Writing

Title: Like A Seagull
Description: Like A Seagull is a story inspired by a song. The song is of the same name and written by Enzo Carlino on his album The Wood of the Mists and Other Tales. You can listen to it below. When I listened to the song, I was overcome by the image of running along a beach with seagulls following overhead. I imagined how this would then feel if the person running had previously been paralyzed. From this I created the character Kale. Kale lives on an island during a period similar to the mid-18th century American colonial era. He suffers an injury during a storm while protecting his sisters from a falling tree. His father builds him a wheelchair, but even so he suffers verbal abuse at the hands of a village Elder and is unable to help in any of the skilled trades. In a moment of desperation when the Elder attempts to destroy his chair (to "save the town from his destructive influence"), Kale escapes into the forest. The following excerpt is the rest of the journey through Kale’s escape, encounter with a mysterious girl, and the climactic run along the beach.

Title: Water Whisperer
Description: I have always loved being in the water. The sensation of floating, letting the water form a perfect cocoon around me is one of my favorites. On the flip side, drowning or even the idea of drowning scares me a lot. Inhaling water is one of my least favorite experiences. These two opposing reactions served as the catalyst for Water Whisperer. What if a person could potentially inhale water as a part of becoming even more cocooned by it. Instead of being a negative reaction, it could be a positive experience. But why stop there? What if becoming one with the water allowed you to travel through the stars to other worlds? Thus Water Whisperer was born.