It doesn't take much to invent an entire story. Sometimes all it takes is a glance, a photograph.
We travel, wander through unfamiliar streets, meet people, notice this and that — an unusual building, a passing scene, a cat on the steps. Most of these encounters last just a moment. We know nothing about what came before or what will come after. But our minds don't like gaps — they fill them with assumptions.
Take this green-eyed character from Istanbul, for instance. She clearly has more important things to do than pose for passing strangers. These steps are probably just one stop along a route she's followed for years. Or maybe, right at the moment I took her picture, she was deciding which restaurant to drop into for lunch.
A few seconds — and here we are, with a whole life invented out of striped fur, green eyes, and that serious little face.
The world around us is made up not only of what actually exists, but of the countless stories we make up along the way.
@alexanderfluke