Skip to main content

Emotion 365: The Land of Excited, the River Islands Distracted, the Castle Lost and Found

Shapeshifters work magic in Excited. The land moves and morphs. Transient rainbows bridge valleys. Flocks of ibises, swans, and swallows circle. Predator rodents leap through the woods. Visitors explore abandoned castles. 

"No one has the will to maintain them,” the Guide says. “We are always building anew.” 

Architects design skyscrapers, monuments, space stations, and rockets. Builders erect fantastic plans. Many visit, but only the shapeshifters live here year round. 

“Come and go as you will,” the Guide says. “Be sure to visit the Castle of Lost and Found.” 

In their excitement, everyone leaves something behind. The capitol lies within Distracted, a series of islands, in the middle of a large river. 

The shapeshifters often take marine mammal shapes and stay close to their river island homes. The river Distracted shifts course. The tides ebb and flow. The islands grow larger and smaller. 

Bisian Flill tracks the shifting sands. They measure and chart the shape of Distracted while visitors come and go and denizens dig sand pits to shore up the capitol buildings. Visitors arrive by oar and steamboats. They stop on their way to somewhere else.

For a time, Miss Emeline Traveler joined the crew of sandbaggers. “I enjoyed the rare society of the Excited and Distracted fishy shapeshifters,” she said.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Springy story review: "State Change" by Ken Liu

Why it springs to mind:  You'll never look at an ice cube the same way again. Where read: In the 2014 Hugo award-winning Lightspeed Magazine , August. Length: 5,194 words Summary: A woman has an ice cube for a soul. Memorable: How the story invites us to think about the shape of our soul, how it (or our perception of it) influences us and how it changes. What ordinary every day object would your soul be? A silver spoon, a beech stick? A great party conversation starter, this. Quote:  “All life is an experiment." Notable:  The protagonist Rina is an avid reader (always a good choice). Pairs well with: T.S. Elliot, Edna St. Vincent Millay Origin:  The story was written in 24 hours based on a writing prompt. (See Author Spotlight: Ken Liu ) About the author: Ken Liu’s debut novel, The Grace of Kings , the first in a fantasy series The Dandelion Dynasty, is due out from Saga Press ( a new Simon & Schuster imprint ) in 2015.

What is Solarpunk? Good question, great answers from our community

What is solarpunk? My fellow Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers authors Commando Jugendstil and Tales from The EV Studio put together this video for the Turin International Book Fair . It features editors and authors from the solarpunk community sharing their thoughts. Together we're imagining optimistic futures based on renewable energy. My soundbite was: "Solarpunk futures are — green spaces with clean water that are pedestrian, collective, feminist, creative communities. And they include non-human animals. " Mary "solarpunk" Shelley cat did a great job (at 6:15) helping from her rather ridiculous cat tree which she absolutely loves. And what better time to wear this solar-colored "Veganism is Feminism" tee from The Herbivore Clothing Company . Seriously. I'm holding a stack of solarpunk books: Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers  edited by Sarena Ulibarri which includes my story "Watch Out, Red Crusher!".  Wings of R...

Springy story review: "Torching the Dusties" by Margaret Atwood

Why it springs to mind: Relevant thoughts about how we view aging and how we treat the aged in our society. In this story, young people protest the existence of old people in an assisted living facility for taking up resources. Not far from the callous viewpoint of people sometimes expressed in the national news. Where read: The last story in  Stone Mattress: Nine Tales   (2014) a collection by Margaret Atwood Summary: Wilma and her boyfriend Tobias escape an assisted living facility, Ambrosia Manor, that has come under attack by protestors carrying signs that say "Time to Go" and "Our Turn" who think the old people are just taking up space and resources. Memorable: the delightful use of Charles Bonnet Syndrome as a character trait for Wilma Quotes:  "We have to be kind to one another in here, she tells herself. We're all we have left."   "According to Tobias, women hang around longer because they're less capable of indignation and...