Mystery

Why do tiny fish come out to feed in the fog? And why is everyone afraid of them and hide indoors? In the Doctor Who series version of A Christmas Carol, their beauty charms the Doctor as they swim around lamplights reminiscent of Dickens time.

Shortly after he discovers the real threat, the giant sharks that come down out from the clouds to feed and will swallow the Doctor if possible. They are guided by a radio signal so when the Doctor manages to disengage it, not only can the shark not return to the clouds, but also is dying because it swallowed the Doctor’s screwdriver. Now he must discover a way to save the shark along with the other crisis plot lines.

Unraveling one mystery keeps opening the door to another. It’s fun for this science fiction, but also points out the lure of discovery that all why and how questions can generate. And even more amazing are the mysteries and discoveries of science and nature in our own very real earth.

Reading Just A Second from the library had both myself and five-year-old grandson amazed at what humans, animals, earth, universe, plants and much more are capable of in one second, one minute, one hour, or one day. For example, “a howler monkey’s deafening scream travels 1,125 feet” in one second. What might that look like in a traditional cozy mystery where after hearing the screams odd things happen in a small town. Or that in one minute “A skydiver in freefall plunges two miles.”

What if your heroine is forced to escape a plane by jumping out and is terrified of heights?

Extraordinary mysteries happen all around us in creation and can provide unique ideas to our stories. We just need to approach the possibilities with a new perspective. Remember the old movie “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” where four “inch” size children had to navigate an entire back yard? The un-mown lawn became a hazardous jungle.

Journal Prompt:

1. Look at your last indoor scene. Is there any aspect of nature/science in the setting? Or could you add some? Look at a rose in a vase. Could its perfume be deadly in some situations? Could it cause an allergic reaction, only the medication has been tampered with?

2. What about outdoors? Does your protagonist go for a morning run on a new trail; only someone reversed the open trail sign with the closed one? What danger is lurking down there, a mudslide, snakes, poison mushrooms?

Maps

Information boards and kiosks, from local hiking trails to prestigious museums, have one common note. “You are here.” The maps may be plain, in color, different sizes, with or without words, but the X marks the spot is clear enough to give the visitor a sense of place, a center from which to choose their direction.

Not only do these information markers cut down on employees being asked to give directions, but they also add a sense of safety and security emotionally. Disorientation in physical surrounding often results in immediate stress. For adventurers it’s an adrenaline rush of excitement, but for others it can raise fearful memories. Either way we prefer to have some measure of control.

In the movie Moonacre, orphan Maria Merryweather is introduced to her new country home as uncle takes her for a ride around the land, marking out the boundaries, and giving clear warnings as to where she should not go. But he also refuses any explanations, both for external dangers and her internal confusion. He removes her father’s book despite her pleadings and locks it away in a forbidden room. He tells her what she may and may not do, and then ignores her questions, often dismissing her with curt exits.

Left with only a partial map of her new surroundings, she attempts to find some solid ground emotionally and tumbles into more and more bewildering situations. Still she tries to make sense of where she is, and why her uncle lives as he does, and what does it all have to do with the hidden book.

Bit by bit she explores this new territory and creates her own map to discover what her inheritance really is.

Journal Prompt:

Take your character to the home of a relative that she never knew existed. Literally or figuratively, close the door behind her. How does she get her bearings in this place? What emotional roller coaster does it unleash?