A Cast Of Characters
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Daren and dng should remake sitcom Brush Strokes for the millennium generation!
Re: A Cast Of Characters
I made some little Tales From The Town booklets, with help from my niece and nephew (who suggested some of the subjects, then critiqued quite viciously my work)
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Pocket Tales #1
The Sand Castle
It didn't last long. But it would be rebuilt forever. Permanence through transience. Memories made flesh.
The Zoo
The cages had been empty for quite some time. As fast as anyone could fill them, others emptied them. You can't imagine what now lives in the woods.
The Woods
It was a jungle in there.
The Mirror
It was always the hair it got wrong. .gnorw tog ti riah eht syawla saw tI
The Sand Castle
It didn't last long. But it would be rebuilt forever. Permanence through transience. Memories made flesh.
The Zoo
The cages had been empty for quite some time. As fast as anyone could fill them, others emptied them. You can't imagine what now lives in the woods.
The Woods
It was a jungle in there.
The Mirror
It was always the hair it got wrong. .gnorw tog ti riah eht syawla saw tI
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Pocket Tales #2
The Dinosaur
You could walk up its tail and slide down its neck. But no one ever did.
The Moon
The longer you look the larger it looms.
The Paddling Pool
It wasn't very deep. But it was somehow irresistible.
Four Pictures Of Food
They were having a party. They could eat anything they wanted. And they want to eat just about everything. (As long as it was triangular).
The Dinosaur
You could walk up its tail and slide down its neck. But no one ever did.
The Moon
The longer you look the larger it looms.
The Paddling Pool
It wasn't very deep. But it was somehow irresistible.
Four Pictures Of Food
They were having a party. They could eat anything they wanted. And they want to eat just about everything. (As long as it was triangular).
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Pocket Tales #3
The Ghost
Its sadness persisted for as long as it lived.
Bluebird
It was impossible to see against the sea and the sky. It liked to believe it no longer existed.
The Maze
You went inside so you could come back out. No one knew why it existed.
The Old Map
Nothing it showed mattered any more. The less useful it was, the more beautiful it became.
The Ghost
Its sadness persisted for as long as it lived.
Bluebird
It was impossible to see against the sea and the sky. It liked to believe it no longer existed.
The Maze
You went inside so you could come back out. No one knew why it existed.
The Old Map
Nothing it showed mattered any more. The less useful it was, the more beautiful it became.
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Pocket Tales #4
The Funfair
It was neither fun nor fair. We would never learn.
Rock Pool
An abundance of life in little more than a puddle. Each day new marvels could be found.
Beneath The Pier
Rusted Metal and barnacles. A strange romance, but an evocative one.
Unidentified Skeleton
Is there anything in this world better than half buried old bones?
The Top Of The Cliff
Look out to sea. Let the wind blow through your hair. Brood to your heart’s content.
The Hole
Things emerged from here more often than we liked. But to fill it in seemed unimaginable.
The Bottom Of The Cliff
The ruins of old civilisations.
The Funfair
It was neither fun nor fair. We would never learn.
Rock Pool
An abundance of life in little more than a puddle. Each day new marvels could be found.
Beneath The Pier
Rusted Metal and barnacles. A strange romance, but an evocative one.
Unidentified Skeleton
Is there anything in this world better than half buried old bones?
The Top Of The Cliff
Look out to sea. Let the wind blow through your hair. Brood to your heart’s content.
The Hole
Things emerged from here more often than we liked. But to fill it in seemed unimaginable.
The Bottom Of The Cliff
The ruins of old civilisations.
Re: A Cast Of Characters
and thats all of them i've finished now everyone has gone home
Re: A Cast Of Characters
All of this is utterly marvellous!
And they look great on the gardron table, too!
And they look great on the gardron table, too!
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Current faves:
The Mirror
The Dinosaur
The Old Map
The Funfair
NOTE: I MAY HAFF DIFFRENT FAVIRITES TOMORO!
The Mirror
The Dinosaur
The Old Map
The Funfair
NOTE: I MAY HAFF DIFFRENT FAVIRITES TOMORO!
Re: A Cast Of Characters
hooray, thank you, homfrus
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richschnauzer
- Posts: 1127
- Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 8:26 am
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Tales From The Town #39: The Moons Of Earth
“Look at the silly old moon,” said Ethel, as she stared out through the window that had recently appeared in the ceiling of their room. “It’s so beautiful.”
“It’s so boring, more like,” said Claire. “It barely even moves. It’s the worst moon ever.”
“It’s not!”
“It is,” said Claire. “The best moon is the moon that’s always on fire.”
“That’s the sun, Claire,” said Ethel.
“Not it’s not.”
“It is.”
“It isn’t. If it was the sun you wouldn’t be able to see it at night but you can.”
“You can’t.”
“You can’t,” said Claire. “I can.”
“The actual best moon,” Daniel said. “Is the moon made of metal.”
“”That’s not a real moon,” said Claire. “It’s made up.”
“You’re made up,” said Ethel.
“I’m not!”
“Nor’s the moon made of metal,” said Daniel. “It’s just you have to be in Australia to see it. They have different stars and everything!”
“You’ve never been to Australia, Daniel,” said Claire. “Or New Zealand.”
“Anna’s been to Australia,” said Ethel. “And New Zealand.”
“Well, good for her,” said Claire. “I still don’t think Daniel’s favourite moon should be a moon he’s never seen.”
“Your favourite moon is a moon we’ve never seen,” said Ethel.
“My favourite moon is the ghost moon,” said Tina. Everyone thought she was asleep but she wasn’t at all. “I’ve seen that. Twice.”
“I’ve seen it, too,” said Ethel.
“We’ve all seen it,” said Claire. “And anyway there’s no such thing as a ghost moon. It’s the apparition moon.”
“That’s just another word for ghost,” said Ethel.
“It’s not. It’s totally different,” Claire said. “And why would there be two words for one thing, anyway? It’d be completely confusing!”
“And bemusing,” said Tina, quietly.
“Most perplexing,” said Ethel.
“Confoundingly mystifying,” added Daniel. “Discombobulatingly flummoxational.”
“Everyone shut up,” said Claire. “Those aren’t even words.”
She flopped back down on the bed and banged her fists against the mattress.
“And we’re supposed to be watching the silly old moon, remember?” Claire shouted up at the sky. “Not talking.”
The four of them lay quietly on the bed and stared up at that mysterious new window of theirs. The moon shone through the glass like a beacon, huge and full and as bright as snow. It seemed to fill the entirety of the sky. If you looked into it long enough you could see almost anything you wanted.
“I told you the silly old moon was boring,” Claire sighed. “It’s even more boring than no moon at all.”
But by then everyone else was asleep, and when the moon that was always on fire finally made its appearance, Claire had to watch it all on her own.
“Look at the silly old moon,” said Ethel, as she stared out through the window that had recently appeared in the ceiling of their room. “It’s so beautiful.”
“It’s so boring, more like,” said Claire. “It barely even moves. It’s the worst moon ever.”
“It’s not!”
“It is,” said Claire. “The best moon is the moon that’s always on fire.”
“That’s the sun, Claire,” said Ethel.
“Not it’s not.”
“It is.”
“It isn’t. If it was the sun you wouldn’t be able to see it at night but you can.”
“You can’t.”
“You can’t,” said Claire. “I can.”
“The actual best moon,” Daniel said. “Is the moon made of metal.”
“”That’s not a real moon,” said Claire. “It’s made up.”
“You’re made up,” said Ethel.
“I’m not!”
“Nor’s the moon made of metal,” said Daniel. “It’s just you have to be in Australia to see it. They have different stars and everything!”
“You’ve never been to Australia, Daniel,” said Claire. “Or New Zealand.”
“Anna’s been to Australia,” said Ethel. “And New Zealand.”
“Well, good for her,” said Claire. “I still don’t think Daniel’s favourite moon should be a moon he’s never seen.”
“Your favourite moon is a moon we’ve never seen,” said Ethel.
“My favourite moon is the ghost moon,” said Tina. Everyone thought she was asleep but she wasn’t at all. “I’ve seen that. Twice.”
“I’ve seen it, too,” said Ethel.
“We’ve all seen it,” said Claire. “And anyway there’s no such thing as a ghost moon. It’s the apparition moon.”
“That’s just another word for ghost,” said Ethel.
“It’s not. It’s totally different,” Claire said. “And why would there be two words for one thing, anyway? It’d be completely confusing!”
“And bemusing,” said Tina, quietly.
“Most perplexing,” said Ethel.
“Confoundingly mystifying,” added Daniel. “Discombobulatingly flummoxational.”
“Everyone shut up,” said Claire. “Those aren’t even words.”
She flopped back down on the bed and banged her fists against the mattress.
“And we’re supposed to be watching the silly old moon, remember?” Claire shouted up at the sky. “Not talking.”
The four of them lay quietly on the bed and stared up at that mysterious new window of theirs. The moon shone through the glass like a beacon, huge and full and as bright as snow. It seemed to fill the entirety of the sky. If you looked into it long enough you could see almost anything you wanted.
“I told you the silly old moon was boring,” Claire sighed. “It’s even more boring than no moon at all.”
But by then everyone else was asleep, and when the moon that was always on fire finally made its appearance, Claire had to watch it all on her own.
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Tales From The Town #40: The Woman With Wings
Hana woke up one morning to find she had grown wings in the night. Not from her backs, as in the images of fairies she had obsessed over as a child, but in place of her arms.
At least her clothes would still fit, Hana thought idly to herself, as she admired her delicate plumage in the mirror. But how she was going to do the buttons up on her shirts now she had feathers instead of fingers she really did not know.
Hana woke up one morning to find she had grown wings in the night. Not from her backs, as in the images of fairies she had obsessed over as a child, but in place of her arms.
At least her clothes would still fit, Hana thought idly to herself, as she admired her delicate plumage in the mirror. But how she was going to do the buttons up on her shirts now she had feathers instead of fingers she really did not know.
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Chortle Hound
- Site Admin
- Posts: 173
- Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2021 11:02 pm
Re: A Cast Of Characters
"The longer you look, the larger it looms" gets my atoms buzzing. Yes. I feel it.
Anybody want a peanut?
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Chortle Hound
- Site Admin
- Posts: 173
- Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2021 11:02 pm
Re: A Cast Of Characters
hooray. thank you
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Good stuff!
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Tales From The Town #41: The Houseplant
They never watered it. They hadn’t even planted it. Yet still it grew. It was fascinating.
“How many times have I told you all to bring your dirty teacups downstairs?” Agnes said, as the vines curled up out of the mug and moved slowly to an arrhythmic beat. “Now look what’s happened.”
“It was Tina’s fault!” Claire said. “I don’t even drink tea.”
“Tina drinks tea,” Daniel said.
“And Claire drinks clay!” Ethel added with a giggle.
“I do not drink clay,” said Claire. “And even if I did at least I take my cups down to the kitchen! Unlike Tina! She’s too busy writing poetry!”
“Look, it doesn’t matter now whose fault it is,” said Agnes. “As long as it doesn’t happen again.”
“It won’t, Mum, I promise,” said Tina. “But can I keep it? I’ll feed it every day!”
“Okay,” Agnes said reluctantly. “But you’ll have to look after it carefully. It takes a lot of time and patience to nurture living things.”
“Thanks, Mum!” Tina said excitedly. “I’ll feed it every day! I promise!”
In front of them, a thousand tiny mouths opened on the tips of the houseplant’s fronds and began to sing plaintively to its audience in dissonant harmonies.
“I wonder what it eats,” Claire said. “I bet it’s something disgusting.”
“Like maggots!” Ethel said.
“Or bananas!” Daniel shuddered.
“Well, I’m only going to feed it nice things,” said Tina.
“At least Claire’s safe,” Agnes said quietly. But not anywhere near quietly enough.
They never watered it. They hadn’t even planted it. Yet still it grew. It was fascinating.
“How many times have I told you all to bring your dirty teacups downstairs?” Agnes said, as the vines curled up out of the mug and moved slowly to an arrhythmic beat. “Now look what’s happened.”
“It was Tina’s fault!” Claire said. “I don’t even drink tea.”
“Tina drinks tea,” Daniel said.
“And Claire drinks clay!” Ethel added with a giggle.
“I do not drink clay,” said Claire. “And even if I did at least I take my cups down to the kitchen! Unlike Tina! She’s too busy writing poetry!”
“Look, it doesn’t matter now whose fault it is,” said Agnes. “As long as it doesn’t happen again.”
“It won’t, Mum, I promise,” said Tina. “But can I keep it? I’ll feed it every day!”
“Okay,” Agnes said reluctantly. “But you’ll have to look after it carefully. It takes a lot of time and patience to nurture living things.”
“Thanks, Mum!” Tina said excitedly. “I’ll feed it every day! I promise!”
In front of them, a thousand tiny mouths opened on the tips of the houseplant’s fronds and began to sing plaintively to its audience in dissonant harmonies.
“I wonder what it eats,” Claire said. “I bet it’s something disgusting.”
“Like maggots!” Ethel said.
“Or bananas!” Daniel shuddered.
“Well, I’m only going to feed it nice things,” said Tina.
“At least Claire’s safe,” Agnes said quietly. But not anywhere near quietly enough.
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Tales From The Town #42: David
He wakes. He eats. He washes. He eats.
He goes for a walk He sits on a bench. He eats.
He comes back from his walk. He sits on his sofa. He eats.
He watches a film. He reads a book. He eats.
He sleeps. He dreams. And in those dreams, he eats.
He wakes. He eats. He washes. He eats.
He goes for a walk He sits on a bench. He eats.
He comes back from his walk. He sits on his sofa. He eats.
He watches a film. He reads a book. He eats.
He sleeps. He dreams. And in those dreams, he eats.
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Tales From The Town #43: The Alligator
It was Claire’s turn to look after the class alligator. She walked it round on a lead and let it bite everyone.
Ted watched on in envy from afar. Claire was living his dream. The alligator was only small, and it didn’t have any teeth, but still, he had never been so in love.
It was Claire’s turn to look after the class alligator. She walked it round on a lead and let it bite everyone.
Ted watched on in envy from afar. Claire was living his dream. The alligator was only small, and it didn’t have any teeth, but still, he had never been so in love.
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Cracking!
The Alligator stroy made me chuckle, the David stroy made me do a sad, and The Houseplant stroy made me chuckle and admire those lovely multicoloured vynes.
The Alligator stroy made me chuckle, the David stroy made me do a sad, and The Houseplant stroy made me chuckle and admire those lovely multicoloured vynes.
Re: A Cast Of Characters
my sister gave me some new pens the other day so you have her to thank for the colours
Re: A Cast Of Characters
also thank ye homfrus
Re: A Cast Of Characters
also please don't be sad
Re: A Cast Of Characters
#So I say,dng wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 7:49 pm my sister gave me some new pens the other day so you have her to thank for the colours
Thank you for the colours, the shades I'm seeing.
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing.
Who can live without them? I ask in all honesty,
What would life be?
Without a blue or a green, what are we?
So I say thank you for the colours.
For giving them to meeeeeeeeee#
With apologies to both ABBA and your sister!
Re: A Cast Of Characters
abba should be the ones apologising
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Tales From The Town #44: Modern Love
A Complete Openness Of Data
It was the tradition now. To go along with those old markers of commitment - engagement rings, joint bank accounts, borrowed clothes, shared rent - there was this opening up of your data to each other, all the things you had said and done and seen and been, all the way back to the beginning of time (2007). There was no deeper symbol of your trust, no greater intimacy in your relationship, than this limitless mingling of information.
Anna and Oya laid their phones on top of each other and between them they shared everything.
The Confluence Of Interests
Anna liked the lists best, tracking the overlap of their histories in the books they’d read, the shows they’d watched, the songs they’d listened to, the games they had played, patterns they’d knitted, topics studied, recipes cooked, links shared. She spent whole days, entire weeks comparing their pasts, revisiting barely remembered childhood obsessions, re-discovering old favourites that she never knew they both loved,
But alongside the joys there was a lingering feeling of fear, a persistent atmosphere of dread. Who knew what opinions Oya had kept hidden behind that stoic facade of hers all these years. Anna couldn’t decide which was going to be worse when it finally happened - discovering Oya hated the things Anna loved unconditionally, or discovering Oya loved those things Anna hated more than anything she could imagine.
They Had Lived Their Lives On Average 1721 Miles Apart
Oya was obsessed with the maps of their lives. At first she jumped from moment to moment - where was Anna when I was here or here or here - but then she let the whole thing play out, the two of them watching the screen together as time lapse journeys traced across the globe, twisting and turning lines recording their passage through time against the surface of the Earth, every minute of their lives mapped to the very inch of the globe.
The first line was Anna’s, then Oya’s blinked into existence moments later. These lines didn’t start when they were born, of course, but from the moments they got their first phones, half a continent away and ten months apart. The map zoomed in from the world view, until only Europe remained, Anna on the left, near the top, Oya on the right, near the bottom, the two lines still so far away it was impossible to think they could ever possibly meet.
Then a sudden jump in scale, down and down, Oya now in the city, Anna in the town, still never having met, but close. So close. There were tantalising moments here and there of near convergence, occasional day trips or holidays bringing them closer to each other, then further apart again. Teenagers now, oblivious of each other’s existence, yet here they were on tubes passing in the dark, in clubs on nearby streets, their breath catching as map zoomed in further and further, their lines so close now they only needed to show a single street, a single room.
On opposite sides of a stadium, two rows apart in the cinema, side by side in the queue at the bar, waiting for the last bus same stop, their dots overlaid on each other as they sat in their seats, Oya downstairs, Anna upstairs, but for a moment looking as if they were sat in each other’s laps.
A pause, for dreams of what might have been.
Had they seen each other? Had they spoken? Were they already in each other’s phones somewhere, before they had even met? The back of a head in a photo, a voice in the background of a call, allusions to each other in social media posts, their identities lost in the noise of fifteen years of accumulated data, memories unrecoverable even by algorithm.
Then finally here we are, the lines converging towards the town, towards each other. Not just day trips and nights out brining them coincidentally close any more, but a more permanent swirling in together, getting closer in steps as the choices of their lives draw them inexorably towards each other. The same town, the same places, the same friends. The same house, the same room. The same bed. Every moment of their lives leading them here, to each other, to this moment, this very second, the lines as close now as they could possibly be.
And on the screen things slow, seem to stop. From here on out, those lines would move in real time. They had lived their lives on average 1721 miles apart. How long would it take them, Oya wondered, to get that down to zero.
A Complete Openness Of Data
It was the tradition now. To go along with those old markers of commitment - engagement rings, joint bank accounts, borrowed clothes, shared rent - there was this opening up of your data to each other, all the things you had said and done and seen and been, all the way back to the beginning of time (2007). There was no deeper symbol of your trust, no greater intimacy in your relationship, than this limitless mingling of information.
Anna and Oya laid their phones on top of each other and between them they shared everything.
The Confluence Of Interests
Anna liked the lists best, tracking the overlap of their histories in the books they’d read, the shows they’d watched, the songs they’d listened to, the games they had played, patterns they’d knitted, topics studied, recipes cooked, links shared. She spent whole days, entire weeks comparing their pasts, revisiting barely remembered childhood obsessions, re-discovering old favourites that she never knew they both loved,
But alongside the joys there was a lingering feeling of fear, a persistent atmosphere of dread. Who knew what opinions Oya had kept hidden behind that stoic facade of hers all these years. Anna couldn’t decide which was going to be worse when it finally happened - discovering Oya hated the things Anna loved unconditionally, or discovering Oya loved those things Anna hated more than anything she could imagine.
They Had Lived Their Lives On Average 1721 Miles Apart
Oya was obsessed with the maps of their lives. At first she jumped from moment to moment - where was Anna when I was here or here or here - but then she let the whole thing play out, the two of them watching the screen together as time lapse journeys traced across the globe, twisting and turning lines recording their passage through time against the surface of the Earth, every minute of their lives mapped to the very inch of the globe.
The first line was Anna’s, then Oya’s blinked into existence moments later. These lines didn’t start when they were born, of course, but from the moments they got their first phones, half a continent away and ten months apart. The map zoomed in from the world view, until only Europe remained, Anna on the left, near the top, Oya on the right, near the bottom, the two lines still so far away it was impossible to think they could ever possibly meet.
Then a sudden jump in scale, down and down, Oya now in the city, Anna in the town, still never having met, but close. So close. There were tantalising moments here and there of near convergence, occasional day trips or holidays bringing them closer to each other, then further apart again. Teenagers now, oblivious of each other’s existence, yet here they were on tubes passing in the dark, in clubs on nearby streets, their breath catching as map zoomed in further and further, their lines so close now they only needed to show a single street, a single room.
On opposite sides of a stadium, two rows apart in the cinema, side by side in the queue at the bar, waiting for the last bus same stop, their dots overlaid on each other as they sat in their seats, Oya downstairs, Anna upstairs, but for a moment looking as if they were sat in each other’s laps.
A pause, for dreams of what might have been.
Had they seen each other? Had they spoken? Were they already in each other’s phones somewhere, before they had even met? The back of a head in a photo, a voice in the background of a call, allusions to each other in social media posts, their identities lost in the noise of fifteen years of accumulated data, memories unrecoverable even by algorithm.
Then finally here we are, the lines converging towards the town, towards each other. Not just day trips and nights out brining them coincidentally close any more, but a more permanent swirling in together, getting closer in steps as the choices of their lives draw them inexorably towards each other. The same town, the same places, the same friends. The same house, the same room. The same bed. Every moment of their lives leading them here, to each other, to this moment, this very second, the lines as close now as they could possibly be.
And on the screen things slow, seem to stop. From here on out, those lines would move in real time. They had lived their lives on average 1721 miles apart. How long would it take them, Oya wondered, to get that down to zero.
Re: A Cast Of Characters
this was initially from about fifteen years ago ( inever finished it and now i can't find whatever notepad it was written in), when it would have been science fiction i suppose
but now it is just science fact
but now it is just science fact
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Tales From The Town #45: A Cave Full Of Slowly Melting Snow
The sea outside was no longer frozen, but the cave itself was filled with slowly melting snow.
“I’ve got a houseplant now,” Tina said. “I feed it strawberries and apricots and then it sings itself to sleep.”
“I saw seven thousand seven hundred and sixty eight spiders,” Ethel said. “All at once!”
“Well, I died and went to hell!” Claire said gleefully. “For a whole afternoon.”
“I chopped the head off a dragon!” Daniel said.
“You did not!” Claire said.
“I did,” Daniel insisted. “And then I chopped it off again when it grew back, and then I ran away.”
“I don’t believe that at all,” Claire said. “If you’d done all that we’d know. There’d be stories about it and everything. You're just making things up to impress Dad.”
“I’m not,” Daniel said. “It really happened. But no one saw.”
It had been a long time since Antoine had had any guests. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was supposed to say. Eventually he noticed the children had all gone quiet. In the silence of the moment the only sounds were the crackles of the fire and the crabs clacking their claws in anger at the snow. Breath and smoke mingled and rose up into the dark.
“Winter lasts forever and then all of a sudden it’s gone,” he said eventually. His children looked at him in a way which made him doubt whether he was even there.
The sea outside was no longer frozen, but the cave itself was filled with slowly melting snow.
“I’ve got a houseplant now,” Tina said. “I feed it strawberries and apricots and then it sings itself to sleep.”
“I saw seven thousand seven hundred and sixty eight spiders,” Ethel said. “All at once!”
“Well, I died and went to hell!” Claire said gleefully. “For a whole afternoon.”
“I chopped the head off a dragon!” Daniel said.
“You did not!” Claire said.
“I did,” Daniel insisted. “And then I chopped it off again when it grew back, and then I ran away.”
“I don’t believe that at all,” Claire said. “If you’d done all that we’d know. There’d be stories about it and everything. You're just making things up to impress Dad.”
“I’m not,” Daniel said. “It really happened. But no one saw.”
It had been a long time since Antoine had had any guests. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was supposed to say. Eventually he noticed the children had all gone quiet. In the silence of the moment the only sounds were the crackles of the fire and the crabs clacking their claws in anger at the snow. Breath and smoke mingled and rose up into the dark.
“Winter lasts forever and then all of a sudden it’s gone,” he said eventually. His children looked at him in a way which made him doubt whether he was even there.
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Tales From The Town #46: The Cat In Winter
The cat opened its eyes, yawned, closed them again. It was exactly where it wanted to be.
The cat opened its eyes, yawned, closed them again. It was exactly where it wanted to be.
Re: A Cast Of Characters
I'm not sure why that cat looks mor elike a rabbit than a cat, but it does. I am sorry
Re: A Cast Of Characters
"Modern Love" is both really good and really impressive. Huzzah!
Re: A Cast Of Characters
excellent, thank you
Re: A Cast Of Characters
The cat looks more like a cat than a rabbon, Davuss!dng wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 7:47 pm I'm not sure why that cat looks mor elike a rabbit than a cat, but it does. I am sorry
Re: A Cast Of Characters
"A Cave Full Of Slowly Melting Snow" is darn fine, also!
Re: A Cast Of Characters
ves (cat)
Re: A Cast Of Characters
maybe i have forgotten what cats look like
Re: A Cast Of Characters
and also rabbits
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Tales From The Town #47: Winter
A Winter’s Day
“It’s cold,” said Tina.
“It’s really cold,” said Claire.
“It’s too cold,” said Ethel.
Daniel’s teeth chattered and his face went blue.
“I told you all it wasn’t the weather for ice cream,” Agnes said with a sigh, as she paid the ice cream van driver and ushered the children back inside.
A Winter’s Night
Sixteen hours of dark, and all of it silent. Softly floating snow making rainbows as it falls, the colour of moonlight, the colour of streetlights, the colour of headlights, the colour of fairy lights put up for Christmas and never taken down.
Three months later and they still don’t look out of place. Winter deadens time like snow swallows sound. Purgatorial beauty.
A Winter’s Day
“It’s cold,” said Tina.
“It’s really cold,” said Claire.
“It’s too cold,” said Ethel.
Daniel’s teeth chattered and his face went blue.
“I told you all it wasn’t the weather for ice cream,” Agnes said with a sigh, as she paid the ice cream van driver and ushered the children back inside.
A Winter’s Night
Sixteen hours of dark, and all of it silent. Softly floating snow making rainbows as it falls, the colour of moonlight, the colour of streetlights, the colour of headlights, the colour of fairy lights put up for Christmas and never taken down.
Three months later and they still don’t look out of place. Winter deadens time like snow swallows sound. Purgatorial beauty.
Re: A Cast Of Characters
That's a sequel to this one
dng wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 6:13 pm Tales From The Town #15: Summer
A Summer’s Day
“It’s hot,” Tina said.
“It’s really hot,” Claire agreed.
“It’s too hot,” Ethel insisted.
“It’s not hot enough,” said Daniel.
A Summer’s Night
It was dark out there. You couldn’t see a thing. But you could hear it all. It went on and on. It would not stop. Don’t they ever sleep out there?
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Tales From The Town #48: The Door In The Wall, of The Worth Of Dreams
The first time Yulia saw the door was on her walk to work one morning, in the middle of the old Roman wall that ran through the centre of the town. It had never been there before. But there it was, locked and closed and as solid and real as the wall itself. She couldn’t stop thinking about it all day, this out of place door in the middle of that wall. When she came home that evening, it was gone.
The second time she saw it, it was down near the abandoned pub, in the wall circling the beer garden. A different wall, but the same door. It was unmistakeable. She was on the bus this time, and caught only a glimpse of it, but she was sure it was open now, not fully, but slightly ajar at least, a shaft of light shining though the gap and illuminating the pavement with an ethereal glow.
Then the bus rattled on towards its destination, and all Yulia was left with was the memory of it on her retinas, a patch of shimmering blue superimposed over the dismal and the dull of the town in winter.
The third time the door was on the other side of the street, opposite the shop, in the ruins of the old gallery, directly in her line of sight for the whole of the day. It was wide open, and Yulia could see through to what lay beyond. And what she was a world of wonders, a shifting infinity of possibilities, each one more enticing than the last, more beautiful than any heaven.
Only the queue of her customers, which stretched twice round the shop and back down the street, kept her from getting up from her chair and crossing the street and stepping through that door and never coming back.
Yulia knew it was all a dream, but that hardly mattered. She’d seen it now. Seen through and beyond to something else, something other than this. All she had to do was was wait. Wait for the door to return, for her to take her chance. There were other worlds than these.
The first time Yulia saw the door was on her walk to work one morning, in the middle of the old Roman wall that ran through the centre of the town. It had never been there before. But there it was, locked and closed and as solid and real as the wall itself. She couldn’t stop thinking about it all day, this out of place door in the middle of that wall. When she came home that evening, it was gone.
The second time she saw it, it was down near the abandoned pub, in the wall circling the beer garden. A different wall, but the same door. It was unmistakeable. She was on the bus this time, and caught only a glimpse of it, but she was sure it was open now, not fully, but slightly ajar at least, a shaft of light shining though the gap and illuminating the pavement with an ethereal glow.
Then the bus rattled on towards its destination, and all Yulia was left with was the memory of it on her retinas, a patch of shimmering blue superimposed over the dismal and the dull of the town in winter.
The third time the door was on the other side of the street, opposite the shop, in the ruins of the old gallery, directly in her line of sight for the whole of the day. It was wide open, and Yulia could see through to what lay beyond. And what she was a world of wonders, a shifting infinity of possibilities, each one more enticing than the last, more beautiful than any heaven.
Only the queue of her customers, which stretched twice round the shop and back down the street, kept her from getting up from her chair and crossing the street and stepping through that door and never coming back.
Yulia knew it was all a dream, but that hardly mattered. She’d seen it now. Seen through and beyond to something else, something other than this. All she had to do was was wait. Wait for the door to return, for her to take her chance. There were other worlds than these.
Re: A Cast Of Characters
the title of that one is taken from an HG Wells short story, and the last line is from the gunslinge rby stephen king, but the bits in between are my own
Re: A Cast Of Characters
I most loikes, Davuss! Espesh The Door In The Wall. Good work!
Re: A Cast Of Characters
thank ye homfrus
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Tales From The Town #49: Shoelaces
“Shoelaces are so stupid,” Claire said.
“What’s wrong with shoelaces?” Ethel asked. “They’re better than velcro.”
“Hey,” Tina said, as she velcro’d her shoes shut. “What’s wrong with velcro?”
“Velcro comes from space,” Daniel said. “It’s made by aliens!”
“No it’s not,” Claire said. “Anyway, velcro’s just as stupid as shoelaces. You don’t get socklaces, do you? You don’t have to velcro you leggings up? They’re rubbish! Why don’t they just make boots that fit your feet?”
There was not a single person alive who could have adequately answered her question. Nor was there anyone she knew who dared try.
“Shoelaces are so stupid,” Claire said.
“What’s wrong with shoelaces?” Ethel asked. “They’re better than velcro.”
“Hey,” Tina said, as she velcro’d her shoes shut. “What’s wrong with velcro?”
“Velcro comes from space,” Daniel said. “It’s made by aliens!”
“No it’s not,” Claire said. “Anyway, velcro’s just as stupid as shoelaces. You don’t get socklaces, do you? You don’t have to velcro you leggings up? They’re rubbish! Why don’t they just make boots that fit your feet?”
There was not a single person alive who could have adequately answered her question. Nor was there anyone she knew who dared try.
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Tales From The Town #50: Stop Motion
On his desktop a spaceship. In the spaceship a man. And against a backdrop of stars, formed from dust on an old black t-shirt pinned to his wall, this spaceship moves slowly through space, one photograph at a time, taken painstakingly over hours, days, weeks of his life, waiting there on his camera to be assembled into motion.
Animation was as slow as David’s life. Played back, weeks reduced to seconds, it gave the impression of motion. But in fact there was no movement at all.
On his desktop a spaceship. In the spaceship a man. And against a backdrop of stars, formed from dust on an old black t-shirt pinned to his wall, this spaceship moves slowly through space, one photograph at a time, taken painstakingly over hours, days, weeks of his life, waiting there on his camera to be assembled into motion.
Animation was as slow as David’s life. Played back, weeks reduced to seconds, it gave the impression of motion. But in fact there was no movement at all.
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Tales From The Town #51: Puddles
Sudden sun for a whole weekend marks the unexpected end of this long unceasing winter, and by Monday morning, all that remains of this entire season’s crop of snow are puddles dotted here and there on the street and in the road. And when the children walk to school, one by one, beneath the gleeful stamping of their boots, they too will soon be gone.
Sudden sun for a whole weekend marks the unexpected end of this long unceasing winter, and by Monday morning, all that remains of this entire season’s crop of snow are puddles dotted here and there on the street and in the road. And when the children walk to school, one by one, beneath the gleeful stamping of their boots, they too will soon be gone.
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Tales From The Town #52: Don’t Tell Me That I Am Free
The moon sets beyond the sea. The sun rises above the hills. Yet here were are, trapped forever beneath the unbreachable ceiling of the sky.
Selene has tried so many times not to look, but there she is again, watching and weeping at the turning of the moon.
The moon sets beyond the sea. The sun rises above the hills. Yet here were are, trapped forever beneath the unbreachable ceiling of the sky.
Selene has tried so many times not to look, but there she is again, watching and weeping at the turning of the moon.
Re: A Cast Of Characters
I stole the title of that one from the lyrics of a silver mt zion song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWzHcS55rzQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWzHcS55rzQ
Re: A Cast Of Characters
Also thats the end of the first year's worth of this.
Summer: Tales #1-#27 (weekly schedule - May 2021 to October 2021)
Winter: Tales #28-#52 (weekly schedule - October 2021 to April 2022)
There are no other seasons
Summer: Tales #1-#27 (weekly schedule - May 2021 to October 2021)
Winter: Tales #28-#52 (weekly schedule - October 2021 to April 2022)
There are no other seasons