Tag: writer

Original Fairytales: The Lantern Princess

~ Brooke F. ~ Leave a comment

Once upon a time, there lived a princess named Nilsa. Her mother was a just and fair queen who was known for her charm and grace throughout all the land.
Her father, on the other hand, was a noble knight who fought with the ferocity of a dragon. He was both feared and loved among the people. It was he who named Nilsa, the word meaning “champion” as she would be a champion for her people.
As fate would have it, There came a time when Nilsa’s parents died she inherit the throne with reluctance.
However, word got out of her parents’ death and her father’s enemies began to make plans to attack the kingdom.
But the princess was no fool when it came to battle strategy as her father had taught her of things such as war. The enemies of the kingdom soon Found this out the hard way, returning home with few men, many of which were injured.
The rival Kings held a meeting among themselves and discussed as to how they could take the kingdom as they could not by force.
Then one proposed an idea. They would release locusts on their fields to destroy their farms.
The there agreed to this and they did as they discussed. They collected a hundred locusts and then released then on the Kingdoms fields. After a month’s time, there was no food left in the kingdom.
Nilsa’s people were hungry so she arranged and organized hunting groups to hunt down any available food. She herself was in one and so she rode out into the forest to look for game.
She came across a lady sitting in a stump. She looked haggard and was all bent over and she was very thin. A ragged cloak was thrown across her shoulders.
“Can I help you, Milady?” She asked the stranger.
“I am so hungry!” The other woman said, her voice hoarse. “I have not eaten in ten days. Please, can you prepare me a meal? If it is my last, so shall it be.”
“It shall be done,” said Nilsa. She hunted down a rabbit and killed it and returned to the woman. She then hastily made a fire and prepared it, cooking it brown. She then offered it to the lady along with some water from her own canteen.
“You are so very kind. But You are royalty? Why should you trouble with the likes of me?” The old woman said.
“A queen can eat when her subject’s stomachs are first full,” replied she.
Then the woman transformed into a beautiful shining woman in glimmering robes.
“Blessings upon you, Nilsa!” She said. “For you have proven yourself worthy. Your kingdom is ravaged with hunger but no longer this shall be.”
She then disappeared leaving Nilsa to wonder what has happened.
When Nilsa returned home, she came to find that the crops had regrown, twice as healthy and ready to harvest. Her people celebrated as they had an abundance of food.
The rival Kings marveled at this but resolved to bring Nilsa and her kingdom Down. The Kings held a meeting once more. This time they proposed they poison the kingdom’s water supply.
And so when Nilsa’s kingdom had nothing to drink, she journeyed into the forest once more in search of a new water supply. Upon searching, she came across a rabbit trapped in a trap.
“We are not hungry anymore,” she thought to herself. “So there is no need to kill it.”
And she released it but it did not run away. Instead, the creature panted mournfully and remained to lie on the ground.
“It must be thirsty as well,” she considered. And then she spotted a small well of crystal clear water. Without hesitation, she began to draw the water from out of its dark mouth. She then picked up the small creature and wasted no time in allowing it to receive the drink it had so craved. The rabbit lapped the water up greedily and then, strength regained, began to squirm. Nilsa loosened her grip, allowing the rabbit to escape.

Then suddenly, there was a bright light, and the lady in shimmering robes was present once more.
“Because you have proven yourself once again, I will aid you in your hour of need and quench the thirst of your land.”
And she disappeared once more and, like before, Nilsa returned to her kingdom to find their problem solved and the water not only purified but even clearer than before.
The Rival Kings were at their wit’s end.
“We need drastic measures!” Said one.
The others nodded in agreement and discussed what should be done. They finally agreed on a fire. They would allow the fields to catch fire from the north side of the kingdom and from the south side. The blazes then would eventually make their way to the castle and the village itself, leaving nothing but ash in its wake.
The night of the fire many lives were lost. But more than that, the village and the castle were reduced to nothing more than a few remnants of stone and charred wood.
Nilsa was badly burned but did not give up. That morning, she rose early and made her way into the forest. There, beneath a tree, sat the lady who had helped her before.
“I see that nothing will satisfy those villains but the downfall of your kingdom. But fear not as it will not come to pass for I have prepared a kingdom for you across the great divide. And there you and your people can live peaceably.”
“But the great divide is an uncrossable canyon of darkness where creatures of shadows roam,” said Nilsa. “How shall we cross safely.”
“The creatures are fearful of nothing but the light of fairies,” said she. “This I can give you so you might pass through safely.”
She stretched her hand out and in her grip was a lantern. “Light all the other lanterns with the light from this fire within the lantern and you will live to see brighter days.”
And with that, she was gone.
Nilsa wasted no time in returning to her fire scourged kingdom and telling her people of the fairy’s words. She then instructed her people to pack what material objects they had left and to arrange themselves in a line. Those who stood at the line’s edges and ends were armed with a sword and a lantern so to keep the darkness away.
And so Nilsa led her people into the dark divide. They encountered nothing though dark shapes in the distance could be seen, but they were long gone by the time they were nearing them.
Upon making it to the other side, the people were greeted with the sight of a beautiful, luscious, green valley with a castle at its center. Rivers of crystal clear water flowed throughout the rich farmland that lay in the outskirts of the kingdom and flowers of beautiful color lined the pathway that led to their new home. And there, Nilsa and her people built a new kingdom that became their paradise and they lived there happily for the rest of their days.
The ending for the evil kings, however, was not so happy. Strangely enough, one King’s water supply was contaminated. Another’s crops mysteriously withered away leaving him and his subjects with a food shortage. And yet another’s kingdom had a fire that swept across half of its entirety.
And while these Kings could not tell exactly why, but they somehow felt that it was the work of some form of strange magic. But the answer was far simpler; they were simply reaping that which they sowed.

The End

How to Kill A God

~ Brooke F. ~ Leave a comment

Once, in the great land of Greece, there lived a man of great knowledge who was known to all the people as a great scholar. This man journeyed far and wide and dedicated his life to the gain of knowledge and answering life’s greatest questions.
The Gods found his pursuit of knowledge honorable and invited him to dine with them at Mount Olympus. So the man accepted the invitation graciously and attended the great feast held there in the kingdom among the clouds.
He sat at an immense table and dined seated next to the Athena, the goddess of knowledge and across from Hermes, the great messenger god.
As they ate, they entertained intelligent and interesting conversation until the scholar posed a question to the goddess Athena that caused her to pause.
“Forgiving me for asking,” said the scholar. “But since I have dedicated my life to the gain of erudition, I find no question impertinent.”
“Please, ask,” said the wise one.
The man continued.
“Philosophers and scholars alike have asked and argued over this question for many years so please answer me this,” Then he breathed in sharply before posing the question. “How do you kill a god?”
Athena was silent for a moment before giving the scholar an answer.
“You cannot kill a god without killing humanity,” her voice sounded far away as she spoke. “For we are a part of you and you, us. One cannot live without the other.”
“Athena, you speak well,” Hermes interrupted. “But may I interject?”
Athena glared at the Golden Haired man from across the table before saying begrudgingly, “Speak.”
“You speak wisely, old friend,” Hermes said. “And what you say may very well be true but might I offer our friend another point of view. To kill a God, one must cover their presence with another myth.” He drummed his fingers against the table as he spoke. “Make them less than a legend. Pray no longer and make them the devil.”
The scholar thanked the two deities and returned to his meal.
After the feast, many of the gods mingled and some even danced. Amidst this ruckus, the scholar found himself in the company of Zeus, the Ruler of Olympus and Lord of the skies. The scholar seized this opportunity to ask the king of the gods his question.
The man’s laugh rang loud and strong as thunder.
“We cannot die!” He said. “That is to be a God. To rule to the end of time. ”
The scholar bowed low, thanked Zeus and left his company, wishing to refill his goblet. Upon doing so, he ran into Poseidon who was refilling his cup as well. The scholar, determined, offered his question to the sea God.
“Ah! An interesting question indeed!” Said he. “The answer is you must strip away his power and all that he exerts authority over. For what is a god over nothing worth?”
The scholar thanked Poseidon earnestly and returned to mingle with the guests. As he socialized, Aphrodite glided over to the scholar and invited him to dance with her. The scholar accepted and he guided him to the center of the floor. As they swayed, the scholar asked the fair goddess what he had asked the others.
Aphrodite threw her head back as she giggled, her eyes glittering like stars.
“A bold question, mortal,” said she. “But I shall answer it all the same. You deprive the God of the love of their people. Take away his adoration among those who worship. What is a god who is not known? What worth is he without his tributes?”
The song ended and the scholar bowed and kissed her hand, thanking her.
He returned to mingle with the guests when a loud, boisterous laugh sounded throughout the room. It echoed sharply in the marble room, making all that heard it stop and look briefly.
It was none other than Ares, the God of War. A large presence among the Olympians, he was known for his power and strong stance. He fought fiercely and without hesitation. However, the mighty warrior of the Gods had a surprising charismatic air about him, drawing others close to listen to his tales of wars and battles.
This aura intrigued the Scholar, and it wasn’t long before he found himself at the side of the war god.
“Hello, wise one!” he boomed. “How may I oblige a collector of knowledge such as yourself?”
“I only request that you answer the question I ask,” The scholar explained.
“Ask!” Encouraged Ares, the fire in his eyes ablaze. “And I shall answer!”
“How does one kill a God?”
The God seemed taken aback for a moment.
“A strange question indeed!” He commented. “But I shall fulfill my promise! To kill a God, one must destroy him only by the power of another. An opposing celestial being! A God for a God. For this is how any mighty warrior will fall! At the hands of one greater and mightier than he!”
The Scholar pondered this answer for a moment but did not have time to thank Ares, as the War God had returned to retelling his stories and amusing the mass around him.
“Quite a strange one,” a voice echoed to his left.
The Scholar turned to gaze on a tall, dark figure. He had a goblet of the darkest wine in his left hand and his other rested at his side. HIs tunic was a deep purple and upon his head, a crown of vines rested.
“Dionysus,” The Scholar murmured.
“How very kind of you to address me so,” Dionysus said. “Being one of the lesser Olympians.”
The Scholar said nothing.
“Your silence is wise,” Dionysus laughed. “One must be careful when trifling with the immortal and powerful.” The God took a sip from his goblet and eyed the Scholar curiously. “But you have been quite bold this evening, if I may say so.”
“You speak in reference to my question I suppose,” said The Scholar.
“What else?” Dionysus smiled. For an instant, the two remained silent as they surveyed the party. Then the immortal spoke.
“Would you fancy an answer from a lesser deity, such as I?”
“But of course,” The Scholar told him. “I would be a fool to reject such an offer.”
“To Kill a God,” Dionysus began. “Is no simple task. However, it can be done.”
The Scholar nodded, intrigued.
“Take that what he desires and give it to him. This in of itself is difficult to do for what does a God desire? Does he not have all that he wishes? But upon giving him what he has hungered for, take it away, but not before he has tasted all that he has dreamed of.”
Dionysus sipped his wine once more. Then he turned to the Scholar.
“It seems I am out of drink,” He said lightly. “If you will excuse me?”
And the immortal left the Scholar standing alone amidst the crowd.
The mortal was dumbfounded for a time, mulling the words of Dionysus over in his head. But a feather-like touch against his hand brought him out of his daze.
“Excuse me,” a small, innocent voice whispered. Then two, star-filled eyes gazed up at the Scholar’s face. “Oh! The Wise one!” The young woman’s melodious voice rose with recognition.
“Forgive my rudeness!” Persephone smiled. “I would have spoken to you before now but I was tied up,” her gaze shifted to over his shoulder but flickered back to him quickly.
“But, I can speak to you now!” she led the Scholar over to the balcony that overlooked the city of Olympus, with its brilliant architecture and shining palaces.
“How are you enjoying yourself among the immortals?” She queried.
“Very well, thank you.”
The two made polite conversation and discussed many things. Persephone spoke of what it was like to dance in the spring meadows and plant flowers with her mother all summer and spring long. She talked of Olympus and how her mother always adored the city with its glamorous buildings and fancy gardens.
“And do you like Olympus as well?” The Scholar asked the young Goddess.
“It is my home, but I find it quite… gaudy,” she hummed. “Nothing compared to the Underworld’s palace.”
“But of course,” The Scholar hesitated for a time, then ventured to make his request.
“M’lady, can I be so bold to impose a question on you?”
“Ask it and then I may tell you,” Persephone replied.
“How does one kill a God?”
Persephone gazed at the city and smiled.
“Take away what tethers they to this world,” said She. “Be it be the sky, the sea, or the one they love.” She turned to face the mortal. “That is how one brings an end to the divine.”
The Scholar returned her smile, and was opening his mouth to thank her when a voice called out, “Persephone! Persephone! Where are you?”
“Oh!” Persephone cried in surprise. “That’s my mother! Thanks so very much for the talk,” and with that, the young lady quickly disappeared into the crowd, returning her mother’s call.
“Coming!”
The party was drawing to an end and the scholar was prepared to leave when he spotted a shadowy figure tucked away In the back of the room.
He approached and came to face the God Hades, the keeper of death.
“I never thought you’d make it to me,” he said, his face dark as night. The scholar gazed upon the shadow of a god as he spoke, barely above a whisper.
“How do you kill a God?”
“Your strip away his senses,” he said. “He is made blind and so he cannot feel or here. You take away his ability to feel and send him into oblivion but even then, that is not death.”
The scholar was silent for a solemn moment. Then he bowed and thanked him just as he did the others.
The scholar thanked the Olympian’s and was led out of the grand palace, escorted by a woman in a brown robe holding a lantern. They traveled through winding passages and finally down a lob staircase before they reached the gates.
Upon reaching them, the woman turned, the lantern illuminating all but a small portion of her face.
“My child,” said she. “Do you wish to pose me your question?”
“Why do you ask that, M’lady?” Queried the scholar.
“For I am Hestia, the oldest of the gods,” she spoke quietly, a slight smile playing her lips. “No one knows of death more than I.”
“Then allow me the honor,” the scholar dipped his head. “How do you kill a god?”
“The question is but a difficult one to answer but I shall do so all the same,” she leaned forward, holding the lantern low as she whispered, “You make them forget. Forget who they are and once were and what they will be. But remember,” her voice became more quiet, barely audible over the wind. “What you kill, you must be prepared to become.”

The End

Insults to Keep up your Sleeve Part 2

~ Brooke F. ~ Leave a comment

Because swearing is boring.

  1. You Cold Corndog

Listen, corndogs are kind of iffy anyway. Especially the oven made ones. They’re especially bad when they’re soggy and the hot dog and the breading seem to be two totally separate entities with the bread sliding off.

2. You Crusty Toothpaste Tube

You can thank my brother for the inspiration on this one. I mean, does it REALLY take that much of your precious 12 year old boy time to put the dumb tooth paste cap back on the tube???

3. You Goblin

For if you’re feeling real whimisical.

5. You Spork

Because sporks are supposed to do two things but in actuality does neither of them at all. Often like my siblings.

6. Cough Syrup

Lovely, simply because its off the wall but obviously insulting.

7. You greasy door handle

You can just feel this one.

8. Haggis

A Scottish dish consisting of a sheep’s or calf’s offal mixed with suet, oatmeal, and seasoning and boiled in a bag, traditionally one made from the animal’s stomach. And the perfect insult for a not so savory individual.

9. You Limp Lettuce

Because the joys of Alliteration.

Night Time Adventures to be had

~ Brooke F. ~ Leave a comment

Nighttime adventures to be had:

Stargazing (duh)

An all-nighter spent out on the town and then find a place for breakfast in the morning. 

A sleepover that takes place on the trampoline

Camp out complete with a campfire and ghost stories. 

Go kayaking at midnight. The water is so peaceful and in clear nights you can see the sky reflected in the water. 

Have a night reading session with friends. 

Pull an all-nighter writer if you and your friends write. 

Midnight picnic

Sparklers. 

Take a bluetooth speaker with you out at night and have a dance off with your friends. 

Make up stories and tell them to each other because original fairytales are pretty awesome. 

Geocaching but at night. 

Wake up before the sunrises and fix yourself some tea. Then wrap yourself up in a blanket and watch the sun rise. 

You know what? Just host a midnight tea party. 

Water Adventures to be Had

~ Brooke F. ~ Leave a comment

Here are a few water related adventurous activities:

Canoeing 

Kayaking

Beach walking 

Swimming in a lake or ocean

Fishing 

Creek walking 

Swimming in a pool

Paint next to a body of water or even the scenery around said body of water. 

Or if you want to get real creative…

Picnicking in a boat. 

Reading in a boat 

Get a friend and send off a floating lantern in a boat, tangled style. You can buy floating lanterns online and they’re not that expensive. 

Have a water war

Throw a bottle with a note in it into the ocean. 

Paint or write in a boat. It’s incredibly relaxing. 

Learn a few sea shanties.

Road trip Tips

~ Brooke F. ~ Leave a comment

Road trip Adventure Tips:

You and your friends each compose a playlist for the trip, and go through all of them. A wonderful way to share your music and explore new stuff as well. 

Stop by museums along the way. 

Libraries are good underrated places to stop as well. Not only can they be beautiful and fun, but they also have super clean bathrooms usually. 

Don’t forget your camera. You have your phone but it usually dies when it’s inconvenient. 

Bring a book selection and share it with your friends. 

Get a 5-Way Multi Headphone Audio Splitter Connector for you and the squad. If you don’t know what that is, I recommend looking them up, they’re way cool. 

Find interesting out of the way places to eat. Going to a Burger King anywhere is pretty much the same experience no matter where you are. 

Or if you don’t have the extra money to spend, being your own snacks. 

Play the license plate game. 

Keep a journal of all the days you spend traveling. 

Bring lots of pillows a blankets for a comfy ride. 

Impulse Control

~ Brooke F. ~ Leave a comment

I was thinking, what would my past week have looked like had I no impulse control. It’s a scary yet interesting question. 

I think I would have thrown a head of lettuce in my sister’s face. 

I would have told that girl her dolphin earrings were cute and that lady that her highlights were spot on. 

I would have said hello to that person I thought I recognized and asked that girl who was crying at the library if she was okay. 

I would have randomly turned left as I drove out of our driveway and would have skipped work. 

I would have gone to the coffee shop and just drawn with charcoal all day. 

I would have told the barista that I wanted the sweetest drink she could concoct and I would drink it in one gulp. 

I would have woken up at 3 am to take a walk outside at night.  

I would have punched a wall once and a fake friend twice. 

I would have bought myself a new dress and shoes and would have danced in front of the mirror just to watch the folds of fabric shimmer and wave. 

I would have dyed my hair how I always wanted and maybe even cut it short. 

Until now, I haven’t realized fear has stopped me from doing so many things. Some good and some bad. 

A Very, very, very Bad Day

~ Brooke F. ~ Leave a comment

Okay, gents and ladies. It’s about time I write about an adventure…

So come and listen to my tale, sad but fantastic, of one of the worst days I’ve had in a long, long time. 

I’m am of course taking about the NyQuil and boiled egg train wreck. And I don’t mean train wreck in the sense that is was a mess of a day (though it was) but in the sense it involved a literal train wreck. 

Are you intrigued yet? Well I sure hope so because I’ve pulled nearly every trick to gain your interest. 

But truth is, it really was just a bad day. One of those days where it felt as if nothing could go right and everything that could go wrong, did. 

So let us turn back the clock… back to where it all began….

This tragic chain of events was put into motion on a Sunday night. 

I had a cold. 

Nothing too bad except for the fact that every time I tried to lie down my nose decided to run like Usain Bolt. So it was kind of hard to sleep. So (like a Norma person) I took some pills that just so happened to be cold medicine.  But what I didn’t realize is this wasn’t just any cold medicine; this was NyQuil night time, coma inducing, death emulating cold medicine whereas I didn’t even think I was taking a night time cold medicine (it was in a regular day time box). So I, without being in full possession of this knowledge, took not one but TWO of these pills. When I realized my mistake, I was… stressed?

You see, NyQuil is some pretty strong stuff and it seemed to effect me pretty bad in the past. So much so that if I ever needed to take it, I would only take on capsule and even then I was a zombie the next day.  

But I had work this Monday, so the next morning I needed to be up and going at a pretty decent hour. 

So I googled how long it took NyQuil to leave one’s system. I wasn’t super happy with the results where I found that it could take anywhere from 8 hours to THREE DAYS. 

yikes. 

But there was nothing to be done at this point, so I just went to bed and slept in my tired defeat. 

And so began my soon to be bad day, when I woke the next morning feeling about as conscious and awake as A sloth during hibernation (I don’t think they actually hibernate but that’s not the point). 

But simply getting out of bed wasn’t the end of my problems. Turns out my siblings don’t know how to replace the toilet paper roll so I had that fun moment. 

Then I had the boiled egg issue. Usually The night before work I would pre-boil an egg for myself so I wouldn’t have to worry about breakfast on a Monday morning. But I had forgotten to mark the egg so my mother thought it was just a plain ol regular one and put it in a container with all our raw ones. 

So I began cracking our eggs into a bowl in a desperate search for my chosen boiled one. I never found it. So instead I had six scrambled eggs for breakfast. Yummy.

And then it came time for work. Or so I thought. The road the way I normally went was blocked off so I had to go the slighter longer way. No big deal… until I realized they had construction going on down that road. And to top things off, when I slammed on my breaks a little to quickly to stop for said construction, my coffee decided to have a will of its own and commit coffee suicide, pitching itself forward so it could spill all over my radio, blue tooth speaker, and music player. But hey, at least my entire car smells like a caramel frappecino. I’m sure THATS going to age well with hours of sunlight!

But I didn’t have time to clean up that mess just yet. I was still driving at the time. So I drove on, trying to wipe my jeans dry as best as I knew how. When I leaned over I noticed that only half of my coffee had been spilt so there was still a little silver lining there. 

Noooopee. 

I cross over a railroad track to my work and unfortunately this train just decided to take a quick nap right in the middle of the place I needed to cross over to get to work. And (also unfortunately) I wasn’t expecting this stop so I slammed on my breaks and said goodbye to that last half of my coffee. You will be missed. 

Thankfully they got the train up and running fairly quickly though so I was only about twenty minutes late for work. But it wasn’t too bad for there on out. I had to kind of deep clean my car though. 

But hey! I lived!

Graduation Thoughts

~ Brooke F. ~ Leave a comment

“We ARE rich,” said Anne staunchly. “Why, we have sixteen years to our credit, and we’re happy as queens, and we’ve all got imaginations, more or less. Look at that sea, girls—all silver and shadow and vision of things not seen.” 

Let me tell you something. This quote is everything. Never have I felt something that so perfectly mirrors what I feel about looking back on high school. 

High school has been hard but it’s like any time period of your life. You take it: for the good and the bad. 

If I had any regrets in my high school experience, it would probably be the very thing that this quote seems to express. 

I wish I had spent less Monday’s wishing it were Friday. I wish it didn’t take me this long to figure out that I’m happy as a queen. 

But better now then never.  But I guess that’s just how life works. Especially when you have eighteen years to your credit. You finally realize how rich you are. And knowing this makes facing the uncertain future all the easier.