Anesidor Sumian dreams of escaping from a gradually shrinking world and the confines of a disapproving society. Her story begins with a wish and is set over a century before her first appearance in my series of novels. (A Spanish translation is now available, by Hernán Jara Droguett.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Images, story and characters, © Cheryl Moore
Intriguing…
I really like this idea.
Looking forward to the next one.
Hi Steve! Glad you enjoyed it and also want to read the next story. Story number 3 will be painted differently, just because I like to disorientate people! I expect the style’s changed a lot since you read the first drafts all those years ago! *Happy Dancing cous bro* 😀
This reads like a diary entry. It is interesting as it presents the point of view of the character. In this case, the character seems to be damaged (but the sudden loss of one’s mother will do that). I notice she blames herself. Typical; children often do that. But I don’t know if there’s enough here to make me interested in her. Anesidor is quirky and odd but do I care about her from this? No, I don’t think so. Perhaps a short story with her in it, separate from your other stories would help.
The point you made about character interaction, on the previous page is interesting. The third story has spoken dialogue, I’m curious to see what sort of reaction this gets. I’ll watch this space to see if people agree! Thank you Rich, I’m glad you brought this point up, it could be a great topic of discussion. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, it’ll help me write better micro stories in the future. 😀
Very interesting for me to meet Anesidor in this way, since I’ve been very curious about THAT WAND! Gorgeous image, too. I love the visual pun of Anesidor’s reflection and the words “It’s like a copy of a copy”.
2nd time’s a charm I hope–shorter this time (lost my first review when I tried to post..GRRRR)
I like the sound of the opening but wonder about your usage of the word “degrading”.
Answers.com link–http://www.answers.com/degrading?gwp=11&ver=2.4.0.651&method=3
As an adjective or a verb it doesn’t seem to fit. Maybe a word like “deteriorating”? I know, doesn’t have the same “zing”.
I had to look up “acondraplasia” and found it spelled achondroplasia. (if that is what you meant).
I think these character vignettes are a cool idea. I am intrigued with Anesidor from what you have written and want to know more…
Hi Jas, glad you noticed the mirror copy reflected in the water!! Yes Anesidor’s story is a lot more complicated than I can fit into a micro story, and I must admit she also swears a lot in the books, so I have to lighten her £$% D@%& language for a public forum!! (plus she’s a child here);D Oh yes, THAT WAND!! I wish I had one of my own really. A lot of wishing goes on in this world! I love Anesidor’s interaction with Alexand (in the books) and with Inajda, because there are some amazing conversations between them, which are incredibly funny to write. I can’t wait to see what you think of the third story. It involves a character you’re really fond of..
Hello Sara, much appreciated, thank you! 😀
I think it definitely leaves a reader in suspense, wanying to know more. And very sad. Great art wotk.
Thank you Cynthia, I’m glad you want to know more about this character, because she is one of the more subtle amongst my troupe! It seems she’s not as invisible to the reader as she is to her own community! 😀 *Happy dancing*
After reading this story, I definitely want to know more about Anesidor. She seems strangely detached in this piece; I wonder if she’s that way all the time or am I just not reading her correctly? Perhaps it has to do with her being a scientist (rational, logical, coolheaded?) or perhaps she’s had to detach because the circumstances of her world and her home life have been so devastating. Still, I would welcome more passion from her, maybe anger or grief at what happened to her mother leading to her end vow (to shut death in a box). I’m very intrigued to know more about her “disability.” The other interesting thing about this story is the overwhelming sense of place; the setting seems to mirror what Anesidor is feeling. This makes me want to know more about the world just as much as I want to know more about Anesidor.
You’ve got good instincts. Anesidor is one of the more rational characters. I have a few scientists in my pool but Anesidor is perhaps more detached than most, due (in part) to her traumatic childhood. The books go deeper into her psychology, but for this story she is about ten years old and therefore hasn’t developed in many ways, emotionally or spiritually. She is one of the most marginalised characters, partly because she grew up in a society that didn’t accept her acondroplasia. She had no wish to fit into her society, because it was so drastically against her, (so against her that her mother was executed and her father and older brothers sterilised) so she looked for solutions elsewhere, in science rather than relationships. This changes as she gets older though. She’s also quite a dry and witty character in the novels, and doesn’t let people get that emotionally close.
I enjoyed this piece very much…even though I enjoyed your first Micro as well/ Personally I am always intrigued by “cjild like”characters, especially when they are shown stronger, wiser almost older than their years. I am interested in the fact she feels a box “keeps things alive” amd is looking to find Death and put it in a box and close the lid. Going with her Scientific asperations, is she looking for a way to channel, keep and control Death…hmmmm, im hooked!
Hi Bianca I’m really glad you enjoyed this story and that you’re hooked, I hope you enjoy the third story when it’s released! THANK YOU!!
Cheryl,
Though this has a different feel than your first Micro story, I imagine that each one fits your characters in a different way. For some reason, reading this, I have a feeling this character’s mind is full of genius and that she makes some sort of change in the world she was rather disappointed with when they came for her mother… and I am left wondering what exactly is her ‘purpose’. I love the feel you put into these characters, and the different views that you make of them.
Keep up the great work!!
Justine
Thanks Justine. Anesidor is quite a complex character with a lot of well established defense mechanisms. It’d be interesting to see how she’s received as a fully fledged person in the novels…Glad you’re understanding her. She’s not as “In your face” as some of the others, but she is incredibly important to the mythology.
Awesome. You’ve just inspired me to try a new take on story telling. Sometimes I get wrapped up on long narratives but if just did one drawing a a poem to convey that episode then potentially I can create an entire series in 1/10th the time. Seems like it’d be a refreshing alternative to the typical format.
But back to the story, is Anesidor a clone of her mother? That was the puzzle that I formed from the narrative.
Hi Cai, inspiration is like rocks tumbling down a cliff, gathering larger boulders. I’d love to read that new series when you write it! Anesidor isn’t a clone, no, she’s nothing like her mother. In fact you’ve just inspired me… I am still working on new stories. I haven’t gone into Anesidor’s history… maybe I’ll try that a few episodes down the line….. thank you 😀
Please tell me the sequence. I wanna read it properly in order. Your stories feel like they’ve got a soul of their own!!!
Hi Siddiqui, I’m glad you like what you’ve read so far. If you begin here http://wp.me/pXe9M-ee (Thomas Watson) each story has “CLICK HERE for next chronological story” after it, so you can follow the trail if you’d like to. Some stories have large gaps between them, and others follow on from one another, but these are all arranged along a chronological path, and more stories are added each week. Thank you. Best wishes, Cheryl.