When I got up this morning, Timmy, our neighborhood stray cat, was waiting on our patio. As is his custom, he sat very still, looking in through our window. He’s a very patient and persistent cat. He waits until someone comes out with a bit of food for him or fresh water for his bowl. Some of our neighbors also look after him, but for some reason he’s lately taken to showing up on our patio morning and night. How can we refuse this face that at times seems almost godly while at other times it appears to be sinister? Bless those who feed me and curse those who don’t.

Timmy makes me think about moments when outsiders insert themselves into our lives. For instance, one Sunday morning when I lived in Memphis, a frantic pounding on the front door woke me. It was a young man I’d never seen wanting to know if that was my bicycle locked up outside my door, and, if it was, could he please borrow it because he’d just gotten a call about his wife. According to his story, she’d been involved in a bad car accident, and he needed to get there right away. His voice was shaking, and he was in tears. As much as I wanted to believe  him, something told me his story was a lie he was telling just to get away with stealing my bike. I refused to let him have it, and ever since, I’ve wondered whether he was telling the truth, and I’d refused him in his time of need.

Such moments, either in creative nonfiction or fiction, are the sort of moments that make for good narratives. Not only do they create action by bringing a character to a moment of decision, they also reveal more of the character involved. Choices made create plot; plot puts pressure on characters to make these choices, which should be complicated ones. The choices force the characters to reveal more of themselves than they ordinarily would, which leads to a deepening of character and action for the readers.

What are your moments of interaction with strangers that led to a decision you had to make? Can you use those moments in your creative nonfiction? Can you use your imagination to turn a moment into something you can use in a piece of fiction?

You have your assignment. Timmy and I will be patiently waiting for the results.