I’ve always been reading fairy tales and stories, looking for the ones that really speak to me. The ones with heart. Now, I’ve finally finished writing and illustrating one of my own. I hope it speaks to you.
“…A cackleberry is a wondrous thing. Strange, to be sure, but wondrous just the same. They are friends of rot, re-claimers of damp wood and molding stone. Thin tendrils pale as waterlogged fingers push up from carpets of matted leaves and rise from the forest floor. A swelling, a blooming, a beginning. A cackleberry is a rare occurrence. Some liken them to mushrooms, or puffballs, while others think them more similar to flower buds. Either way, they are said to hold the dreams of the forest. This particular cackleberry grew in the shadow of an oak snag. It glowed softly, pulsing to the rhythm of decaying oak roots. Held tight within its shell was a small girl. She had spent a thousand days cloaked in black dirt and cradled by oak roots. She had swum through places beneath the forest floor, friend to the mycelium that threaded the dirt like stars. Then she had been drawn above. Now her world split open. Something wondrous was about to happen.”
This is the story of a girl, who finds herself in an unknown wood. A girl who dares to look for the choice not offered. The story follows Oona as she journeys through the Scraggle Wood looking for a way to fulfill her heart’s desire. It is, of course, a fairy tale, though a bit of an odd one.
Happy Halloween from the 3rd Gen OC crew! This one was a lot of fun to work on thanks to their outfits~ Yujin is absolutely dressed as a sexy fireman lol.
