙂
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Fantastic photo. May I ask what you snapped it with?
Thanks, Kyllan. I took the photo with my Digital Polaroid I got for Christmas. It’s not as nice (photo quality wise) as my Digital SLR but it’s fun to print photos!
Pingback: Three Keys | Eric M. Vogt: Life-Writings
Thank you for another challenge! Here is my submission:
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/three-keys/
Lyrical! It was very easy to read and flowed beautifully. I love the repetition of the keys. I wonder where they would all lead! Thanks for contributing this week, Eric. It’s lovely to read your poems.
Thank you so much, Ermisenda! 😀
My offering –
http://ramblingsfromamum.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/picture-it-and-write-treasures/
Oh, what an exquisite final paragraph! Absolutely beautiful. A great story woven. I didn’t expect the family to be the prize. But… it is, isn’t it? Our friends, family, and our beloveds are the most precious prize of all. Great poem! Thanks for contributing this week. 🙂
A very interesting story and a perfect shot too! 🙂
Find my contribution here: http://allaboutlemon.com/2013/02/24/picture-it-and-write-6/
Thanks!
So sweet! I love it. Love is the key to all! May we all have the chance to unlock it’s happiness. Thanks for contributing to Picture it & write!
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Hi Ermilia, This was an interesting story where teh key has a life of its own. Pls find my contribution for this week here:
http://call2read.com/2013/02/24/picture-it-write-4/
Wow. I love the final line, a darkness with no footholds. A powerful piece with so much to say. Thanks for contributing this week, nightlake!
the key to a maze.
The pattern struck me.
I was stuck in a gaze.
What world could I go to?
Is Narnia a true place?
Neverending fantasies.
(had 2 decent ideas)
Door de sleutel zien
Waar het begin en einde is.
Nooi meer alleen.
(Attemptive haiku)
See through the key
Where the start is and the end
Never alone again.
– Otheus
Nicely done Otheus. 🙂
I like he impression of the maze!
What world could you go into? I think that’s a very strong theme that goes with keys. Where do they lead and will things change? I like how your haiku alludes to the beginning AND the end. Great pieces!
I had two this week. Everybody on my facebook liked this one the most. I’ll also share the second one on my blog. 🙂
“This key opens the door.
The one I’ve been wanting to open for a long time.
I’ve been stuck here for what feels like forever.
I’ve been crying for so long, that my eyes have all but dried up.
My stepmother trapped me in here.
I was caught with my prince charming last night.
She thinks if she traps me in this old house that my father built I’ll never leave.
She’s wrong.
I plan on leaving one way or another.”
Both are included in my blog. Second entry is down at the bottom.
http://gotmeghan.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/picture-it-write-two-entries-this-weekend/
Uh-oh! That stepmother sounds terrible but maybe she has a reason for being so? Maybe Prince Charming isn’t all so charming? I always like questioning the ‘Prince Charming’. 😛 A great interpretation of the key. I hope the young lady escapes to find what she hoped for. Or maybe the stepmother is waiting on the other side of the door? Thanks for contributing!
– Ermisenda
Oooh! It has a dark beauty to it, I think. I loved the lines “Chillingly, I noticed how the key weighed more than it should. It pulsed as if a heart”, it makes me believe whatever door or cupboard it unlocks, what lies inside won’t be anything of normalcy (did I use that right?)
I think you used it right! I’m not the best person to ask, my English grammar always needs improving but I know what you mean. I wanted to evoke that feeling of something a bit supernatural. A little fantastical. Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
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I enjoy writing prompts. Could not find a place to follow. Maybe I will find you again.
Well, this writing prompt is here every week. One week I host it, and the other Eliabeth hosts it. You can go back to any of the previous Picture it & write’s. We try to check them just as we check the more recent ones. I hope to see your work!
Pingback: Picture It & Write ~ Zarathustra’s Key | Pirate Storyteller
http://managuagunntoday.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/picture-it-write-zarathustras-key/ here’s mine..
You have quite a few interested readers. I too want to know what has been taken and what’s inside! You left us on a cliffhanger. I always love your dialogue pieces, gripping as usual. Great work! Thanks for contributing this week to Picture it & write. 🙂
hi Ermilia. here is my work for this week
http://terry1954.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/picture-it-write-2/
So beautiful. I love the constant questions. The needs for answers. The final line was powerful. No longer will that key open the vulnerable part of oneself (at least that’s how I interpreted it). Fantastic poetry! Thanks for contributing. Splendid!
I am thrilled that you enjoyed my work. To have a compliment as this from you with so much talent makes me very happy
http://mythoughtsonthesubjectareasfollows.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/stolen-key/
Very bittersweet. Hopefully another key can be created. Sometimes people wedge themselves into your heart when you least suspect it. Love will come again! A great piece. Thanks for sharing with us on Picture it & write, deanabo! 🙂
Spent my Monday writing this 🙂
http://prisailurophileblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/picture-it-write-a-short-story-vii/
Oh my! I hope she’s going out for some fresh air, if not that would be tragic. Where’s her partner to console her? 😦 A sad story. Maybe she should consider adoption, they are so many babies in need of loving parents. She sounds like she would be a great mother. 🙂 Thanks for contributing this week to Picture it & write!
Pingback: The Key | memyselfandela
hi Ermilia. here is my entry for this week:
http://memyselfandela.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/the-key/
Happy Monday to all!!! 🙂
And a happy Monday to you too! 😀
Fantastic! The descriptions are so dark and elaborate. Stunning, just like the key itself. I loved this part – ‘And scarlet poems will roll on my tongue/Like drops of blood streaming from the corner of my bitten lips’. Exquisite! Thanks for contributing this week to Picture it & write! 🙂
Hello! This is my link http://cloudfishing.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/dream-22-prologe/
You can really feel the urgency in this one. I love that she needed to have it. Sometimes an object (or person) captures our attention and won’t let go. Great story! Thanks for contributing to Picture it & write. 🙂
that’s a really cool key. great find! 🙂 loved your story.. an interesting beginning to something great…
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my story http://theeclecticeccentricshopaholic.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/picture-it-write-xv/
thanks 🙂
Unexpected! I thought it was hliarious when she was angry at his ‘nudity’. Very quirky. I can definitely see this as the beginning of a grand story. Although, may I add, that splitting up the big paragraphs into a few smaller paragraphs would help the reader. I caught myself having to reread the sentence because I lost my spot. It’s just a thought that you might implement. Either way, great story! Thanks for contributing this week to Picture it & write. 🙂
An award fro your page :
http://ladynimue.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/awarded-2/
Thanks a lot, Lady Nimue, for the award. We really appreciate it! Answering your questions here too:
I think my favourite post is ‘Mere Mortals’: https://ermiliablog.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/__mere-mortals/
It is probably my least read post, my least commented post, simply because it was one of the first I ever posted. I still love it to bits. Took me a while to write it as well.
My biggest fear is forgetting all that has past, all that I have learned and shared with others.
Pingback: Bigfoot’s Grave | Mind of Shoo
Here is my contribution for the week. Enjoy.
http://mindofshoo.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/bigfoots-grave/
Amazing! Such great storytelling. You captured us with this story. So sad that domestic violence still exists and continues to torment people. Sigh, when will the suffering end? A beautiful, heartfelt story, Mind of Shoo! Thanks for contributing this week. 🙂
Joilen’s key rested on the table, rust stains spotting its intricate patterns. It beckoned me to pick it up, a small voice traveling through the invisible sound barrier. I knew that if I used it to unlock the dark secrets hiding behind the many closed doors of the castle, I would walk straight into a warped path marked by pain and distraction. At this time, I couldn’t afford either. Salma waited patiently for the right moment to lead the group of Valmirs inside the castle. I imagined it’d be a raid of some sort, her beautiful blue eyes charming the pants off the castle guards until vulnerability would allow the guys to break through.
Still, I couldn’t deny that it was tempting. Only certain keys are made for certain doors and Joilen’s key was meant to unlock three of them. Verusa had died behind one, her uncertain death oozing with foul play. The second room stemmed strange sounds in the middle of the night and one of the voices deriving from inside seemed eerily familiar. The third door was the one that truly interested me. A faint green neon light shone from inside the room every night at the stroke of midnight. It seemed tame enough, almost alluring and mesmerizing. I had witnessed green magic before and the sparkling hues entranced in the light resembled something along those lines. Still, it made no sense for Ashel Castle to contain green magic of any kind.
Steps echoed down the hallway and I figured Marzilio was heading down to my room. Within moments he’d lead me down to the meeting hall. I’d have to face the Wulstek and pretend to enjoy another dreadfully long dinner with them. Somehow the prospect pushed me to make a decision. If I were to remain in this castle for another month, then I’d take my chances. Without thinking any further, I grabbed the key and closed it tight in my fist. It burned with tingles that traveled up my arm. Still, I refused to let it go. I owed it to Joilen. I owed it to myself. I needed to know. Hiding the key in the pocket of my waistcoat I would hide it from the rest of the world.
Until time was right.
I’m not sure I’d want to open a door someone died behind. Smoothly written Tamara.
I loved how epic this feels. I also want to know what is behind the green door. There’s a story behind each of the three doors. Much more can come from this story. Great writing!
Thank you so very much! 🙂
Pingback: The Key To Evilness… | An Evil Nymph's Blog
My contribution is typical of an evil nymph 😉 http://evilnymphstuff.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/the-key-to-evilness/
Ooo, I also love the imagery of the key sinking into her flesh. What a cool idea! Classic Evil Nymph. Love your work. Thanks for contributing this week. 🙂
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My offering this week – http://jotteddots.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/the-temple-of-keys-2/
Mystical! I love how the keys are genuine, despite the fable. Great storytelling. 🙂 Thanks for contributing this week to Picture it & write.
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Here’s my contribution: http://discoveriesinaletterbox.wordpress.com/2013/03/11/locked/
I love the way you described her majoring in ‘Procrastination’ and minoring in ‘Introspection’. I think most university students graduate with those qualifications! A very innovative writing style. I also loved how you mentioned her ‘sharpening’ the keys she thought she would need. A great image. Thanks for contributing this week to Picture it & write!