All Comments on 'The Hunt Ch. 08 - Return of the Fae'

You have very skilfully painted a series of wonderful word pictures here, so real that I could see the various scenes as if on a cinema screen. This story has become a delight to read, SerradaC, and I'm looking forward to Chapter 9.

I've got one small quibble. You write: "...I 'drug' myself from the depths..." I would have used the word 'dragged'. I suppose this could be a difference between US and British English but coming from a writer as good as yourself, the word 'drug' in this sense really jarred.

After re-reading the previous chapter that has been written a while ago, this episode now makes sense to me.

Actually, both episodes happen almost simultaneously. Alice and Angela make love while Pixie enters Wonderland. She almost drowns at the end of the last episode but emerges unscathed from the deep waters toward the end of this episode.

Pixie is safe without needing to be rescued. Alice who Pixie was supposed to hunt down at the behest of her evil mistress is also safe.

Angela the Guardian is not hunted but haunted. Haunted by the loss of her mother, haunted by the present conflict between her human and animal form, haunted by the dreadful prospect of an empty meaningless future.

What will the coming rain bring? Destruction and devastation similar to recent hurricanes? Much needed relief from drought? Perhaps both.

Even though this story is based on a fantasy novel written 150 years ago, I feel that it is a story for our times. Real life danger (such as climate change or a pandemic) is seen through the lens of irrational fear (such as refusing the vaccine that may save us). Confusion abounds: Why would Alice be safe by returning to a life with her fiance that is anything but? Why is a world where Alice finds love less real than the cruel world she escaped from? Lines between reality and fantasy get blurred when people believe in alternative realities and charlatans offer us an escape into the metaverse.

May the world where Angela and Alice find Pixie be the real world. May love save us from real and imagined dangers. May the Guardian be safe.

Maonaigh I am sorry that it was so jarring. I suppose I would say that we are people separated by a common language. I have always heard 'drug' used in things like 'we drug the pond for the body' in past tense, as apposed to 'we must drag the pond' in future or present tense. I yield the field on this point. Thank you for reading the story and I am glad that you have been enjoying it thus far. I hope to have 9 out soon, but RL seems to want to have a say in that as well.

As ever, Mama, you push the boundaries between fact and fiction and reality and unreality to create a world unlike any other - it is a remarkable achievement xxxxx

Amadeus thank you for your thoughtful exploration of my little story. I am thankful for and humbled by all those who read and comment on my work. Yes, I suppose it is impossible for the world not to impact ones writing, just as the conditions of the world were reflected in Lewis Carroll's original work. I can only hope that my efforts are enjoyed. Thank you for your kind words.

Serrada - I love your imagery. "My beloved was not alone nor in despair but was sharing a moment of joy, even rapture, with a child dressed in a lovely green gown, highlighted with silver embroidery woven from ankle to throat. " and this one "Small hips stood above thin but shapely and muscular legs, a narrow waist almost wasp-like, whose curves blended into a torso, although small, was also perfectly proportioned. It was adorned with small breasts ornamented with prominent peaks that I knew would show boldly through any garb. They were but a hint of the pleasures this little body could give and extract. This little woman was, without doubt, a sexual creature of the first order; my question was now what sort of creature?".