Dorlana Vann's Blog

Strangers Both Merciful and Horrifying

by Sharolyn Gales


Part II (The Conclusion)


"Yuki, we are so glad to have you home." Kuniko hugged her as she walked through the door.
"Master Matsuda wants you to rest. I am to give you anything you want."

"Thank you Kuniko. I just want to go to bed."

A week had passed since she had told the police about how the doctor's escalating abuse against her had driven her to kill him. How being in that cell strapped to a bed was just where he had wanted her, but...

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Strangers Both merciful and horrifying By Sharolyn Gales

Part I
With every step that Yakunan took, the pain in her feet intensified. She looked down realizing once again she wasn't in her own body. The feet, bare with cracked and rough skin, were walking through a liquid substance that covered the floor. They looked like the feet of the poor street people living in the Japanese province where she and her father now lived.

Tears rolled down the woman's face as she pushed a cart across a...

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And All of Their Degree

By Gary Denton




Bennett Knight was as drunk as he could afford.

His credit was declined after he ordered a second drink, and since he hadn't bothered to include a tip either time, the bartender removed his card from the register slot and tossed it at him with a simple "Get lost, kid."

It was an icy December night, and Bennett's skin tingled under the thin fabric of his coat as he walked through a nearly empty Time's Square. Preparations were underway for the big New Years ...

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The Gift

by Dorlana Vann



Paris, TX 1873



At first Cynthia was afraid to look out the window. She was afraid she would see the ghostly figure out by the horses again, stirring them up, making them run and complain. But she was expecting someone; she had to look.

The speck of hope that the person riding up the path was her husband, immediately died away. The man hunched over and rode at a steady pace, like he had all the time in the world. The sudden ominous sorrow she felt was overwhelming.

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Hi friends!

A lot of things come to mind when you think about Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: redemption, bah humbug, Ebenezer Scrooge, etc. My favorite part of the tale has always been the Christmas Ghosts (Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present, and Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come). I thought it would be a fun challenge to take the ghosts out of the original story and use them as inspiration for three completely different stories.

I will be posting the first of these stories, ...

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The Land of Never Tell
Don't open a door, don't look at a man
(Inspired by the fairy tale, East of the Sun West of the Moon)
by Chrissa Sandlin

I live in the land of Never Tell
Where the richest of secrets
Is the depth of a soul, a man
And to see his full measure
Will soon break the spell.

East of the sun in a Lapland fur
On the borders of the land
I dig my fingers deep
In the snow beyond the snow
West of the moon and his curse.

Witches hide curses in rude boys
Who grown them silent within.
Never Tell is...

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The Wind
by Dorlana Vann

(Inspired by the fairy tale "East of the Sun and West of the Moon

</em>My breath spreads sheets of white snow and dry sand
Robust, invisible wings carry me.
I wave from Summerland to Winterland.

I have whisked every grain and every tree
Helping the heroine, hardly a chore.
Robust, invisible wings carry me.

She told of the witch and of the horror,
"Go east of the sun and west of the moon."
Helping the heroine, hardly a chore.

She brought golden trinkets to save her groom;
Their love...

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As the fairy tale glides into the modern era, one finds it spun to show different facets of familiar stories. This is true in Sarah Beth Durst's Ice, which limns the ideas of "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" across the narrative of Cassie, the daughter of a lead researcher in the arctic, as she tries to restore various families, including, perhaps, the animal families within the ecosystems of the planet. Cassie's dedication to polar bears is a brilliant fire beneath the story and Ms. Durst...

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If you can get past the cheesiness, The Polar Bear King (1991), based on the Norwegian folk tale, "East of the Sun and West of the Moon," has a lot to offer. The fairy tale is often compared to "Beauty and the Beast," so I thought I would use Beauty and Beast for my review of the movie.

Beauty:
Filmed in Scandanavia, the Winterland scenery was a wonderful land complete with gorgeous wolves and white snow. The costumes were spectacular; I especially loved the evil witch's tall two-coned head...

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Hi Friends,

This month I'm going to use the Norwegian fairy tale, "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" as our theme. Supernatural Fairy Tales Reviewer, Chrissa Sandlin will be reviewing Ice by Sarah Beth Durst. This young adult novel was inspired by the fairy tale.

I also have a fun writing challenge for everyone. Read the story, "East of the Sun and West of the Moon and then use it as inspiration to write a poem or prose (under 250 words). Send it to this email address: dorlanasfairytales at ...

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