Making Things Fit

          "For Tom, the world was a very big place and everything in it was too big for him. At twelve years old Tom was only as tall as his father’s thumb. It was not likely that he would grow any taller. He couldn’t be sure, since he had no one to compare himself to.  He was unique, original, rare, the one and only.  He was a miniature human, complete in every detail."

          This is the opening of a story I am working on.  It has me thinking about how we relate to our world.  Things don't always fit.  We have to make them fit. We have resources and we organize them to accomplish things that we want to make happen.  Collectively, we have come a long way in the past century. We have learned to travel at high speeds, send messages across the world instantly, and heat a cup of soup without any fire.  It's a bit amazing. Personally, I am learning to use my time and resources better so I can write.

           My character, Tom, has to adapt his surroundings to meet his needs.  He re-purposes, engineers, crafts, and creates.  He discovers new uses for things.  If things are too big, he makes them fit. Every day is a challenge and an opportunity.

           It has been fun for me to see the kinds of things Tom comes up with as the story progresses.    That is the amazing process of writing.  I am using words, thoughts, images and ideas that I find in my world. None of them are new.  None of them really fit at first.  I have to tweak them.  I am re-purposing, crafting and creating a new story.