An Artist

~ mariasjostrand ~ Leave a comment

An Artist

He was an artist. He knew his teacher – former teacher that was – didn’t think so. In fact he had spent years telling him everything he did wrong. But he knew he was an artist despite what that old goat might say.

And this was his first piece. Finished and perfectly imperfect. His teacher would have hated it. He loved that.

His teacher would have said that it wasn’t art. That it was a toy. And he would be partly right. It was a toy. But why should that mean it couldn’t also be art?

It was a fort. A single piece of wood carved out so it appeared to be several boxes, sticking out from each other. It was splattered with paint – every happy colour he’d been able to think of and with childish paintings. It was in three levels and if you climbed to the top level you’d find the secret treasure: A cave, where you could hide with all your books and secrets, pretending it was a little world of it own.

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Twilight Love

~ mariasjostrand ~ 2 Comments

A/N: The following piece is a sestina, and a parody of Twilight. If you’re a twilight fan, I suggest you skip it. 

It wasn’t that I didn’t know I was obsessed.

But he was worth my obsession, my statue of marble.

He was everything pure, and perfect, and golden.

And I could dream of was his smouldering eyes.

From the first time I saw him I knew this was no shallow love.

This was the love of Romeo and Juliet, a love, which would inevitable lead to blood.

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A Woman

~ mariasjostrand ~ 2 Comments

He honestly didn’t think he expected too much.

He already had a job, which he not only enjoyed, but also earned quite the living doing. He had a beautiful apartment, a fancy car and a pair of loving parents, who gave him unconditional love. So all he really felt like he was missing was a woman. That wasn’t much to ask for, was it?

She would have to be attractive of course. Tall, voluptuous, with long hair and blue eyes. Though he would be willing to compromise with the eye colour – if necessary. It was however essential that she would be a non-smoker, and she would never have tried drugs. She definitely shouldn’t be a virgin, but she wasn’t allowed to have slept with more than a handful of guys either. Two or three would be preferable. That wasn’t too much to ask for, was it?

She‘d be intelligent as well. Preferable she came from an Ivy League college. She’d have an IQ, which was over 110, but less than 135. He himself had 138. And for obvious reasons she shouldn’t be smarter than him.

She should be funny. He couldn’t be with someone, who wouldn’t understand his jokes. She’d laugh at them, and not that fake, polite laughter he hated so much. Her laugh should be genuine, but not too loud. A feminine laugh.

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Little Fellow

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A/N: So much for posting Friday, huh? Sorry!

Jack whined softly as he was rummaging through some garbage of a nearby restaurant. There was little. Too little. A few slices of meat. Gone in a second. And he was still hungry.

It seemed like he’d been hungry forever. The Jack Russell Terrier could hardly remember a time when he hadn’t been starving. He knew there had been a time, a long time ago. Back when he’d been Camillas pet, and she’d fed him whatever food she’d been able to sneak off the table without her father noticing. One day, however, he had noticed, and he’d been furious. He’d screamed at Camilla, and had kicked Jack, before stomping on his paw. Jack still wasn’t able to lean on it, months after, and had to limp everywhere. Which was far from ideal when there was little food and harsh competition.

Jack knew he wouldn’t last forever. He was too small, too weak to survive on his own, and every day had been an uphill battle. When the Great Cold came he would die.

He thought back on Camilla. She’d been a sweet girl, and he desperately hoped she was all right. She would have protected him, he knew, if only she had been able. He wished he could see her one last time. She’d known just the perfect place to scratch him under his ear. He whined longingly at the thought.

Perhaps it’d be better if he just stopped eating all together. There was nothing for him to look forward to except starvation, pain and coldness.

He whimpered again, but stopped suddenly when he realised he wasn’t the only one. Jacks ears stood up, alert. Where had it come from? There! He limped himself over as fast as he could. The sight awaiting him there made him freeze in shock.

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Guardian Angels

~ mariasjostrand ~ 1 Comment

A/N: I know it’s been a while, and I apologise. I usually publish every Friday, but I’m afraid I forgot my charger at my dad’s when I visited my parents and no charger means no computer. 

The problem is that – as I knew – as soon as I’d skipped one Friday, one easily became two and two easily became three, and for that I apologise. 

Here’s finally a new story, I hope you’ll all enjoy!

It didn’t take long for Haley to find out that adults were in fact quite stupid. This included her parents. She still loved them, of course, but sometimes she couldn‘t help but worry about them. They seemed so engrossed in themselves it appeared they simply didn’t see the world around them at all.

The worst part was that she was pretty sure they thought that she was the unintelligent one. Just because she was three. It was judgemental, plain and simple. How come it was illegal to differentiate between men and women, straight and gay, but it was okay for people to assume she was stupid just because she was three? It was wrong. Especially when she was so much smarter than them. Or, at the very least, not so unfathomable blind. There was so much they didn’t see.

Like guardian angels for instance.

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A Christmas Carol

~ mariasjostrand ~ Leave a comment

A/N: Here’s your Christmas special everyone!

Rather than updating something on Friday, it seemed more appropriate for Christmas. Enjoy!

Oscar Matthew had always loved Christmas.

The way the lights twinkled so friendly from the tree. The way the snow fell so softly, covering the world in a white blanket. The way the house smelled of cinnamon. The presents.

Oscar Matthews loved everything there was to love about Christmas.

He was the type of person who started preparing in November. He bought his presents, decorated the house, sang carols long before December had even begone. It drove his girlfriend insane, but Oscar merely grinned when she complained and kissed her.

Oscar Matthews loved Christmas like a little child, so when he got to bed on the twenty-fourth, he could hardly fall asleep for sheer excitement.

He must have fallen asleep eventually though, for when he woke up, he was met with the queerest sight. A sight so odd that he was certain that he surely was still asleep.

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The Three Little Men

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A/N: This was a funny story to write, and I hope you guys enjoy it!

Rheena Ulv had never really cared much for nature. It wasn‘t that she didn’t think that you needed to protect the environment or anything, but she had just never been the type to stop up and smell the flowers. She’d rather hang out with her friends, maybe catch a game of football, than she wanted to sit and enjoy the sunrise.

Which was why she surprised herself by deciding to take the route through the forest home from practice even though it was actually a bit longer. It was only eight at night, but being winter, the sun had set hours ago, and there was nothing to illuminate her way except the cold lights from the infrequent lampposts, broken more often than not.

It was uncommonly warm for December, and Rheena wondered if she, after all, perhaps should do this more often. The air was crisp and the forest peaceful.

At least until the peace was interrupted by someone’s swearing.

Rheena frowned. She’d never heard such a language outside her online video games, and unable to quench her curiosity she made her way towards the noise.

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Underneath the Bed

~ mariasjostrand ~ 1 Comment

A/N: Here’s another short story for you guys. I hope you enjoy it! 

Her name was Lisa Davidson, she was eight years old, and there was a monster underneath her bed.

She knew this to be a fact in the same way that she knew that chocolate tasted good, and you should brush your teeth twice a day. It wasn’t like she’d ever seen it or anything, but it was quite awful at hiding.

For one thing then she could hear it breathe. Quite loudly as well. Actually it sounded like her monster might have a cold. She could also hear it move around under there. Claws were scratching the wooden floors, and she would swear that she once actually heard it sneeze.

Out of sheer habit she almost said bless you.

She’d tried to tell her dad of course. He was the strongest person she knew, and Lisa was sure he’d kick the monster out of their house. But when she’d whispered to him that there was a monster underneath her bed, he’d merely smiled at her and told her that there was no such things as monsters.

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The Evolved Feminism of Disney Princesses

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A/N: Okay, this is the very first Academic Essay I’ve put out to the world to see.

The title is pretty self-explanatory, and it’s basically a comparison of the feministic qualities found in Snow White, Belle and Elsa. 

Enjoy!

“Within a month, Daisy threw a tantrum, when I tried to wrestle her into pants. As if by osmosis she had learned the names and gown colours of every Disney Princess… She gazed longingly into the tulle-draped windows of the local toy stores and for her third birthday begged for a ‘real princess dress’ with matching plastic high heels” (Orenstein).

Unsurprisingly this representative of a little girl’s adoration for Disney is merely one of many examples, which concerns the popularity of the Disney Princesses, whom are idealized by millions of young girls, and, probably, boys, across the globe. They are in control of monumental impact and influence. One of these influences deals with feminism.

What does the media of Disney teach little girls about what implementations there are to be female? The feminism in the media of the Disney princesses has evolved through the decades, which can be assessed through an analysis of the movies of only three selected Disney princesses; Snow White, Belle and Elsa.

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Lawyers

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A/N: Can anyone guess what’s really going on in the text? Comment if you have a suggestion?

Alison Parker entered Eric McMillan’s office with a huff of annoyance.

Eric himself merely looked up with a bored expression on his face, before returning to the paperwork in front of him. Not far from him stood the second half of the law firm McMillan and Vanderbilt, Jack Vanderbilt, who was looking at the impressive skyline of New York City. Alison was sure that Eric himself had never actually stopped an enjoyed the view. That would, after all, demand that he took a break from work.

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