retelling

“oh, how i love weaving. weaving and spinning.” arachne said, examining her new weaving. “alas, i think i'm better than anyone.”
“EXCUSE ME!!” creaked an old man on the sidewalk. “did you just INSULT my daughter ATHENA?”
arachne looked quite shaken. “how?” she tentatively asked, placing her weaving down.
“you said,” the old man breathed heavily. “you said you were better than anyone else. INCLUDING ATHENA!! daughter, come here.”
a flash of lightning and a tall girl with a sun hat appeared.
“yes?” she asked.
“this GIRL just insulted you!” zeus said, pointing at arachne. “you better DO SOMETHING!”
athena sighed. “sorry.” she whispered.
“i challenge you,” athena looked at zeus and then at arachne. “to a weaving contest. whoever weaves the best weaving until sunset wins.”
“what is winning?” arachne asked.
“if zeus thinks you win, then you get to be” athena looked hesitantly at zeus. “a weaving godess. if i win then you get turned into a monster.”
“i don't accept,” arachne replied, crossing her arms.
“TOO BAD!!” zeus said. lighning struck. “the competition starts NOW!!”
several hours passed. the sun finally set. the two women weaved and weaved.
“TIMES UP!!” zeus declared. “hands down!”
zeus examined the weavings that athena and arachne made. athena's weaving was a simple doodle of a cat. arachne's, on the other hand, was a full-on masterpiece, a painting of las vegas. zeus thought about it, then decided that athena was the winner.
“WINNER!” he pointed at athena. then he pointed at arachne. “LOSER!!”
another flash of lightning, and there stood a spider.

260 words

original character in historical times

sira walked through the city of athens, admiring the statue of athena.
“interesting…”
“what's interesting?” a man walking next to her asked sharply. “what?”
“this statue…?” sira replied, wondering why the man was being so hostile. “is there a problem?”
“oh no,” the man said, glaring. “i thought you didn't believe in the gods.”
“no?” sira answered. she sort of figured out that she was trapped in ancient greece, who believed in the greek gods. she may have forgotten some of the myths, but sira hoped she remembered enough so she could survive until the time machine was fixed.
she continued walking for a long time, but then realized that she was starting to get hungry. what did people during this time period eat again? were there any restaurants?
sira tried to think. she clearly forgot her history facts. why did she decide to go to this time period? she finally decided to ask someone around her.
“hello,” she said to a lady. “do you know where i could buy food?”
“you clearly aren't from here,” the lady observed. “you could buy stuff in the agora, just right down there.”
“thank you,” sira replied. she walked down, and saw the agora. there were building aligned and plenty of temples, probably as a shrine to the greek gods. sira took a deep breath and decided to walk in one of the buildings.

231 words (i forgot everything i learned about ancient greek while writing this :sob:

retelling

“how dare you not invite me to this party???” the evil witch, maleficent roared. she pushed the king and queen aside and glared down at the baby.
she hissed at the infant. “once you turn eighteen, you will fall in love with a prince. but that prince will curse you and you will fall into an endless sleep.” she cackled.
one of the fairies frowned. she fluttered her wings to the witch. “can't you just curse her right now? that seems a bit pointless.”
the king and queen shot her a deadly look. the fairy shrugged.
maleficent hesitated. “hmm..good point. i will curse this baby to sleep forever!! actually…that's not quite curse-y. undo, undo. i will curse this baby to get a paper cut when she is eighteen and then she will have hiccups forever!!” the witch laughed, then disappeared in a flash of green.
“why did you do that?” the king yelled at the fairy.
“the royal bloodline must continue!” the fairy returned. “and it's fine. i will do a counterspell.”
“can you counter the spell?” the queen pleaded. the fairy shook her head.
“i'm too weak for that. actually, we,” the fairy waved her hands at all the other fairies. “are all to weak. but its okay. i will counter this spell and say that when the baby gets a paper cut when she is eighteen, she could sleep with dreams always.”
the king and queen glanced at each other. “i suppose that's fine.” the king muttered.

250 words

myself in a fairy tale

“i'm late! i'm late! i'm late!” a white bunny cried, running down. that's strange. rabbits can't talk.
i hesitated. i had so many questions. maybe i should follow the rabbit. or maybe not. this was weird.
i finally decided to go with my heart. i will follow the rabbit.
the rabbit led me down in a hole. i screamed. then i realized that i wasn't falling. not fast anyways. i was more floating the falling.
time passed. i had no idea how long, but i started to panic. how was i supposed to get back home?
i finally fell, and landed on my feet. a bottle, filled with mysterious pink liquid, labeled “drink me” was on a table.
absolutely not. i thought. that is definitely something bad, like poison.
i looked up. the sky was black. then i looked to the side. there was a tiny door. should i go in there?
i hesitated, then i realized that there was no choice. i drank the liquid.
i felt myself shrinking. everything was getting bigger, and bigger. i walked towards the door and opened it.
i saw a forest, filled with strange creatures. oh no. this was weird. i looked back at the door, and hit my head against it. my eyes fluttered opened.
i was still back home, asleep. what a strange, strange dream indeed.

230 words

oral retelling

“let me tell you a story,” avira whispered. she took a book from a bookshelf, and started to read.
“once upon a time, there was a brave warrior called ilopas. she was a fighter, and she help defend earth against invaders. she set traps, made swords, she was simply just good at everything.”
“however, someone called ranusa was jealous of ilopas. she wanted to eliminate her. so, ranusa teamed up with the invaders attacking earth. ranusa was a fierce little lady. she would never give up.”
“during one battle, ilopas saw ranusa attacking against earth. this shocked her, as she never thought someone from earth will team up against the ravenous invaders.”
“ilopas stared in dismay. she felt like she chose the wrong side. she asked herself, was the invaders that bad? then she saw the death that the outsider cost. it was severe.”
“finally, after several months of fighting, the invaders finally decided to hold a peace treaty with earth. ilopas attended.”
“there, ranusa was sitting on a throne, with the outsiders surrounding her. ranusa asked ilopas about the invaders. ranusa told them that the invaders claimed earth, and that they owned it. this enraged ilopas. she continued fighting against the invaders, even though they said that she will not prevail.”
“after several more years of fighting, ilopas finally stopped the invaders. she captured ranusa. she was victorious, and she helped fight good against bad. the end.”
“how do we know that ilopas was a good person?” miraes asked. silence followed afterwards.

255 words

story with moral

once upon a time, there were two best friends, the clouds and the sky. the clouds would shield the sky from danger, and the sky will host the clouds.
one day, the clouds and the sky got into a fight. the clouds thundered and stormed. the sky darken and buzzed.
the clouds and the sky continued to fight. the clouds buzzed out lightning, while the sky shot out comets. the sun and the moon started to worry. they didn't want to interfer, but the two friends were getting out of hand.
finally, the sun decided to break up the fight. the sun shined on them, blinding their eyes. but this just made the clouds and the sky angrier.
the cloud covered the sun and the moon. it started weeping horribly at the terriblle things that the sky said, tears running down. they fought and fought and fought.
the moon decided to stop the fight, but unlike the sun, she did it peacefully. she coaxed the clouds that the sky would apologize if he did. then she coaxed the sky that the clouds would apologize if she did. so, the two frenemies apologized to each other. and everything went well.
that's why there are sometimes thunderstorms. but the clouds and the sky will always apologize to each other, like the true friends that they are, though they often rely on help from the moon.

236 words

the light shifted in through the window of the hallway, flooding the dusty oak floor with warm sunshine. swirls of dust floated around Selvi as she walked, floorboards creaking—the morning rays shining down upon her long, glossy dark brown hair. her light footsteps synchronized with the sweet songs of the birds outside, a melody. tap, tap, tap, tap, chirp, chirp, chirp…

she stopped in the middle of the hallway and tilted her head towards the light. the singular window was placed high up above the door she had walked through—large and circular, with intricate patterns woven between the panes, like stained glass. letting the sun shine down upon her, she closed her eyes for a moment and thought, letting the bird song wash over her. the light gave her a pleasant feeling, like the warmth she felt when she was in Ma’s arms as a wee babe. she felt like a child once more.

it was peaceful—but Selvi caught herself overthinking about how little she had done in her life even though she was only 14 compared to her sisters who had pretty much been the talk of the town once because they had helped take care of almost half of the humans in Joivine who were wounded in the battle yesterday against another kingdom a couple months back even though it was forbidden for fairies and humans to interact but they did it anyway out of the good of their hearts without being caught and Ma and Pa were super mad when they found out but they didn’t care because—

she slowed down, taking a deep breath. but it didn’t help that Lavinia was getting engaged soon and she was only 16 but that was the normal age for women to get married so why wasn’t she engaged already, was it because she was too ugly and bland and stupid and—

dailies

march 6.

this place seems familiar. you've been here before, but do you remember how to leave?

why did you choose this path? are you lost? it's cold, it's dark. no one will find you here. you are far from safety. look at the nearest house. how long would it take for you to get there? hours? days? are you dreaming? do you remember the nightmares? the fun is over!

you are not alone. they are coming for you. no one will save you. is this real? don't you want to go back? do not listen to the other voices. there is no one here. stay for a while. do not open the door. it is not time to go yet. why don't you ever visit us? we miss you. why are you here? under no circumstances are you allowed to leave. you were meant to be here. welcome back. just imagine a place where you're happy.

i know what you did. it's all your fault. do not think do not think do not think.

it went so terribly wrong. did it all happen in another world? where will you spend eternity? are the memories real? the present moment was never here. there is no need to think about what lies beyond. it's too late to go home. something about this feels wrong. time is running out. are you still waiting? this place is a memory. where did it go?

your journey has come to an end. click here to redeem yourself. maybe next time!

march 3

“two shadows, reaching through / the hopeless, heavy dusk”
they live as ghosts in a town far away from the city where they promised to be kings and queens. it’s hard to remember who he is when he left himself and her dreams back in ketterdam. they hide their shadows and erase their steps. he can’t remember the last time he had to hide himself, especially from the city he used to own.

secretly, he thinks he might be able to live like this forever if he can see her smile at him every morning for the rest of his life. he’ll never go back to barrel if he can keep them all safe, if they disappeared from the world; just him and his crew tucked away into the little corner of the world, where he doesn’t have to be afraid to feel. inej helps him relearn what it means to be human again, to be someone other than dirtyhands. to take off his mask that he hid away his feelings with his vengeance and hate.

–

he wakes up. nightmares last forever and once more if you live through it. eight days; it feels longer. he drifts through the house and forgets why he ever tried to take his gloves off. inej is perched on his chair when he walks in. sometimes he wishes she wasn’t the wraith because his hands are itching to put his armor on again, to hide away again.

“don’t slip away from me,” she says again.

“i won’t,” he repeats. “i won’t.”

“we’ll go save her,” inej promises. kaz looks away and tries not to think about how he couldn't.

they won't stop. they'll try again and again until they find her and they're all safe again like they were on that farm in lji and he'll take off his gloves again and they'll smile again. they'll fight and they'll cry but they'll never give up.

because that’s what we do. we never stop fighting.

march 14

inej ghafa is seventeen years old when she is fated to die.

the mark appeared on her arm the moment the bell tolled, she thinks. or maybe it was a few moments after. does it really matter in the end? she’d accepted it, even welcomed it, from the very beginning. she made it out of the house she refused to call home for two years, and that’s what really matters. she thinks she’d rather die in her freedom than live forever in the menegarie.

she knew she was doomed from the very beginning. she wasn’t like kaz, who might live forever regardless of the mark on his arm; she had one year to live at most. one year turned into six months into one and suddenly she only had one week left to live. time flies by when you’re dying, does it not? kaz didn’t forget for a single moment, she knows. sometimes she still feels a rush of satisfaction at his worry, his frowns and grimaces when he sees her. but it’s worthless to hold petty grudges against someone at the end of her life for something they did so long ago.

but it wasn’t so long ago, was it? it was less than a year ago. but she forgives him. she doesn’t want anything weighing her down anymore. it’s terrifying, to know she’s going to die but not when. to be scared at every shadow, every danger. but she thinks she’s let go of it. she likes the feelings, weightless and light on her feet. it feels like flying, like when she’s skipping over rooftops, all alone, not fearing anything.

eventually, one week dwindles down. seven days can be a lifetime but it can also be mere moments. she can see the pain in her friends’ faces. she tells them that she feels free, but can’t bring herself to tell them not to worry. after all, she feels a pang of sadness when she realizes they’ll all die. strong, sweet nina, who bakes her pastries and reassures her when inej doesn’t want anything but to disappear. jesper, who has too much energy but still makes himself slow down when inej feels that everything is moving too fast. kind, talented wylan, whose smiles make her feel understood when she can’t put everything into words. matthias, who feels distant but grounded, who makes her feel safe when he’s near. it’s somewhat comforting knowing they’ll all go out together.

and kaz. kaz, who paces for hours in the room above hers and makes perfect schemes that never seem to fail. kaz, who shielded himself from the world with a mask of vengeance and anger. kaz, who seems to know everything about everyone but nothing about himself. kaz, who lashes out but who makes everything feel bearable. she has accepted her fate but knows he hasn’t.

she’s not like him, escaping death’s grasp year after year. she’s made peace with death and likes to imagine seeing all her loved ones again. she’ll wait for him for however long it takes. she doesn’t think he understands, but he doesn’t say anything and she knows he’ll stay with her to the very end. either she goes out on the rooftops holding his hand or in a fight, she knows he’ll be there.

march 20
once,
i used to be someone
who liked to
try.

but now,
i don’t know
if i can
anymore.

i like to-
scratch that,
nevermind,
i don’t.

what are you
passionate about?
i do not
have an answer.

do you have
any hobbies?
interest?
i don’t know.

i don’t remember
i don’t think
i’ve forgotten everything
that ever made me happy.

i’d like to
do something
worthwhile,
but i’m too tired.

i’d like to,
try new things,
be happy,
i would.

but i can’t find it in me
to do my bed
to get out of my room
i don’t have the strength

to explore the world
to hold light in my bare hands
to fly over the oceans
to let myself fall

i don’t even think
i feel afraid anymore
i don’t even think
i can feel anymore

i don’t feel more than
a little bit of sadness
a little bit of loneliness
and a lot of numbness.

and the thing i feel most
is knowledge
and maybe i am a genius
because i’ve given up.

because i know,
i know many things,
and the thing i know most
is i’ll never be happy.

because i am
not someone who can
talk for hours and hours
about my passions.

i am someone
who stares at too-bright computer screens
and ceilings and walls
and wishes futilely to be happy.

weeklies

week one

part one: mythology

1. genre swap:

part two: historical-fiction

1. original characters in historical times

he turns the corner of the building, looking out carefully through his binoculars. the night sky is dark and forbidding. he adjusts his collar against the chill of the wind. there are two dark figures at the end of the street, talking in hushed noises. he walks lightly behind the buildings, walking closer to the two.





1. what if: change one thing about a historical event





2. if these walls could talk: the events one place has seen

part three: fairy tales

1. sing sparks from the past: retelling

part four: folklore

1: write a story with a moral