what we make

The story ideas below offer different possible directions inspired by the image, leaving room for you to imagine your own.

Story Started Ideas: An elderly woman with glasses carefully works on a detailed, green, cat-like puppet with large eyes and pink ears, holding its paw with gentle hands in a cozy indoor setting.

Forgotten & Overlooked, Friendship & Relationships, Inner Strength

The Scene:

An elderly woman with glasses carefully works on a detailed, green, cat-like puppet with large eyes and pink ears, holding its paw with gentle hands in a cozy indoor setting.

Story Nudge:

  • What does this character gain from the act of working, even if no one else ever sees the result?

  • How does solitude change when it’s filled with intentional action instead of waiting?

  • What fear about aging is being addressed indirectly through this quiet task?

  • Where does meaning come from when interaction is limited but choice remains?

story starter ideas:

1: The Quiet Appointment

She schedules her afternoons the way other people schedule meetings. At two o’clock, she sits by the window with the small figure in her lap, needle poised, not because anything must be repaired, but because it gives the hour a purpose. The object is something she made years ago, then nearly forgot, until the silence of the house became heavier than the work itself. As she sews, she imagines explaining the stitches to someone else—not in fantasy, but in the way people rehearse conversations that never quite happen. The act of mending becomes a stand-in for connection, a way of proving the day had weight.

Later, she realizes she looks forward to this time more than meals or sleep. Not because the object keeps her company, but because it gives her something to do that feels intentional. The story can explore how small, self-assigned rituals help people survive long stretches of solitude, and how action—no matter how quiet—pushes back against the feeling of being done with the world.

2: Something to Talk To, Something to Finish

She doesn’t speak out loud often anymore. But as she works, thoughts form sentences. Complaints. Observations. Half-jokes. The small figure gives her a place to direct them, not because she believes it listens, but because speech feels less heavy when it has somewhere to land. The act of finishing something—anything—keeps her anchored to the day.

3. Proof of Continuation

She doesn’t make things for anyone anymore. There are no birthdays to prepare for, no holidays that require effort. What she makes now is evidence—evidence that she is still here, still capable of attention, still participating in the act of making. The small figure bears marks of repair, not perfection, and she doesn’t hide them.