oh.
Moderator
740 posts
2,086
Seen 31st August 2023
Topaz
31st December 2022, 09:38 PM
I have been very hard at work over the past few months.
I have not one, not two, not even three stories to share... I have four.
But for now, my personal favorite is Hellfire. It's a story I began yesterday in a moment of sadness. It's the shortest at only 1425 words but I put a lot of my own personal feelings into it. The story follows a young child named Lune who's been shunned by her village for having the ability to control fire. She has to deal with bullying from her peers and suspicion from her family.
I'm going with a bit of a latin theme for the chapter names. So far there's three parts of the story- Solis Occasum, meaning sunset, which depicts Lune's struggles with control. Crepesculum, meaning twilight, which shows Lune dealing with the consequences of a major issue and Solis Ortus, meaning sunrise, where Lune learns how to handle her emotions and how to control her abilities.
I have the quote 'Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power' by Laozi as a standalone quote before the index and I believe it fits the theme of the story quite well. Lune struggles with controlling her emotions and tends to lash out. I think having this quote makes sense for her.
As for the story itself...
The girl bent her head over the fire, deeply inhaling the acrid smoke. The flames threatened to caress skin, but she didn’t shy away from them, nor did she wipe the tears that filled her eyes as the heat poured into them.
She knew the fire wouldn’t hurt her; it never had, as long as she’d been alive. When she had been a toddler, she’d wandered too close to the hearth in the living room and singed her clothes in the dying embers. A normal child would have cried, but she was not normal. She couldn’t remember if she’d ever been.
Perhaps it was a blessing, to be immune to such a deadly thing. It certainly helped in the dry season, when the sun baked the crops and droughts dried up the rivers and streams. But she’d heard the names they called her down in the village.
Freak.
Monster.
Devil child.
She pretended that the insults didn’t bother her. She pretended that she never heard the townsfolk as they whispered and jeered behind her back- they needn’t know how their words stung, how they chipped away bits of her heart. Even her own parents, Maman and Papa, thought she was strange. They would never admit it, of course, but they had no need to. She knew. She always knew.
The sun shone brightly overhead, casting its light through the forest clearing where she sat before a small fire. It was morning, and she ought to have been in school with the other children. But she couldn’t bear to listen to the mocking of her peers, or her teacher’s sly remarks- there were other days for that. She wanted an escape from it all, for now.
The girl reached out a small hand and let the flames dance around her skin. It tingled. Her skin turned red, but didn't blister. Rather, the heat wrapped around her like a blanket. It made her feel safe. Protected.
There's more to it but that's all I feel like sharing for now.
I have not one, not two, not even three stories to share... I have four.
But for now, my personal favorite is Hellfire. It's a story I began yesterday in a moment of sadness. It's the shortest at only 1425 words but I put a lot of my own personal feelings into it. The story follows a young child named Lune who's been shunned by her village for having the ability to control fire. She has to deal with bullying from her peers and suspicion from her family.
I'm going with a bit of a latin theme for the chapter names. So far there's three parts of the story- Solis Occasum, meaning sunset, which depicts Lune's struggles with control. Crepesculum, meaning twilight, which shows Lune dealing with the consequences of a major issue and Solis Ortus, meaning sunrise, where Lune learns how to handle her emotions and how to control her abilities.
I have the quote 'Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power' by Laozi as a standalone quote before the index and I believe it fits the theme of the story quite well. Lune struggles with controlling her emotions and tends to lash out. I think having this quote makes sense for her.
As for the story itself...
The girl bent her head over the fire, deeply inhaling the acrid smoke. The flames threatened to caress skin, but she didn’t shy away from them, nor did she wipe the tears that filled her eyes as the heat poured into them.
She knew the fire wouldn’t hurt her; it never had, as long as she’d been alive. When she had been a toddler, she’d wandered too close to the hearth in the living room and singed her clothes in the dying embers. A normal child would have cried, but she was not normal. She couldn’t remember if she’d ever been.
Perhaps it was a blessing, to be immune to such a deadly thing. It certainly helped in the dry season, when the sun baked the crops and droughts dried up the rivers and streams. But she’d heard the names they called her down in the village.
Freak.
Monster.
Devil child.
She pretended that the insults didn’t bother her. She pretended that she never heard the townsfolk as they whispered and jeered behind her back- they needn’t know how their words stung, how they chipped away bits of her heart. Even her own parents, Maman and Papa, thought she was strange. They would never admit it, of course, but they had no need to. She knew. She always knew.
The sun shone brightly overhead, casting its light through the forest clearing where she sat before a small fire. It was morning, and she ought to have been in school with the other children. But she couldn’t bear to listen to the mocking of her peers, or her teacher’s sly remarks- there were other days for that. She wanted an escape from it all, for now.
The girl reached out a small hand and let the flames dance around her skin. It tingled. Her skin turned red, but didn't blister. Rather, the heat wrapped around her like a blanket. It made her feel safe. Protected.
There's more to it but that's all I feel like sharing for now.
You'll never silence my voice, no, I won't go.
Izuno - Mal31 - SecurityGuy - Jenna
Snow 
oh.
Moderator
740 posts
2,086
Seen 31st August 2023