The Mysteries of Harris Burdick
Chris Van Allsburg came across the pictures of Harris Burdick through a friend, Peter Wenders. Apparently, Burdick presented the pictures with their titles and captions to Wenders in hopes that Wenders would be interested in purchasing the stories that accompanied the illustrations. Wenders was intrigued by the pictures and asked Burdick to submit the corresponding stories the next day. However, Wenders never heard from Harris Burdick again, so the "true" stories behind the pictures were never revealed. These illustrations have been a source of inspiration for many people, even for famous writers such as Stephen King, and thus we hope they will be for you. Look at the illustrations, their titles and captions, choose the one you find most inspiring and write a story which may explain what happened before or after the scene it illustrates. Source: Van Allsburg, Chris, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston: Massachusetts (1984)