The Hopeful Wanderer – Accepting Assistance

The hollow, wet thump of fruit smacking concrete still echoed around the fruit stall. Oranges, mangoes, lemons, kiwis all scattered. Rolling underneath the stand upon which stood more neat mounds of fruit. Most still neat, anyway. The rest of the pretty piles lay in ruins. I peered over the short wall separating the beleaguered fruit … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Accepting Assistance

The Hopeful Wanderer – Detoured from Death

A sedate river of shaggy, horned beasts lumbered across the huge plain in my path. Snorting and lowing, their numbers stretched from the horizon on my right to as far as I could see on the left. Pressed together horns to tails, alternating between eating and walking. A cool wind blew them before it, sending … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Detoured from Death

The Hopeful Wanderer – The Way of the Rabbit

From within the depths of a snowy hill, an enormous dark eye stared at me. Iris a deep brown, shot through with white snow. Pupil veined with tree branches. Snowflakes puffed away in the wind where a clump of snow had fallen from the opening eyelid. Unwavering focus pinning me down. Rooted in place, I … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – The Way of the Rabbit

The Hopeful Wanderer – New Year, New Fear

Hollow baubles of every color hung upon ribbons dangling from the ornate ceiling above. Soft light glinted along smooth and glittery spheres. These hung at various heights, filling the massive old ballroom with color. Floor-to-ceiling mirrors ran around the walls, ornaments reflected forever. From some ribbons dangled nothing. Beneath them lay shattered shards of baubles, … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – New Year, New Fear

The Hopeful Wanderer – Sleepers One by One

One by one, a crowd drew close in the dreary, oncoming night around the lights from a single carousel, burning gold. No one, children or adults, rode the platform, but many stood about, watching as a world of sleepers spun around and around. Horses, tigers, dragons, and giant birds. Jeweled fur and feathers and scales … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Sleepers One by One