#shadowstories

[messias2049br]

[kathrinhonesta]

Here’s another piece I did with Ong Kay Jen. We were inspired by the hymn 'Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming'. This is our reimagining of it. May we never forget the glorious hope that blooms in the winter. Blessed Christmas, everyone!  

THE ROSE IN THE STORM

The final flame within me died And left me stumbling in the dark Until that stormy winter night I came upon God's tender mark. Where His holy kiss met filthy earth, A rose bloomed with petals of flame Scented with frankincense and myrrh Emmanuel: upon God's light came.

[kathrinhonesta]

Me and my friend, Kay Jen Ong, are launching a new batch of books, fresh from the oven, this time next week on our online store! Stay posted here for this and more exciting news! 

Visit Shadow Stories for more details! :)

[k009034]

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The Weight of a Shadow

A person stands still while the city keeps breathing light cuts the ground into before and after

nothing dramatic happens and that’s exactly the point

the shadow remembers what the moment felt like

[delicatelmystique]

It's been too long since I've posted anything here, although it's the same on other networks.... I wasn't planning to come back with something like this either, but I've had the need to leave this on record for a while now and having this blog, why not do it here?

Well I should start with the first times these things happened but I don't want to waste time trying to remember all of them, really. So I'll go straight to the last two that I'm able to remember right now.

The first one was in the middle, almost the end, of February; with the visit of some relatives who stayed a couple of days, if I remember correctly this happened the same day at night when we were all talking quietly downstairs. I don't really remember what we were talking about or why I did such a thing, but there was a moment when in a quick movement of my eyes from point A to point B I saw him.

As always when these things happen, one thinks it was because he moved his eyes quickly and little else but I knew that this time it was not the reason; I clearly remember the figure of a head discreetly peeking out from a part of the stairs. Clearly she was checking who was in the place and how safe it was to be around; yes, her. I've seen her several times, a curious girl coming, which I hadn't seen for a long time since I moved the computer to another room. I had the impression that she was not sure if she should stay or not because of the new people that had arrived at the house; it is the first time I have seen her do something like that even though it is not the first time there are visitors that stay for a while, I guess this time some of the people that came called her attention although I am not entirely sure. Then the other occasion, much more different from the previous one, happened a few hours ago; I was sitting right here, in front of the computer watching a direct from an acquaintance in complete darkness except for the light that the screen creates and the little light that came in from the window behind me. I was looking just to my left, where I usually leave the live window when I could clearly see how something black went from the corners of the door, passing in front of a drawing I have on the light switch and then passing behind the desk and the pc screen. It passes quickly a distance of about 30 cm or a little more, in a space of about 2 cm at the most... It could have been a shadow from outside but the light coming through the window comes from the left giving all the light to my right, the door is on the left and that black went from left to right without finishing passing the screen or so I think. Likewise when that black passed I noticed the sudden change of color of that area, even being almost in the dark, I am able to notice where the drawing is, the switch and the beginning of the door and so on. As soon as I saw that I quickly made like trying to find whatever it was that was hidden behind the screen while turning on the light of the room, obviously nothing. I didn't notice any changes either or anything similar in the room so I guess just as it came it left just like that. Maybe the dog that usually sleeps in this room took him out; I have a dog but this one doesn't enter the room but from time to time I usually see a dog curled up to my right, in the dark; I want to guess that it is an old pet that passed away long ago or maybe a pet that my family used to have when they were kids, I don't really know and I don't make a problem either because it is there to protect me as it has done other times.

[shinaefrogie]

Wish me luck ~ I tag @vhitakrisnata @cijessie #shadowstories#theshadowandthestar

[shadowdragonia]

Critical Role Fanfiction: A Heroes Return

Short little fanfic I threw together because I had a sad idea and ran with it. This fic is SAD, I repeat, this is a SAD fic. If you read this and it breaks your heart, that’s your own fault, you have been warned.

The sun rose high above Emon, the proud capital city of Tal’dorei, standing strong after years of less fortunate times righted by the efforts of the brave warriors within the great Greyskull Keep found just south of Emon’s outer walls. A lone figure made his way through the city this quiet morning, his shoulders back and head held high as he headed down the road toward the stone fortress of Emon’s heroes.

Approaching Greyskull’s gate, the young man was obviously stopped by the guards standing watch. However, after a quick introduction and remembrance of previous orders the guards raised the gate and the young man was allowed entrance to the famed Keep, greeted happily by an older woman.

The old woman, though a bit shaky from her age, led the guest into the dining hall before rushing off to the kitchen to fetch him a quick meal. The young man smiled as his eyes scanned the great room, the trophies and treasures hanging on the walls from the many adventures of the famed Vox Machina. He did, however, freeze for only a moment as his eyes found the sleeping mound of fur belonging to a large bear curled up next to the fire place across the room. The bear stretched slightly, releasing a long and tired roar before falling over onto his side in his deep sleep. His graying fur and occasional scar easily showed the years he had spent at the side of his companion, the same years that now kept him home while his ranger was off saving the world.

The young man quickly turned at the sound of clattering dishes before rushing over to the old woman who was now struggling with arms full of plates and bowls of food for her guest. Helping her into the hall with their meal, the two of them sat across from each other at one of the long wooden tables and the old woman could hold back no longer. She questioned him on where he had gone, what he had done, what adventures he had been on. Happily the young man shared his many stories from his years of travel. The beasts he had slain, the people he had saved, the friends he had made. She smiled and nodded her head to his stories, a bit of pride showing in her face, but after a few tales he realized an important question he had not yet asked.

“Where is Vox Machina?”

The old woman released a small laugh and smiled back at the boy before explaining that the group had traveled back to the home of the Lady Keyleth. With her Aramente finished years earlier she had returned home to finish what little preparation was left and finally the day had come for her to take her place as headmaster to her tribe. A grand festival would be held in her honor and she had requested her friends to be present to celebrate with her.

The young man nodded and smiled, expressing how he wished he could be there with them, to see all of Vox Machina during such a celebration. What a party it would be with the eight of them together like that. It was at that moment the young man froze, his smile dropping a bit as he saw sudden sadness swell in the old woman’s eyes. He questioned her for answers and after a few stray tears had fallen from her face, she finally explained.

The young man shoved his chair back with such speed and force the old woman jumped in surprise before watching him race out of dining hall. Bursting through a door leading out into what Keyleth had once called her garden, the young man made his way past beautiful bushes and flowers of many kinds before stopping as he finally found it. There, in the center of the garden, surrounded by a ring of flowers stood a single, large grey stone with a name etched deeply into its face.

The young man fell to his knees before the stone, his eyes wide as he stared back at the name.

“You promised…” He whispered to himself, tears forming in his eyes.

He sat there in silence for what felt like forever before a shuffling sound from behind drew his attention away. He turned to see the old woman walking toward him, a wooden box in her hands. She sat the box on the ground before the young man, a lump in his throat forming as his fingers traced the name carved into the lid of the box, ‘Kainen’.

“We found this in his room after…” She paused, her eyes drifting toward the stone beside them.

The young man nodded to her words before sliding the lid off of the wooden box. Within he found three fairly simple, enchanted daggers each wrapped in their own basic cloth under a small piece of folded paper. The young man lifted the paper, his hands shaking a bit as he unfolded the parchment. A large smile crossed his face, tears once more falling from his eyes as he read over the three simple words scribbled before him, ‘be a Hero’.

[shadowdragonia]

Childhood thoughts

So I was watching a video about creepy kid stories and it got me thinking. It’s a fairly common idea that children, for whatever reason, when they’re younger they are more connected to the supernatural. There are a lot of stories out there of small kids, usually age 2 to about 6 that speak to spirits or see ghosts or talk about their past life memories. Obviously a skeptic could easily say that these stories are solely based on the fact that mixing the innocence of a small child with something paranormal or creepy in nature is just a bit more terrifying to most audiences and so that is the root of these stories. But, you never know. 

Anyway, this had me thinking. When I was young, I can’t recall just how young but I would say possibly around 4 to 6, this is probably one of my earliest memories I can recall. Anyway, I can remember on multiple nights I would lie in my bed and stare up at my ceiling and these little lights would appear. Little speckle lights, nothing large or overly bright but there were a lot of them, like distant stars in the sky but they moved like a school of super tiny fish and they would swirl around above me and make different shapes and images. I remember that they were my friends, I was so happy when they would show up, they never spoke or anything, they would just swirl around and make pretty designs and these were like our little fun moments before I went to sleep.

As I got older I still recalled these moments but I pretty much concluded that I just had a very overactive imagination from even an early age, which wasn’t far from the truth. Growing up, I had a LOT of imaginary friends. Truthfully I had so many imaginary friends that I imagined an entire magical town in which they all lived; the portal to the town would only open to children and once it opened you crossed a river on a beautiful rainbow bridge and then you were in the town, it was great, they had ice cream and pokemon. Back to the point, I had a lot of imaginary friends, but they were all either humanoids or animals. I can’t recall ever creating anything like the speckle lights again so I’ve always kind of wondered if they were just my first imaginary friend created by a young mind that hadn’t quite developed the means for creating more elaborate friends, or if they were something else.