Monthly Archives: December 2014

Advent Calendar: Door/Türchen #5

© Black Kat

© Black Kat

It had been a long day.
He had walked many miles during which his backpack had become heavier and heavier by the minute.
To add to his fortune it also had started to snow in the evening and continued to do so far after nightfall.
It wasn’t like he hated the snow, but he preferred not being in it unless he absolutely had to.
Weary from the days journey he was quite certain that he got lost along the way.
Everything looked the same in the dark and there weren’t any signs to guide him.
With a heavy sigh he decided that this place, where ever it was, was as good as any to rest for the night.
He dropped down his heavy baggage and started looking for blankets.
He wouldn’t find any material for a fire anyway and even if he did it would be wet and useless.
Wrapped into the warmth he soon fell asleep.
Luckily it wasn’t cold enough for his slumber to be eternal.
In the morning he was awoken by birds chirping their songs.
He stretched his arms before slowly opening his eyes.
As expected was everything around him covered with a thin layer of snow.
What he didn’t expect was the sun rising at his side just above the horizon of a stunning water side.
Right now he didn’t care if it was a lake or the sea, he just stood up, the blankets still around his shoulders and watched natures display of beauty in awe.
Maybe this journey would end badly for him in the days to come, but at least he had this sight to behold and treasure until then.
~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~
Es war ein langer Tag gewesen.
Er war viele Meilen gelaufen und sein Rucksack war immer schwerer und schwerer geworden.
Zu seinem Glück hatte es am Abend auch noch angefangen zu schneien und das bis weit nach Einbruch der Dunkelheit.
Es war nicht so, dass er Schnee hasste, aber er bevorzugte es nicht darin herum zu wandern, wenn es nicht unbedingt notwendig war.
Erschöpft von der Tagesstrecke war er sich recht sicher, dass er sich mittlerweile verlaufen hatte.
Alles sah gleich aus im Dunkeln und es gab keine Wegweiser an denen er sich orientieren konnte.
Mit einem tiefen Seufzer entschied er sich, dass dieser Platz, wo immer er auch war, genauso gut war, wie jeder andere um sein Nachtlager aufzuschlagen.
Er ließ sein schweres Gepäck auf den Boden fallen und fing an nach seinen Decken zu suchen.
Er würde sowieso kein Material für ein Feuer finden und selbst wenn, dann wäre es feucht und nutzlos.
Eingehüllt in Wärme schlief er bald ein.
Glücklicherweise war es nicht so kalt, dass sein Schlaf ewig anhalten würde.
Am Morgen wurde er vom Zwitschern der Vögel geweckt.
Er streckte seine Arme bevor er langsam seine Augen öffnete.
Wie erwartet war alles um ihn herum von einer dünnen Schicht Schnee bedeckt.
Was er nicht erwartet hatte war, dass neben ihm die Sonne über einem atemberaubenden Gewässer aufging.
Im Moment kümmerte es ihn nicht, ob es ein See oder das Meer war, er stand nur auf, die Decken noch immer um seine Schulter und beobachtete die Schönheit der Natur in Ehrfurcht.
Vielleicht würde seine Reise schlecht für ihn enden in den kommenden Tagen, aber immerhin hatte er jetzt diesen Anblick den er bis dahin bewahren würde.

Behind the Scenes

I hope you enjoyed the fifth story.
You are lucky that I looked at this post again, before it was published as I was certain that I had already typed this story…
Still, it was the second one I had written (#1 being the first) and this was done on the first morning we spent in Ireland. So the feeling of dread and the need to just rest, is partly how I felt when we finally made it to the B&B hours after we landed.
PoiSonPaiNter
© For the story by me and for the picture by Black Kat. Do not use or repost either without my or her permission.

Advent Calendar: Door/Türchen #4

© Friggs Photography

© Friggs Photography


Es war mal wieder ein milder Winter.
Woran man das am besten sah?
Die Blumen dachten schon wieder es sei Frühling.
Vor ein paar Tagen hatte es geschneit und eine dicke, fluffige Schicht war liegen geblieben, aber das störte die Blumen im Vorgartenbeet kein bisschen.
Durch den Schnee hindurch kämpften sie sich ihren Weg ins Licht.
Vielleicht hatten sie aber auch den Schnee abgeschüttelt sobald er gelandet war.
Sie wusste es nicht genau.
Was sie aber wusste, war, dass all der schöne Schnee bald nur noch ein Haufen Matsch sein und alles andere als hübsch aussehen würde.
Wirklich durchgängige Winter gab es ja nicht mehr.
Winter in denen man auf Seen und sogar auf Flüssen oder am Meeresrand spazieren gehen  oder Schlittschuh laufen konnte.
Es hatte sogar Jahre gegeben, da konnte man mit dem Auto auf einen zugefrorenen Fluss fahren.
Aber diese Art von Winter gab es kaum noch.
Jetzt dachten die Blumen schon Anfang Dezember es sei wieder an der Zeit zu blühen und zu erwachen.
Sie fand das schrecklich.
Den letzten Rauch auspustend, zerdrückte sie ihre Zigarette auf der Treppenstufe und stand auf um sich den Mantel zurecht zuziehen.
Es war milder als sie es aus ihrer Kindheit kannte, aber das hieß nicht, dass es nicht noch immer zu kalt war.
~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~
It was a mild winter again.
What gave this away?
The flowers already thought it was spring.
A couple of days ago it had snowed and a thick, fluffy layer had stayed, but that didn’t bother the flowers in the front garden bed at all.
Through the snow they had fought their way into the light.
Maybe they already shook off the snow as soon as it had landed.
She didn’t really know.
What she did know was that the lovely snow would soon be just a pile of mud and not even remotely look anything beautiful.
There simply weren’t any constant winters any more.
Winters during which you could go for a walk or ice skating on a sea and even river or at the hem of the sea.
There even had been years were you could drive your car onto a frozen river.
But this kind of winter rarely happened these days.
Now the flowers thought it would already be time to blossom and awake in the beginning of December.
She thought this was awful.
Blowing out the last smoke, she crushed her cigarette on the step of the staircase and stood up to adjust her coat.
It was milder than she remembered from her childhood, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t still too cold.

Behind the Scenes

I hope you enjoyed the fourth story.
Where the character from the first one reminded me of Fairy, this one reminds me of Black Kat. We had several conversations were we sat on the short staircase leading to the back entrance of the house she lives in, where she would smoke and then extinguish the cigarette in a similar manner as the character. Besides the complaining sounds like something she might be complaining about herself. 😀
PoiSonPaiNter
© For the story by me and for the picture by Friggs Photography. Do not use or repost either without my or her permission.

Advent Calendar: Door/Türchen #3

door3

© Black Kat

It was finally that time of the year again.
All the greenery had fallen in the autumn and every leaf and every blade of grass was covered in a thick layer of ice.
Every time this happened they would set out to collect it. They loved using it for their dishes, still all they could do was keep it frozen magically for some months instead of creating it themselves whenever they liked. They tried, but it was just not as good as the real thing.

Those few months when they didn’t have any ice left were the worse according to the youngest in their group. He had been on this collection trips for a few decades now, but he always loved the excitement they brought with them on their first trips. The eyes of the young ones would gleam in awe when they climbed up what were icy mountains for them.

The little people that was what they were called by the tall ones who rarely believed in them any more, yet occasionally managed to accidentally step on one of their brethren.
Therefore this expedition was not just necessary to finally have ice cream and all those other fantastic dishes again, but also quite dangerous if the tall ones were to be around.

It was this reason that the groups were made of the fastest and stealthiest of their kind. But they also had to be strong enough to carry the filled baskets and climb the ice.
Of course they had the help of their magic lightening the weight, but when it came to such delicate matters as ice they preferred manual labour.

High on top of the icy leaves he took in a deep breath of the clear air around him.
He simply loved his job.

~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~

Es war endlich wieder soweit.
Alles Grün war im Herbst gefallen und jedes Ball und jeder Grashalm war in eine dicke Schicht aus Eis gehüllt.
Jedes Mal, wenn dies geschah gingen sie hinaus um es zu sammeln. Sie liebten es Speisen daraus herzustellen, aber es gelang ihnen lediglich es auf magische Weise für einige Monate gefroren zu halten anstatt es selbst herzustellen wann immer sie wollten. Sie versuchten es, aber es war einfach nicht so gut wie das Echte.

Die paar Monate in denen sie kein Eis mehr übrig hatten, waren die Schlimmsten laut den jüngsten ihrer Gruppe. Er war seit einigen Jahrzehnten bereits bei diesen Sammlungsausflügen dabei, aber er liebte die Aufgeregtheit, die sie auf ihre ersten Ausflüge an den Tag legten. Die Augen der jungen würden in Ehrfurcht erleuchten wenn sie was für sie eisige Berge waren, erklommen.

Die kleinen Leute, das war es was sie von den Großen genannt wurden, die nur noch selten überhaupt an sie glaubten und es dennoch schafften gelegentlich aus versehen auf einen der ihren zu treten.
Daher waren ihre Expeditionen nicht nur notwendig, um endlich wieder Eiscreme und all die anderen fantastischen Gerichte zu haben, aber auch recht gefährlich wenn die Großen in der Nähe waren.

Es war einer der Gründe warum die Gruppen immer aus den Schnellsten und Geschicktesten ihrer Art bestand. Aber sie mussten auch stark genug sein, die voll gefüllten Körbe zu tragen und das Eis zu besteigen.
Natürlich hatten sie die Hilfe ihrer Magie, die das Gewicht erleichterte, aber wenn es zu solch delikaten Angelegenheiten wie Eis kam bevorzugten sie doch Handarbeit.

Hoch oben auf den vereisten Blättern atmete er tief die klare Luft ein, die ihn umgab.
Er liebte einfach seine Arbeit.

Behind the Scenes

I hope you had fun with the third story.

I do believe the idea behind it came from a combination of memories of The Grinch (tiny people living on a snowflake) and my anticipation for my trip to Ireland, which after all is the home of many Fairy legends.
Who knows, maybe they really like ice cream as much as most of us do. 😉

PoiSonPaiNter

© For the story by me and for the picture by Black Kat. Do not use or repost either without my or her permission.

Reading Together #3

My Advent Calendar has started yesterday and I feel like doing this again, so you get another instalment of Weltenwanderers and Schlunzenbüchers „Gemeinsam Lesen“ (Reading Together).

Each Tuesday one of them asks four questions, with the first three always being the same about the book one is currently reading and the fourth a new one by either of them. All questions below are obviously translated from today’s German post.

1. Which Book are you currently reading and which page are you on?

I’m still reading „A Game of Thrones“ by George R.R. Martin, one of the books I had chosen as A book someone else picked for me for BiblioSmiles’s Summer Book Challenge.
I’m currently on page 259, so I managed to read about 200 pages since last Tuesday, by mostly reading in the bus and finishing the chapters I started afterwards.
Sometimes I continued reading regardless of that, but I’ll get to that later.

2. What is the first sentence on your current page?

Jon was showing Dareon how best to deliver a sidestroke when the new recruit entered the practice yard.

or in German:

Jon zeigte Dareon wie man am Besten einen Seitenhieb ausführte als der neue Recruit das Trainingsfeld betrat.

For some odd reason I again stopped at a Jon-chapter, even though those are some of the most interesting ones…

3. What do you desperately need to tell about your current book? (Thoughts, Feelings, a Quote, whatever you want!)

The book is awfully captivating and there is pretty much a need to continue reading and sometimes I succumb to it, even though there are other things that I need to be doing.
I just want to know what will happen next…
And even though I know I should not get too attached to the characters, do I already have a couple of favourites. With my luck in these kind of things will pretty much all of them die.
I also couldn’t help myself watching the show after I read the chapters…
With a little search I found this chart that showed which chapters were portrayed in which episode.
From previous experiences do I know that things are changed and added in picturizations, but I was quite appalled at how different the show is from the book.
Some things are toned down („It should have been you.„), others are accentuated (the sex-scenes that are mostly only mentioned so far or don’t exist) and still others were dropped entirely (Ghost attacking Tyrion) or portrayed quite differently (Eddard using a mere dagger, when it should have been Ice).
I can’t say that the show isn’t impressive and well done, but its the little things that still bug me and make the watching less enjoyable.

4. In which perspective is your current book written? Do you prefer it when reading or does it not matter? (omniscient, personal or I-perspective)

At first I thought the book would be written in I-perspective from each character that got a chapter, but I soon learned it wasn’t that easy.
While it is a partly omniscient narrator and it doesn’t feel like a complete personal narrator either, does it mainly focus on what the current character knows and experiences, yet it is no I-perspective, as the character is still referred to in the third person.
It is an interesting perspective to say the least.

The perspective I prefer most would be the omniscient narrator that has still insight into the characters thoughts. So Martins style covers this pretty much.
What I can’t cope with is the You-perspective, the reader-include. I prefer enjoying the story as a spectator, not as a participant…
The I-narrator can be interesting, but also quite annoying at times, so it isn’t that high on my list either.
The book is written in present tense, but somehow, when I myself write I prefer using the past, though I don’t really care about that.

Additional thoughts

You can obviously participate in these questions by either using my translated or the original German version.
By now I do believe it is highly likely that I participate again next week or some other week.
It is just too good a way to talk about my current read without adding a Goodreads Widget to my sidebar or waiting until I finally manage to get a review done.
On a completely different note: This is my 150th post. 😀
I didn’t anticipated this to happen in this year as well.
Then again, I’m not good with predictions as I  have learned.
PoiSonPaiNter
© For the cover, the quote and the banner belong to their rightful owners.

Advent Calendar: Door/Türchen #2

© EdMooney Photography

Den ganzen Weg vom Kloster hierher quälte ihn nur ein Gedanke
‚Es war doch nur ein dummer Scherz gewesen.‘
Er hatte nicht gewollt, dass der Abt so erzürnt darüber war.
Sie waren ein großes Kloster und nicht immer bekam jeder eine interessante Aufgabe. Als er abgestellt war die Habite zu reinigen wurde ihm so langweilig, dass er sich einen Streich mit seinen Mitbrüdern erlaubte.
Er hatte sich daran erinnert wie die Frauen in seinem Heimatdorf die Wäsche gebleicht hatten und ähnlich hatte er es nun mit den ihm anvertrauten Habiten gemacht.
Ein schwefliges Gebräu zum Wasser gemischt und schwups waren die einfachen schwarzen Habite grau. Er fand sie jetzt passender zum eintönigen Leben eines Mönchen.
Grau, trist, langweilig.
Der Abt aber fand, dass er eine Schande für ihre Gemeinschaft war und schickte ihn fort, um in einer abgelegenen Kirche Buße zu tun und dabei den dortigen Pfarrer bei der Arbeit zu unterstützen. Abgeschieden von Städten und seinen Brüdern.
Als er aus dem Waldstück hervortrat sah er bereits den Trampelpfad der ihn durch das Getreidefeld direkt zum Gemäuer führte. Die Kirche war wesentlich kleiner als sein Kloster und schien noch weniger Abwechslung zu bieten zu haben.
Hier würde er also den Winter verbringen und vermutlich noch länger, wenn der Abt immer noch wütend auf ihn war.
Es sah noch nicht danach aus, aber das Feld, durch das er wanderte, würde bald geerntet und mit Schnee bedeckt sein. Er konnte sich gut vorstellen, dass der Winter hier noch strenger und kälter war als im Kloster. Dort hatte er wenigstens angrenzende Gebäude, die ein bisschen Schutz vor Wind und Kälte boten.
Aber hier war nichts.
Hier war nur die Kirche, eine mickrige Mauer und das Feld.
In was hatte er sich da nur reingeritten?
Warum hatte ihm auch langweilig sein müssen?
Schon jetzt bereute er und hoffte inständig, dass der Abt ihm schnell vergeben würde.
Er war noch nicht angekommen und doch wollte er am Liebsten schon wieder umkehren. Aber nun war es zu spät, er musste das letzte Stück weitergehen und sich seiner neuen Aufgabe stellen.
Er musste gestehen, dass der Abt den scheinbar perfekten Ort dafür gewählt hatte.
~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~
On the whole way from the monastery until here he struggled with one thought ‚It was just a stupid joke‘.
He hadn’t wanted the abbot to be this enraged about it.
They were a large monastery and not every time everyone got an interesting task. When he was seconded to clean the habits he got that bored that he decided to play a prank on his brothers.
He had remembered how the women in his home village had bleached the linen and likewise had he now done so with the habits that were entrusted to him.
A sulphurous brew mixed into the water and whoosh were the simple black habits grey. He thought they were now more fitting for the dreary live of a monk.
Grey, dull, boring.
The abbot instead thought that he was a disgrace for their confraternity and send him away to repent in a secluded church and support the local pastor in his work.
Isolated from cities and his brothers.
When he emerged from the forest he already saw the trail that lead him through the corn field directly to the masonry. The church was considerably smaller than his monastery and it seemed to offer even less variations in tasks.
Here he would have to spend the winter and probably even more time, when the abbot was still mad at him.
It didn’t look like it yet, but the field, through which he wandered, would soon be harvested and covered by snow. He could very well imagine that the winter here was even more grim and colder than in the monastery. There he had surrounding building that provided cover from wind and cold.
But here was nothing.
Here was only the church, a puny wall and the field.
Just what had he gotten himself into?
Why did he have to get bored?
He already felt regret and sincerely hoped the abbot would soon forgive him.
He hadn’t even arrived and he would like to return already. But now it was too late, he had to walk the last few steps and face his new task.
He had to admit that the abbot had seemingly chosen the perfect  place for this.

Behind the Scenes

I hope you had fun with the second story.
The picture is from an abandoned church that Ed had used in one of his Monochrome Madness Challenge Entries. Go check it out if you want to read more about it. 🙂
If you believe this story isn’t finished, then I can congratulate you, as there will indeed be a continuation of it. But I won’t tell you when. 😉
PoiSonPaiNter
© For the story by me and for the picture by EdMooney Photography. Do not use or repost either without my or his permission.

Advent Calendar: Door/Türchen #1

© DarkFairy

Gemütlich schlenderte ich durch den Park auf meinem Weg nach Hause. Es war einer dieser üblichen Tage an der Uni gewesen. Jeder wollte irgendetwas von einem wissen, aber niemand gab einem die Zeit vernünftig über die Frage  nachzudenken. Aber jetzt hatte ich Zeit, jetzt konnte ich in aller Ruhe meine Gedanken schweifen lassen. Die Sonne schien wärmend auf mich herab und obwohl es bereits Dezember war, grünte es noch immer um mich herum. Es war als wollte das Wetter uns triezen. Kälte im Sommer und Wärme im Winter.
Während ich ging fiel mir auf einmal etwas grelles ins Auge. Ein einsames Blatt, noch bunt gefärbt vom Herbst, lag auf dem Rasen und bestätigte meine Vermutung. Das Wetter verspottete uns.
Ich seufzte und hob das Blatt auf.
Ich mag den Herbst und die Farben, die er mit sich bringt.
Aber es gibt eine Sache, die mag ich noch viel lieber als das:
Schnee. Jede Menge Schnee.
Schnee, der alles Bunte mit einem strahlenden Weiß bedeckt.
Jetzt wo es endlich Dezember war sollte es nicht mehr lange dauern bis er endlich fiel, aber bis dahin muss ich mich mit den verblassenden Herbstfarben begnügen.
Mit einem weiteren Seufzen ließ ich das Blatt wieder zu Boden fallen und sagte ihm in Gedanken ‚ Bald wirst du von Schnee bedeckt sein‘.
Ja, bald würde es schneien, da war ich mir sicher.
~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~ ❄ ~~~~~~~
On my way home I strolled through the park without haste. It had been one of those usual days at the uni. Everyone wanted to know something from you, but no one gave you the time to properly think about the question. But now I had time, now I could let my mind wander. The warming sun shone down on me and even though it was already December, was it still green around me.
It was as if the weather wanted to tease us. Cold in the summer and warmth in the winter.
While I walked I suddenly noticed something lurid. A lonesome leaf, still colourfully tinged from the autumn, lay on the grass and confirmed my assumption. The weather mocked us.
I sighed and picked up the leaf.
I like the autumn and the colours, it brings about.
But there is one thing, that I like even more than that.
Snow. Masses of snow.
Snow, that covers everything colourful with bright white.
Now that it is finally December it shouldn’t be long until it finally fell. But until then I had to make do with the fading autumn colours.
With another sigh I let the leaf fall onto the ground again and told him in my thoughts ‚Soon you will be covered by snow‘.
Yes, soon it would snow, I was certain of it.

Behind the scenes

I hope you had fun with the first story.
As for it’s creation I’d like to mention that the character reminds me of Fairy(, who had provided me with the picture, as you can see). She loves snow and I might have kept that in mind when I wrote it.
The picture above was also used in one of her thought posts, if you are interested in further readings.
PoiSonPaiNter
© For the story by me and for the picture by DarkFairy. Do not use or repost either without my or her permission.