We are all born into pain.
Listen to your pain. Feel it. Surrender to it.
There is no greater ecstasy than the annihilation of your own, weak self.
-Yaqone’s Blessing
The first gray light of dawn made the world real to her again. Yanuat rubbed her hands together and pressed them against her face. The tips of her fingers were so cold. Her breath drifted away in clouds, pale gray in the colorless gloom.
Yanuat tucked her hands under her armpits and stomped her feet in the crunch of fresh snow. Then she pulled her hands loose and rested them on the firm swell of her belly. In these last miserable weeks of winter, at least she knew her baby was warm. Too bad the child couldn’t appreciate it.
She squinted out into the light snowfall. Somewhere in the murky distance, beyond the pine trees and the mossy boulders, was the coastline. Was she facing the right direction? With no stars and no sunrise yet, it was difficult to tell. Yanuat turned around and searched the distance behind their hastily raised tent. Past the wooden poles and rough reindeer hides, she could see only more snow and more evergreen forest. Dawn’s weak, gray light spread evenly across the woods without directionality or purpose. Yanuat wiped away moisture that had dripped from her nose down to her lips. She had probably been right the first time. Before returning to the warmth of the tent, she looked out beyond the trees one more time. Somewhere out there was the ocean and, on its shore, her brother was dying.
If this introduction caught your attention, then I'd love to hear your opinions about the rest of it!
I'm in the middle of writing the first of what I picture a trilogy of Speculative Fiction novels. The main connecting theme is the choice between empty comfort and meaningful suffering. I was raised Roman Catholic, but am exploring this issue as an atheist. What I could really use help with right now is making sure that the ideas are coming through clearly and consistently in the text itself, although I welcome feedback on any level.
Everything is posted in google docs, but I also record everything in audiobook form in my soothing preschool teacher voice if that would be more convenient.
I'd be happy to start a partnership and exchange chapters for anyone interested.
Listen to your pain. Feel it. Surrender to it.
There is no greater ecstasy than the annihilation of your own, weak self.
-Yaqone’s Blessing
The first gray light of dawn made the world real to her again. Yanuat rubbed her hands together and pressed them against her face. The tips of her fingers were so cold. Her breath drifted away in clouds, pale gray in the colorless gloom.
Yanuat tucked her hands under her armpits and stomped her feet in the crunch of fresh snow. Then she pulled her hands loose and rested them on the firm swell of her belly. In these last miserable weeks of winter, at least she knew her baby was warm. Too bad the child couldn’t appreciate it.
She squinted out into the light snowfall. Somewhere in the murky distance, beyond the pine trees and the mossy boulders, was the coastline. Was she facing the right direction? With no stars and no sunrise yet, it was difficult to tell. Yanuat turned around and searched the distance behind their hastily raised tent. Past the wooden poles and rough reindeer hides, she could see only more snow and more evergreen forest. Dawn’s weak, gray light spread evenly across the woods without directionality or purpose. Yanuat wiped away moisture that had dripped from her nose down to her lips. She had probably been right the first time. Before returning to the warmth of the tent, she looked out beyond the trees one more time. Somewhere out there was the ocean and, on its shore, her brother was dying.
If this introduction caught your attention, then I'd love to hear your opinions about the rest of it!
I'm in the middle of writing the first of what I picture a trilogy of Speculative Fiction novels. The main connecting theme is the choice between empty comfort and meaningful suffering. I was raised Roman Catholic, but am exploring this issue as an atheist. What I could really use help with right now is making sure that the ideas are coming through clearly and consistently in the text itself, although I welcome feedback on any level.
Everything is posted in google docs, but I also record everything in audiobook form in my soothing preschool teacher voice if that would be more convenient.
I'd be happy to start a partnership and exchange chapters for anyone interested.