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With Blackbirds Following Me They say that it's the soldiers who spill and see the most blood. I would have to openly disagree. While they're the ones who carry the guns and protect and defend our homeland, did they ever stop to see we're the ones striving to save it? They moan of their friends lost in battles they fought side by side, but they can never understand pains I've known. Emotionless, perhaps I am—perhaps I need to be. But inside…

Never shall they know the pain of losing a friend as I do. The pain of knowing you were the only one who had a chance to save him. And you couldn't…

****************************

"Dieter!"

I glanced over my shoul
Lit. Daily Pick Volume 1: January 2013At the start of the new year, I promised myself that I would be giving back to the literature community here on deviantArt again like I used to. Before I began university, I was able to help admin groups that featured deviants on a daily or weekly basis, and I missed having the time and opportunity. Now that I've finally graduated, I decided upon a small project that I hope to be able to keep up with: My Lit. Daily Pick Project.
:pointr:What is my Lit. Daily Pick Project?
Every day, I choose one literature deviation that I had come across in the last day that I found to exceptionally stand out to me. That deviation remains featured on my page for 24 hours in my daily pick folder for any watcher or visitor to see and hopefully view, comment, or fave. At the end of the month, all of the deviations that I chose to feature will then be featured in an art news journal together.
* I do take suggestions for deviations to feature, as well! This month, I had one suggestion from th
The Lion's DenThe walls trembled as shadows spiraled out of control. Daniel froze, tightly gripping his leatherback journal. The darkness was closing in. From above, he could hear the stone slabs of the estate crumbling. Soon, the Auttenberg House would fall apart, trapping Daniel beneath it. He exhaled heavily, sprinting up the next stairwell he could find, in hopes that this would be the last on his excursion.

"Rebecca!" His voice had grown hoarse from calling her name. Shoving the doorway at the top of the stairs open, Daniel peered through the empty darkness. "Rebecca?"

His gritted his teeth together and trembled. This couldn't be. Surely he had che
The FountainThere were sixteen tall windows. She'd counted them over and over when she was small, her chubby finger outstretched as she spun in tiny circles. Eight walls, sixteen windows, thirty-two black curtains—the arithmetic of her childhood.

"Eight window seats, Daddy. Eight buttons on each—sixty-four. I counted."

The fountain stood dry and dead-center in the middle of the black and white tiles. Eight sides, eight lion-mouth spouts. Sixteen limestone mermaids poised gracefully around the edge. Four thousand and ninety-six blue tiles. Five hundred and twelve white.

And two doors. Always the two doors, huge and solid and radiating a sense
Requiem : Chapter 2
              Chapter II
       Different Than the Others

Evening fell early upon the city as Diedrich and Annemarie made their way back toward their homes. The clouds were traced delicately in a light pink hue, the sun slowly setting beyond the horizon. The streets had practically gone silent now, mothers calling upon their children for an early rest—it certainly had been nothing as it had earlier in the afternoon. As they rounded the final corner towards Annemarie's home, Diedrich smiled to her slightly, his thoughts now focused only on her. It had been another long day, but he knew that in the end, it was worth it—she was wort
Requiem : Chapter 1
                                                          Chapter I
    The Summer Before the Storm

Berlin, Germany – June, 1939

The sunlight glinted down from the pale painted skies above the grand city, sweeping through storefronts and across the pavement. From the alleys and down each avenue, laughter rang out as children sprinted after one another, kicking up
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March 9, 2012
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:trophy: Awarded a DD on 14 July 2012


My second Daily Deviation. It was written as the first story for my Fiction Writing 400 class. 50 Berkeley Square is a short piece based off of the characters from my longer novel project that I'm currently working on. The events in the story are based around rumours of 50 Berkeley Square in Mayfair, London, England. When I lived in London, I spent a lot of time in Mayfair (particularly Berkeley Square). I even went into 50 Berkeley (which is now a bookshop) and purchased a copy of Confessions of an English Opium Eater from the 1800s and asked them about the hauntings. The owners were even gracious enough to let me take photographs inside the house and of the police warning about the attic.

:bulletblack::bulletblack::bulletblack::bulletblack::bulletblack::bulletblack::bulletblack:

My first short story for my Advanced Fiction Writing Seminar 400 class! (I don't THINK this needs mature content-- there is some violence and drug use, but I personally don't think it's TOO extensive... but if you think it needs a mature content tag, please let me know!)

While the characters are those from my new novel project Fiction that I will hopefully begin working on this summer while I'm living in London, this story was something that I came up with after doing research on Mayfair in the 1800s. I was quite interested in Berkley Square and the supposed hauntings that took place at 50 Berkley. (Today, the house is a book shop; but the attic is not allowed to be entered).

After I completed this, I realized that yes, it is far too short and brief to get the whole story in, and I really wanted to turn it into a novella (changing the names of the characters in it of course-- Daniel, Rebecca, and Helena are my characters from Fiction). So, I AM currently planning on making this a longer work, so that everything makes more sense and relationships build up more (I was limited to 20 pages [double spaced] for my class).

So! I hope that this is at least enjoyable for the time being. I got feedback in my class that people wanted to see this as a novella, but I'd love to know your opinions, as well! Enjoy!

50 Berkley Square (c) Erin Sinnott 2012
Fiction (c) Erin Sinnott 2011-2012
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Daily Deviation

Given 2012-07-14
50 Berkeley Square by =star-blazer ( Suggested by ~FuneralSong42 and Featured by `thorns )
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:iconshehrozeameen:
~shehrozeameen Feb 25, 2013  Hobbyist Writer
The character of Daniel and Rebecca is perfect! The character of Helena is pristine, to the point of being very subtly terrifying! And your description, my good sir, is flawless.

My only suggestion is the use of a sub-section mark, or a roman numeral to add gaps in the short story itself. It flows smoothly, yes, but its preferable if you add those in this story.

On a much more introspective note (and just me thinking aloud after being inspired by this work), I found myself looking up the meaning of Helena. I did find myself thinking that its probably from Helen (as in, Helen of Troy) which would make sense, she does tend to be his Trojan Horse (for the death of his wife, and for the inevitable end of his own life), but it means "sun-rays" or "shining light". Which brings me to an extra-ordinary predicament. You see, if she's the "shining light", then that would imply the gradient that is formed by your work - from light through to darkness (as in, the couple Daniel and Rebecca coming in, and how they inevitably leave by the ending of this story).

In a way, if one were to just look at her name carefully, its a spoiler in itself.

But that's just me being a banter of sorts lol... In any case, I do honestly feel that this work deserve the DD. Its well written, its well composed, its a solid body of thoughts, and because it has this historical reference to it, it can be related to. :) Bravo.
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:iconstar-blazer:
=star-blazer Feb 25, 2013  Professional Writer
Thanks :D

Yeah, in the original typed version I had, there were subsections, but dA wasn't showing it very well (but the copy that I have has them laid out like that).

I'm glad that you enjoyed reading, though :D I was working on expanding this piece since I felt that it was rushed in places to fit it into the 20 double-spaced page limit we had for class, and changing the names (since Daniel, Rebecca, and Helena are the three main characters from my novel I'm working on now [that DOES take place in Berkeley Square, just not 50]). Though I may make the ghost girl "Helen" instead of "Helena" due to what you pointed out.

Thanks so much again!
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:iconshehrozeameen:
~shehrozeameen Feb 25, 2013  Hobbyist Writer
For dA, I think you should use the $ sign.

:) Man, I'd love to steal your copy, I swear... Maybe some day, I'll have you hand-write one of my poems... As a calligrapher, or as a stentorian (if you get what I'm trying to imply), it would honestly make me feel... jubilant... honestly...

No no no, I think it would be fine if you used... Eva... or... Narcissa...

*snap* Narcissa! the feminine version of Narcissus *snaps again* no, too obvious.

*thinking, thinking, thinking* How about... hold that *looks up in a dictionary* Celena fits fine. The name means "the moon" (the greek way of writing, with which we get celestial; although you can use Selena).

I use the moon here, because of the narcissistic trait of the moon per say (taking the greek-roman trait per say). I'm just thinking out loud right now...
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:iconstar-blazer:
=star-blazer Feb 25, 2013  Professional Writer
I actually have an Eva in another story that I am working on. Haha :XD: Oh, man... my names are all connected in one way or another -shot-

Narcissa could work, though! Or Selena/Celena. Gah, I just need to work on it again in general again :XD: This reminds me it's been sitting around needing work on.

And hand-writing one of your poems would be fun at some point!
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:iconshehrozeameen:
~shehrozeameen Feb 25, 2013  Hobbyist Writer
*opens mouth* *closes* *blushes* okay... now I'm just... *grins* *deep breath*

read your notes when you get the time.
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:iconshehrozeameen:
~shehrozeameen Feb 13, 2013  Hobbyist Writer
congrats for the daily deviation! I'll give this a read when I get enough time :)
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:iconstar-blazer:
=star-blazer Feb 14, 2013  Professional Writer
Thank you! :D
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:iconshehrozeameen:
~shehrozeameen Feb 14, 2013  Hobbyist Writer
Your welcome :)
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:iconmagical-badger:
~magical-badger Nov 7, 2012  Hobbyist Writer
Gripping from start to finish, absolutely commendable work. :heart:
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:iconstar-blazer:
=star-blazer Nov 7, 2012  Professional Writer
Thanks so much!! :love:
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