Showing results for "Childhood" in Fantasy

Maggi Peirce writes, "In everybody's mind there are memories that cannot be erased. In my last semester at Southeastern Massachusetts University, Dr. Norman Rehg asked that we write a story weekly. The entire class groaned. 'Now, now, don't fuss,' he said. 'All I want is an anecdote.' The word anecdote made all the difference, and I...haven't looked back since." These autobiographical stories sketch the world Maggi inhabited in her Belfast childhood in the 1930s and 1940s. That world is gone, but the feelings and experiences speak a universal language that resonates even today. The collection includes "A Friend of My Father's," "The Lucky Package," "The Most Beautiful Doll in the World," "John Knox," "Mine Hut Er Hat Drei Ecken," "The Haunted House," and "The Awakening."

Set in the heart of North Yorkshire and incorporating local myths, legends, and historical facts, this is the fantasy story of John Twigg, a young man with everything to live for. But, despite a loving family and an adoring girlfriend, he makes the fatal error of falling under the spell of a beautiful upper-class girl. Unable to sustain his own anguish and unhappiness at his betrayal, he curses himself and is thrown back in time from 1999 to the year 1544 by a force that he cannot possibly comprehend.

An aged, decrepit old woman wanders the quiet hallways of her home. She remembers a day when they were brighter, more kinetic with anticipation of life within their walls. Family was a regular occurrence, and the tinkling laughter of grandchildren used to echo through the house. Oh, how she missed those times, as she now hobbles oh-so-slowly with her cane through the archaic old home. And as the old woman wanders, reminiscing through the halls, she comes upon a door. Rusty hinges amplify groan of age as the door swings slowly open, and she balances herself in the doorway.