Writers - Where Does This Take You?

A couple of weeks ago, I took my girls out to a special event at Hawaiian Falls in The Colony.  They had a sopping wet blast, and I enjoyed some great reading and people-watching.

Going along with my regular weekly post about settings, though, I couldn't resist this picture of one of the play areas in the park.  This particular area was for little kids only; all of my girls were too big.  But my inner child was just the right size and I could imagine the sorts of trouble and pranks that she could play in this wild, wet castle. 

I was particularly intrigued by the top-most area of the playground.  It's a little hard to see in the picture, but the bird sits on a pipe that pours a steady stream of water into the bucket.  When part of the bucket fills, it dumps the water out, sending it down the blue slanting roof and showering the steps beneath it. 

I can't hide that I'm a mystery buff at heart, so as I gazed at this area, it wasn't hard for me to picture the ultra-dramatic body rolling out of the bucket and down the blue roof to the stairs below.  A book that started that way would be catnip, to me. Yum!

The girls and some buddies at the park.

Since it is a kids' park, however, I cleaned up my imaginary situation.  In my second set-up, I pictured Megabadguy chasing Sweet-lil-innocent all up and down the stairs until, like Li'l Orphan Annie, Sweet begins to climb through the netting and onto the intricate weavings of pipes and rails.  Up to the top of play-place she climbs, becoming trapped with nothing around her but sky ... uh ... and that big parrot. Still, Megabadguy draws closer, but unfortunately finds himself on the wrong side of the bucket.  Oops.  He falls onto the sloping roof and rolls down it, like a kid on a grassy hill, only to splat into the pond beneath it.

Oh, I can SO see that happening!

So what type of story can you see here? A YA novel about summer love? A kids book about building courage? What about pirates? Oh, wait, that was the Smart Car thing, wasn't it? 

Share your idea, and while you're at it. Take a few minutes to put some words on paper and start your story!