You know those freebie bookmarks with writing on that bookshops give away? Well, a couple of months ago, I picked one up and it was advertising the Every Object Tells a Story competition. It asked: if you could borrow any item from literature, what would it be? Entrants were asked to send in a story on the topic- and the winning one would be printed on bookmarks given away in shops throughout the country!
Answers ranged from Ma Ramotswe's redbush tea to Tolkein's ring (you know the one!) but the winning writer was Max Porter, who chose to borrow a bike from Flann O'Brien's novel The Third Policeman. His story, I want to ride my bicycle can be seen on bookmarks in shops throughout the country, and you can read the other submissions here.
So... what object would you choose, and why?