Joe picked up the dandelion and a little milk spilled out from the stem, he looked at it, ‘the blood of the lion’, he whispered to himself twisting his head in acknowledgement. Thoughts about writing science fiction and fantasy sprung into life. ‘Real world situations’ how could they be transformed into fantastical elements that would bring a smile to readers faces. You know, the ones where the ‘rules’ in the fantasy world are created and then some real world application is given clarity later in the book. You put the book down and smile to yourself, nodding in appreciation. That’s a good moment he thought to himself. But milk from the dandelion… hmmmm maybe not.

He pushed the flower further away from the lens and clicked the shutter… then pulled his head back as the imaged flashed up on the lcd screen. ‘Wow…’ he sighed, ‘complex’. He pinched the screen to zoom in a little further, the seeds were beautiful, they fit perfectly into each other, one leaning on the next delicately touching the heart of the plant, holding on but not too tight. He smiled and looked back at the plant, blew and watched the seeds helicopter away with the breeze.

‘Hold on but not too tight’ he thought to himself.