Fiction by Tessa: "Death Ship"

[tessagratton]

You died far away from me, and I didn't know.

When Kitta comes to tell me, I am scraping seal hide to make into mittens for you, humming old lullabies and dreaming of your ship's prow cutting through the whale-road.

Comments

[bleuberi21]

The imagery in this is wonderful. One of my favorite lines: I imagine you as you were the night you left, cheeks flared with excitement, wrapped in the blue mantle your mother and I made. The rings on your arms and fingers glittered while the sun set and you were the most glorious you’d ever been.

[tessagratton]

Thank you. This one has one of my favorite images in a while, too. What can I say? I'm inspired by graveyards. ;)

And Vikings.

[saffronhare]

This is lovely and heartbreaking, like a lonely waltz. Or something. (smile) I really love the language she uses...it's so very not-modern and really sounds like another person's voice.

[tessagratton]

Oh, thank you! It's definitely like a lonely waltz. I've been trying to play with voice the last few weeks, so I'm extra glad this voice seems different to you.

[skirmish_of_wit]

You had me from the kenning.

[tessagratton]

LOL! I only wish I were better at making them up myself.

[sherwood21]

This is achingly beautiful.

[tessagratton]

It's my purpose in life to make you ache. ;)

[sherwood21]

You succeed!

[lightonthesill]

...there is a quality to your writing...

The first lines of your stories, are so simple and deliberate that, I immediately give trust over to follow where you lead. Reading your stories feels very much like slipping down the rabbit hole... colors, textures, sights and sounds.

Somehow even foreign voices sound familiar.

[tessagratton]

I immediately give trust over to follow where you lead.

I could not possibly ask for more. Thank you, so much. This is one of the best compliments I've ever gotten.

[lightonthesill]

I recall from a Freshman level Russian Lit class I took at IU...the professor asking us why such and such story seemed plausible... and her answer was because the story began with a description of the quality of the morning light coming through a grove of aspen trees... She asked us how many of us had seen morning light through aspen trees and if his description was accurate. It was... Thus his words = truth. And the rest of the story was plausible.

That's my experience of your writing. :-)

[tessagratton]

Brilliant - that's even more important, I think, when writing any sort of fantasy or sci-fi. If you want readers to go with you while you talk about vampires and faeries and ghosts, you have to, HAVE TO ground the story in truth.

I'm so glad it's working. (At least sometimes.)