Castle, Cave, or Cloud

She remembered darkness. And she remembered her name. That was all.

Spark zoomed into a heap of advancing clouds, grinning and gasping at the sensations of cold and wet, reaching out to touch what could not quite be grasped. She emerged on the other side, and spotted a colossal formation of rock and stone with three spires so high they topped the clouds. A mountain!

Maybe there, she thought.

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The Sandalwood God

“I have heard of the great battle in the sky!”

The man with the cinnamon hair and the walnut-wood beard turned to the boy who had spoken.

“Have you?” the man said. “How curious? Tell me of it.”

The boy raised his arms to the sky and began speaking.

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Why Beauty Sought the Beast

She did nothing to earn her beauty. It was given to her. And as with many such gifts, beauty was both a boon and a burden to the girl whose name was Imelda.

She was doted on by some, guarded by others, coveted by still others.

Imelda’s mother, who both loved and feared for her girl, spent many sleepless nights wondering when her child would grow old enough to be passed into the protection of another. For she and her husband were humble folk, as their child too would have been. But Imelda’s beauty—while it may not have impressed in a city or even a large town—was quite surpassing in their little village. Surpassing enough to catch the eye of those with greater means. The girl wished to be learned. She wished to explore.

Perhaps her beauty could make it so could do what she dreamed of doing.

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Castle Farouche

When buds are twisted too tightly, they will never bloom beautifully, my grandmother always said, all the more so after she’d witness my staying in my little corner of the room at a party in our house while the other children played with each other.  But she did not know that I was surrounded by friends in my own world, in Castle Farouche.

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