Branches Book

BRANCHES

center of the base of the whirlwind, the wind blowing strongly pushes and shoves me but can’t move me. My necklace begins glowing, my eyes turning to that piercing blue. I close my eyes and walk into the bottom of the tornado with ease and stand, looking up, in the center up to the sky. I feel it all around. I close my eyes and stand feeling the blustering wind, I throw my head back and my arms up preparing myself. For what? CRACK. All the sound returns in a ripping moment, for just a moment. The sound is overwhelming. The tornado vanishes, I open my eyes and am no longer in the field outside of my school. I fall to my knees exhausted from the energy I exerted. I dart my eyes around. That wasn’t me... I didn’t jump. Where am I, who brought me here? I feel cold. Could it already be the time? All I see is darkness. I am a passionate about this project because I enjoy having the chance to better understand my own story and creative process. My story, “The Girl in the Tornado,” is one of my many strange dreams that I have written down. I saw this project as a great opportunity to delve deeper into the creative process by challenging myself to expand on an idea that began in my dizzy subconscious. My intention for this short story is to give the reader the same experience I had when I dreamt it for the first time. The story is meant to be thrilling, fast paced, and confusing. When experiencing the dream, I saw everything as the girl with gray hair in the purple dress, and was feeling the strange urgencies that she felt. I was able to completely understand why, how and what was happening with myself and emotions towards my surroundings in the story. However when I awoke I felt confused about the story and what was happening, I no longer understood the urgency I felt as the girl. Translating a dream into a short story required that I add in certain elements such as a name for the main character to help make the story more accessible to readers. Although I expanded some parts, I did want to stay as true as possible to the dream experience, so you, as the reader, may still feel a bit confused and curious about what exactly is happening. Since having this dream about a year and a half ago, I have had four more dreams that relate to it. My plan is to eventually expand on the plot and create a full story that encompasses all of the related dreams. Author’s Statement: Nora Berkshire

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