Characterization Stories

http://www.npr.org/2011/11/12/142273145/hero-worship
Hero Worship: I read this story and immediately wanted to know what was going on, and how the child was involved. I could almost see clearly the expressions of pain on the family's faces, and how fake their entire lives seemed, though at first you wouldn't dare guess. Their wasn't much dialogue, but much more explanation from a child's view, which I enjoyed.

http://www.npr.org/2011/10/02/140973653/misshapen
Misshapen: At the beginning, I had an idea of what was happening: A Mother and Father fighting; a little girl listening.  I grew to be more and more confusing, as right in the middle of a normal fight, it states: "After a few running starts, he flew clear over the city of little blue people with funny white hats, soared over the village of fuzzy bears with varying emblems on their chests and landed in the town of Bedrock." What was even happening? I was so confused, but I kept reading. In the end, I finally understood it was a girl playing with her toys. I really liked how a world of make-believe and reality could combine into one story.

http://www.npr.org/2011/10/23/141622174/ocean-child
Ocean Child: At the beginning, I felt the wonder and excitement that I might find in a child's eyes as they gaze among the ocean. Immediately I felt drawn to this child... Maybe because my name, too, means "of the sea". I really liked the beginning. The ending was sweet and touching, how she connected her baby to the air in which she was raised and born from. All in all, this story was very charming.

The Untold Story

The ground caressed my bare feet. Soft moss made my path through a forest as green as my eyes shined. Trees lining my path; light trembled through their leaves to bring life along the ground, yet those leaves shaded most of the light away, leaving light to pour from a non-existent sky to an almost empty ground. The woods end up ahead, but I yearn to stay. My feet turn under me, moss showing them the way back to my oblivion. One foot caught behind the other, but behold- a tree with a light so apparent falling upon me had broken my fall, and I was upright. My body pressed against it, a feeling almost electrical ran through my veins; the tree was feeding off of me. The bark snagged to my sheer white dress as I slowly sank back into a place slightly darker. My fingers ran against the soft cotton of my dress as my arms fell to my sides, bringing me inspiration to walk once more against my moss path falling into my personal wooded oblivion. One foot in front of the other, I walked along, nowhere to be or to go.

Cold drops fell from the light, which has since disappeared, though I did not catch its farewell. Along my neck, they fell down my dress onto my path, making the moss glisten with hopes of new life and shining with its very existence. Trees let go of their scent, sending it along my body and through the soft wind blowing my hair softly around me like a blanket. A place untouched by human nature, still left to grow; the scent of the wood driving me deeper and deeper along my path, praying for it to never end.

Wind rustled leaves to a song to which I found my body moving to, arms thrusting themselves into the air without consent, catching the glowing drops of rain and suddenly dipping to caress the moss as it has done for me all through this journey. The beauty of the song brought drops to my eyes, which fell and again made the moss against my feet shine.  I never had heard a better melody than that of the leaves tickling each other and laughing, holding on along their branches and catching raindrops as I do. This new sound, the leaves laughing, marked my place along my oblivion and clouded me as my feet fell deeper down my path.