In my job, I sometimes pick up newly-arrived international students at the airport. It’s fascinating to be able to view your own town through their eyes where everything is new and exotic. It’s also a great opportunity to learn about other cultures and how things are different.

This meeting of different cultures and different worlds is a great story device as well since not only does it show the fascinating aspects of a new culture, but it lets us examine our own culture in a new light by contrasting them. This could be someone going to a new place (Shangri-la in Lost Horizon, Oz in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Narnia, etc.) or visitors coming here (The Day the Earth Stood Still, Arrival, The Indian in the Cupboard, etc.). It can also be something much closer, like black and white families getting to know each other in Maniac Magee.

Story Prompt: April 17, 2023

Write a story about the meeting of cultures or worlds.

This can be anything from a wealthy woman and a homeless man to meetings across time and space or dimensions and everything in between.

If you want to share your story, you can either email me at info@greenwalledtreehouse.com or submit it at the link here. I’d love to publish your story as well. I’ll try to write a story myself about this prompt and post it in the next while.