Short Story – Valkyrie

A short story for children I wrote for my Writing for Young People class

The Valkyrie

I woke in a cold sweat, stuck to the bed sheets and my heart thumping so fast and my throat closed so tightly I thought I might be having a heart attack. I took long, slow breaths in a desperate attempt to calm my racing pulse. I squeezed my eyes shut to stop the colours swirling around my vision. It took nearly five minutes for my heart to settle down. Tears prickled by eyes and I swallowed hard. It was over. I’d be okay.

The Rail Line

An old story I wrote a while back about a character of mine. I’ll be putting up some micro fiction about him in future.

The train line was the only sign of industry out on the wastes. It ran by the town, over the brown dusty mud and off towards the mountains. Trains would rush by about twice a day, shaking and breaking up the dry ground. The edge of the tracks was lined with yellow, sparse clumps of grass that soaked up whatever dripped off the machine.

The village was not far away, nor was it very large. A young girl had made her way way onto the tracks, her bare feet stood on one of the boards. She could not have been older than five, and was waving at a small huddle of very young children who were watching her in awe. She took a long step onto the next board, then the one after. She poked her tongue out as she focused on keeping on the boards, so absorbed in keeping her balance that she didn’t pick up on the slight shake of the ground that was trying to throw her off.

Meeting Totems – Rabbit

As of late, I haven’t found any time to meditate or even get any writing done outside of what is needed for my upcoming deadlines. In my spare time, I’ve been reading New Paths To Animal Totems by Lupa, who discusses local environments and the totems that are close to you. It’s a highly fascinating read and I advise it to anyone looking into totemism themselves.

Now, I’ve done a lot of research into totemism, and a commonly suggested way of deciding totems to visit is the animals that are a large part of your life. Rabbits have always been an image throughout my life, presenting themselves as toys and pets. When I finally owned my own pet rabbits, I was surprised to find that they were violent and aggressive- a side to the common domestic animal I’d never seen before.

So, with all this in mind, I found myself an hour or so aside to visit Rabbit.