62 Comments

It certainly asks for more!

I have a feeling you are thinking about dreams on a consciousness level of questioning but then also as a tool of storytelling. I think dreams are metaphors for the stories we have to work out in our writing. What will Terry do?? Fun collaboration from you two.

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"I think dreams are metaphors for the stories we have to work out in our writing."

I really like this notion, Kate, thanks.

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Metaphors. Yes. Nicely put, Kate.

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That was the cleanest, curtest breakup ever - bravo, Nathan! If only they could all be so...tidy. :)

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😉

And with a fox to boot!

Well, not literally. Let's not boot foxes. It was helping our protagonist, after all.

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Oct 6, 2023Liked by Nathan Slake

Yeah, this is real, real good.

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Mar 21Liked by Nathan Slake

I love this comment so much.

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🙏

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Thank you my friend :)

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Ah, the fox! Mystic creature. The fox looking at him, reminds me a bit of David Garnett’s „Lady into Fox.“ There’s a scene... but I won’t spoil it, in case you haven‘t read it.

Fantastic and fantastical writing, Nathan. Looking forward to Terry‘s continuation.

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Thank you my friend.

I don't know David Garnett at all, so thanks for the recommendation!

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It’s a very short read. Not horror but quite fantastical.

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*adds to never-ending list* 😄

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My favorite two phrases, so real they pulled me in immediately.

"In the short span of days our lives had split. First by distance; now by something else."

"She continued to speak, emitting words that no longer held meaning."

Looking forward to seeing where Terry takes this.

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Thanks Renee. That first quoted line was chopped and changed a hundred times. Glad to hear it landed in a place of reality in the end ;)

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Wonderfully atmospheric! What a challenge!! So cool. (And I also enjoyed the ‘licking raindrops’ reference. Grin.) 🤗🤗

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😁

Thanks Beth. I enjoyed the challenge. The first time I've written from a prompt, actually.

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Oct 6, 2023·edited Oct 6, 2023Author

*satisfied, he placed his pen down and never tackled one again* 😅

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I had a boyfriend who told me my dream was "stupid", so I never shared again. I can relate to the huffy girlfriend. I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store.

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How dare they!

I often bore my wife with my dreams, but this year I've turned to actually recording them in a diary, if only for my own amusement and recollection.

Thanks for reading, Eglantine :)

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Great post Nathan; I really liked the “Licked raindrops “...! It made me chuckle, always a good thing so thank you. Now also looking forward to Terry’s continuation.

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😆 Thank you, Mya. Always happy to know when a chuckle has been elicited.

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Er, me too 🤔

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Lovely Jub !! and you can tell Terry I said so. On those rarish occasions when dreams dare to linger they offer food for hasty scribbles. Windows into (?) and what are we without them ? In my last post there is one scene from a dream (can you find it), but the rest of it was near real enough..... Peace, Maurice

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Thanks Maurice. Feel free to link your post here so people can see it :)

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Mar 21Liked by Nathan Slake

"She continued to speak, emitting words that no longer held meaning." Emitting is such a great word choice here. It's rarely used for words, principally used for sounds. Exactly right in this case.

"... two glacial eyes pierced through air—through glass and false light.." Man! This line could be from a sonnet. Exquisite.

"..twisting the phone’s cable around my finger.." This stopped me. It seems of an earlier era? It jerked me out of rhythm and made me ask, "Wait - when are we?"

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Love the thoughts here, Sharron, thank you.

Yes, no mobile phones in this story. It just felt correct when I sat down to write it.

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I saw this via Terry, Nathan. Loved it!

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Thanks so much for clicking through for a read, Jo.

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Oooh! It’s those little details! Love this!

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Thank you 😊

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Nathan, it was a pleasure to read as always. I always enjoy the vivid descriptions. I could see the fox padding in my minds eye.

As for dreams, evolution is an optimizer and that doesn’t leave energy on the table, particularly if it can be used elsewhere. So if each function has (or previously had) a purpose, what is it? If we’re not suppose to remember, what is the function?

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Wise words, David. Thanks!

I look forward to you writing a post on the latest research on dreaming 😉

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What rabbits? Where were there rabbits?

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Outside my window when I was at the conference 😉

Also possibly just inside my mind.

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Oct 11, 2023Liked by Nathan Slake

Glad you dumped that girlfriend though, she sound like a looser. Phew! ;-P

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😆😉

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I like it as it is. I also long to know more. Curious!

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Me too 😉

Thanks for reading, Nadia. Hope you're well.

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More! More! I mean, anything with a Fox and a Moth (and dreams!) in and I’m sold... but this was gorgeous, Nathan. The whole scene with the Fox felt so intense. And wow am I glad that you clarified that second foot note because honestly my stomach sank when I read it...🫠

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Hehe, yes, don't worry, everything takes me forever and I pore over words for likely far too long. I think there's a graph of this actually, with a line that clearly shows that the shorter the post, the longer it takes 😆

Thanks for being all in on Fox and Moth Part 1, Chloe! I'm excited to see where Terry takes this. (Hopefully not to the bin...)

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