Saturday, August 20, 2011

The Red Shoes and The Raven

A project I'm working on. I was reading Edgar Allan Poe's poem, "The Raven" (which is featured in the story), and re-watching the anime Princess Tutu, and then I started looking up old fairy tales and stuff and this was born~. I'm only posting this little part. The rest is staying secret because if my brain can spew up enough random story material for this, it'll become a book. So probably not, but we can always hope :D Anyway, here you go. The stanza of "The Raven" in this part of the story is the final stanza of the poem.
_________________________________________________________________________


“And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting,
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted – nevermore!”
-          Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”

***

Quietly, Annabelle closed her book of poetry.  The movements in the other rooms of the dormitory had long since died down.  It was almost midnight, now.  Soon Annabelle would be required to snuff out her candle.  A teacher, or a willing honor student, would make a quick round through the hallways of both the boys’ and girls’ dormitories.  If they spotted light coming from under your door, they would enter and ask what was going on.  If you had accidently fallen asleep, or were doing homework, they usually let you off the hook, but Annabelle had been found too many times doing both.  Next time, she had been warned, she wouldn’t be so lucky.  And Annabelle was not one to push her luck.

Even so, Annabelle couldn’t help the thrill of fear she felt in her heart when she glanced at the dark corners of her room.  The flickering candle, though flooding her small corner of the room with light, made the shadows deeper and more threatening.  During her reading of the haunting poem, the young girl had felt an unexplainable feeling of dread, growing with each stanza.  Biting her tongue, Annabelle’s eyes darted to the clock hanging on the wall.  Five minutes to midnight.  Should she risk it?  Maybe if she just set up some books around the candle, and took them down when the patroller had passed-

No. Annabelle shook her head.  Just as she was not one to push her luck, neither was she one to put books in danger.

Sliding her poetry book into her school bag, Annabelle pulled off her uniform and slipped into her pajamas – an oversized maroon sweatshirt and white shorts.  She pulled her thick dark hair out of her face, gently blew out her candle, and clambered in to bed, just as the clock tower struck twelve.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Holly Quill - Bio

NAME: Holly Quill

AGE: 15.

GENDER: Female

HAIR: Medium brown in color, softly tousled. Goes to the middle of her upper arm. Bangs flip up at the ends and go to the side a bit.

EYES: A dark, forest green, surrounded by thick eyelashes. Her eyes are large and almond-shaped.

HEIGHT: 5 foot, 5 inches.

WEIGHT: Normal.

PERSONALITY: Holly is carefree and silly. She is kind of weird, and likes to point out the obvious. She also gets flustered easily. However, Holly is also deadly smart and a good fighter.

WEARS: Usually, she wears navy skinny jeans, a bright orange tank top, a dark gray sweatshirt, and yellow high-top Converse. Sometimes she adds a green plaid scarf.

NATIONALITY AND ACCENT: Mostly Norwegian, and a little Spanish, with an Alaskan-American accent.

HISTORY: Holly grew up in Alaska, in a non-magical family. She discovered magic at a fairly young age, but had no one to teach her how to use it. The highlight of her life in Alaska was getting chased across town in her bathrobe and slippers by a moose when she was ten. The same year, her mother and father sent her to live with her aunt in Ireland. Her aunt, Sharon Forest, was an Elemental and taught Holly. Sharon – after finding out how quickly her niece picked up on things - deemed it unnecessary for Holly to go to an actual school, and instead taught Holly herself. So Holly’s education from that point on consisted of everything from normal school courses, to tap-dancing, to how to jump out of the window of a moving car. Holly – being only 15 – still lives with her aunt, but goes out on her own adventures as well.

FAMILY: Holly’s aunt is Sharon Forest. Her parents are still alive, but Holly never goes to visit them, and is exceedingly awkward when they visit her. She also has a little sister, but doesn’t like to talk about or to her.

POWERS: Elemental.

FAVORITE WEAPONS: Whatever is on hand at the moment.

OTHER SKILLS: Art and being a source of amusement for her friends.

FRIENDS: Quinnera Elviana, Kallista Pendragon, Lucky Jack.

ENEMY'S: The moose that chased her when she was ten, and anyone who annoys her.

HATES: Being referred to as “Girly” or “Little girl”, and spiders.

LIKES: Chocolate, running around, video games, singing, apples, books, chairs, old houses, snakes, drawing, anime, finger painting, and face painting.

ADDRESS: Classified, for safety purposes.

JOB: Sometimes works for the Sanctuary.

MODE OF TRANSPORTATION: Her aunt drives her places sometimes, but other than that, she walks.

NEVER SEEN WITHOUT: Shoes and shirt, so she can get service. Oh, pants too.

DESCRIPTION: Holly is skinny and pale, but not so much of either that it looks unhealthy. She is also somewhat pretty.


________________________________________________________


OK, I don't know why it's all highlighted like this, but it's not letting me fix it, so let's just ignore that little fact there. But if you want to be her friend, let me know and I'll add you.