There is a Forest

On October 25, 2019October 22, 2019 By Danielle O'ShayIn Flash Fiction, Original Fiction2 Comments

There is a forest, lying hidden in the shadows of the world in a place where time does not exist. It does not have a name, though it is rumored to have once been called the ‘Mist Wood’, after legends of faerie mist-gates and border regions, places where the Fair Folk could tread back and forth from one realm to another. Some stories even say this was the meeting-place of the Courts, where all the faerie-kind gathered in the starlit clearings, and when they left, they left behind a piece of the forest much transformed from what it once had been. Continue reading “There is a Forest” →

Character Sketch: Moon-Princess

On October 11, 2019October 7, 2019 By Danielle O'ShayIn Flash Fiction, Original Fiction3 Comments

She told me she lived on the moon.

“It is the most beautiful planet in the galaxy,” she said. “It’s all washed in soft silver light and surrounded by darkness on all sides. There is no sound, no voices. It’s so quiet you can her the stars singing. They sing to the world. It’s empty of life, but oh is it wonderful. I am the ruler of a beautifully desolate land.”

“All right, moon-princess.” I would say, then laugh and tell her to lock up her imagination before it ran away.

Amaris was my neighbor. She lived one door down at number 11, the old white house with the roof garret and two weeping willows in front. I’m not really sure when she moved in. One day it was empty and the next she was there in her big hat, hanging colored glass bottles in her trees and feeding all the neighborhood cats.

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Consuming Allegory: The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne

On October 4, 2019October 11, 2019 By A.J. ReevesIn Literary Analysis, Literary CriticismLeave a comment

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story The Birth-Mark plays around with the ideas of allegory, and the effect symbolism can have on people. In The Birth-Mark, Aylmer, a man of science, can’t let go of the imperfection the birthmark on his wife’s cheek represents, he allows his emotions towards the birthmark to consume him, and ultimately leads to him losing his precious wife. Hawthorne is clearly warning of the dangers of placing too much power and meaning in such a trifling object as a birthmark. The only influence an object possesses is the power we place in it. Continue reading “Consuming Allegory: The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne” →