Last Thursday, SG took the Writing Huddle to the beautiful exposition Arcadian Dreams at the Echo Building. Huddled between the lifelike post-apocalyptic sculptures, we practised our writing skills and our imaginations. Below you can read a story written by one of the people who joined us there, written from the perspective of one of the creatures. Thanks, Ananth Ravi, for the wonderful story and the picture of your critter companion.

 

It is like last time when I opened my eyes. It is getting warmer. My back is a bit itchy. I should go to the river and bathe. Ah, fruits. It would be nice to store them when I come back. The trees have leaves again. I must close the cave with branches.

This was the path where I used to go with Layla. The smell of her, the spring in her step. There were birds—birds that don’t come here anymore.

Mushrooms are nice. I need to be careful with them. Last time, they made me sick.

The water is cold. Where are the fish?

No one has come to see me in a while. They used to come me. They knew I had seen things. But they stopped coming.

I don’t remember things anymore. I remember Layla’s eyes.

My fingers have some worms. I can eat them.

I should get some branches on my way back.

It is warm outside. I can lie down and scratch my back.

I forget how tall and shiny and big, the cave is. I wonder if I can climb to the shine. The branches go all the way up. There are so many of them.

One of these caves used to have a small river inside the cave. I don’t remember which one.

Oh, that is a bird. It went inside the shine—the high-up place with pieces missing, where the wind sometimes howls through.

It is getting dark. I must go in now.