THE TOWN DIVIDE

Is the ravine real and deep and dark at night? It was, it is. I took my daughters there a few years back, fearful that the ravine might have gone shallow with time. I am relieved and happy to report that the ravine is deeper, darker, and more mysterious than ever.

—Just This Side of Byzantium, Ray Bradbury

Many of Ray Bradbury's stories take place in a town (based on his childhood home) with a ravine running through the middle of it. The ravine becomes a character in the stories.

Today, I was reading The Bath Short Story Anthology 2020. One of the stories (Two Towns by Robin Booth) begins with the line, "Not long ago, a crack appeared in our town. It runs from the bus stop on the edge of the town, down Castle Street, left at the butcher's, and out again on the other side of town, as far as the supermarket car park."

Some would say that recent years have brought greater division to our society. Imagine a physical division - a wall, a ravine... Use it as a metaphor for a particular division, and describe how people might live with it.

Feel free to play with the physicality of the division. For example, an earthquake might leave have the town higher than the other half. What would that spark off in the residents? You don't necessary need to explain how that aspect of the story came about. In fact, it might have more impact if you don't.

A physical division... a societal division... how people live with it... how and why someone might cross it...