It sat out in the middle of nowhere. Empty, abandoned, it was representative of the whole town. Few people remained, but what was left of this little strip mall still got quite a bit of attention.
Graffiti artists plied their trade without fear of legal trouble. No one cared. The building had been covered, painted over, repainted so many times that there was no way of knowing how it had looked originally.
Messages in code were left. The occasional foul language was quickly painted over. Sometimes, artists worked together to create murals.
There was no harm done.
Just Writing! 
So true. One could hardly harm a mess like that. 🙂
I wondered if you were coming to a scare at the end. Like: “As long as the artist didn’t step inside. Bwahaha.” 😉
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Well, that would have been a great ending!
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A sad acceptance of the dying town. I hope inspiration can blossom somewhere!
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It is sad, Iain. Where industry, or mining, or –whatever kept a town alive, fades away, so does the town.
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I wanted to know more about the messages in code. Intriguing. And left for who?
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Well, you know, I only had 100 words 🙂
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An interesting story, which felt that more might be waiting to be told
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Yes. I felt that way, too!
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So much graffiti is a scar, but when a thing of beauty, such a wonderful addition to the scene. This building, alas, so sad and ugly.
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Graffiti artists are often quite talented, and their work becomes known. This building, as you say, need more than graffiti to make it appealing.
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Dear Linda,
Actually some graffiti is pretty amazing. A thin line between defacing public property and an art form. Well written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle. I’ve read of graffiti artists whose work is so good that they’ve been commissioned to do murals on buildings 🙂
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It looks like a good place to apply paint.
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Well done.
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I quite like it, better than bare concrete. And it keeps the artists out of trouble (hopefully) 🙂
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hope springs eternal. who knows? someday, the town may experience a rebirth.
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I liked the ‘no harm done’ message. Graffiti has a bad reputation, but I think it’s more of a time and place issue. Some of it is really good.
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There are some true artists out there.
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‘No harm done’, but I get a feeling of despair from this – the dying town, the abandoned, isolated building so covered in graffiti that nobody remembers its original appearance. The coded messages are intriguing, however. Fascinating.
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Thanks, Margaret.
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At least the graffiti gives life to an otherwise dead building.
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I like the message of tolerance, ‘There was no harm done.’ I like, too, that although your story reflects the wistfulness of the failing town, there is no sense of fear about the abandoned building – it’s just a canvas for the artists.
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Thanks, Penny. Not all graffiti artists are malevolent 🙂
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A place like that begs for grafitti and it has a lot more character the way it looks than it would without it.
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