My Storytelling Mind

"Warning... Warning... Warning..."  The boy tugged on his mother's skirt, using his other hand to cover one of his ears. "Mommy, what's my label going to say?" he asked. His mother shrugged, uncomfortable herself with the high volume of the label system.  As they neared the main door, she knelt down and fixed his shirt. "You be brave for Mommy, darling. It’s going to be very loud, but I promise it won’t hurt. Just stay extra still, alright? Can you do that for Mommy?" she said. The boy nodded. She stood again, adjusting her blouse; they were now second in line.  "What's your label say, Mommy?" he asked. She sighed and glanced at her label for the twentieth time that morning.  "My label warns people about my poor balance.”  He nodded, watching the boy in front of him part from his father and step onto the conveyor belt. “How does the machine know what to put on your label?” the boy asked.  “Well, it – I don’t know, darlin...

"I hear there's going to be a party," Jeremy announced as he passed them in the line. They stopped immediately, nearly spilling their food.  "You're crazy, Wentworth," Thomas said, shaking his head.  "Come on," he replied, shrugging. "I hear the Saint Margaret girls are really something, Albright. What about you, Sampson?"  "What?" the smaller boy asked, startled by his name.  "You game for some games?" Jeremy asked, winking. Adam blushed furiously.  "Adam and I aren't interested," said Thomas. Jeremy shrugged and continued to the cafeteria line.  "Come on, Tom," Adam said, when Thomas still didn't move, and pushed him toward a table.  Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Photo: Victoria Hely-Hutchinson .

He stood on the sidewalk outside the gate, hands in his pockets, looking through the bars intently. His gaze was on his favorite window, in which was the light he watched flicker off every Thursday evening and the faded curtains he watched give him a small wave in the dark. He had only seen the other boy once.  Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Prompt: Promptuarium.

The creature was hardly believable, and even less believable was the fact that she had created it - simply by overstretching an ordinary balloon. All he could do was watch it wriggle its little nubs and gaze at them, full of curiosity and naïveté. Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Photo: Art installation by Hans Hemmert.

The cocoon was found in the woods, not to far from the south end where the King and his sons rode in for sport. Gently, with great care for the delicacy of the twigs and leaves, the royal family ordered the cocoon brought into the palace. The King, and his council, hemmed and hawed over whether to open such a fascinating object. The council was so engrossed in their thoughts that they hardly noticed the small yellow butterfly larking about the room. Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Photo: Model Milena Stepien, photo by Luki, for Hian Tjen.

This is the seventh post in a series leading up to the premiere of Netflix's 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' on January 13, 2017. The series will cover each of the 13 books and 'Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography.' Be warned: there are spoilers ahead. In a take on the well-known saying, "It takes a village," the Baudelaires are to be cared for by the village of VFD, provided they do several daily chores and do not break any of the multitude of rules. The siblings, with the help of handyman Hector, begin discovering a series of couplets, clues that could lead them to the Quagmires. When a captured man named Jacques Snicket is declared to be Count Olaf, sentenced to death by fire at the stake, and then found dead in his cell, the entire village proves itself to be just as frustrating and inept as the rest of the adults in the series. Utilizing mob psychology and the last in a series of bad disguises, Count Olaf manages to execute a Sn...

There was no sign of him at the old Morgan House, and there had been no sign of him at the abandoned railway station where they played as children. She had convinced herself that they had just missed each other each time, despite having slept in each lonely building for a night. Just one more time, but one more might be one too many. She hesitated in front of the boarded-up theater, hand clutching the key in the lock. Was it worth going in only to be alone again? Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Photo: Prompt from Mandy Wallace.

He simply stood upon the tallest rock he could find, his eyes straining into the water as bits and pieces of debris appeared. A water bottle here, a cap there, a life-jacket with no owner but the all too familiar blue logo. Find this blurb on Pinterest !

The rose petals that had been placed strategically between the layers of her dress blew away as she twirled. When the final petal hit the floor, the world fell silent, and the spell was set. Find this blurb on Pinterest !

It seemed that no matter how many times he crossed the bridge and continued through the catacombs, he would come out again on the other side of the bridge, left only with the option of crossing it once again. Find this blurb on Pinterest !

"Sorry. What were you saying?" Find this blurb on Pinterest !

He approached her slowly from behind, watching her gazing out among the trees, sitting on that godforsaken, moss-covered rock, the same one she always sat on when he found her on her early morning walks. She hadn't even the decency to put on a robe over her nightgown. Find this blurb on Pinterest !

She stood on the balcony, the one dedicated to the Golden Goddess, and tried to keep from crying. Her wedding day was supposed to be happy but, despite her adornment of roses and beautiful decorations, all she could think of was Lord Dunmore's words she overheard in her father's study. The only silver lining she could see was that they considered her worth so much money.  Find this blurb on Pinterest !

This is the sixth post in a series leading up to the premiere of Netflix's 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' on January 13, 2017. The series will cover each of the 13 books and 'Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography.' Be warned: there are spoilers ahead. Orphans are in this season. Esme Squalor, and her husband Jerome, are the Baudelaires' new guardians. Life at 666 Dark Avenue means a penthouse apartment, an affinity for fashionable fads, and dining out at places with waiters dressed like fish. Unfortunately, this building hides a secret passage in an elevator shaft, a cage with two triplets, and a questionable auction with Lot VFD. Bizarrely, The Ersatz Elevator is the most normal book of the series. There is a steady home, a disorganized but generally interested adoptive couple, new clothes, and a generally non-stressful environment. Of course, that changes. But the point is that this was a promising home until Esme Squalor's true natu...

The tree shrunk down beneath the canopy, its bark peeling away to reveal a young woman, the tree's flowers grouped in her long hair. She smiled but, after a short gaze around, that smile trembled on her lips.  Find this blurb on Pinterest !

The birth of fairies has always been understood as the life force of a baby's first laugh. But what happens after a fairy is born is still a subject of literary debate.  Find this blurb on Pinterest !

The burning light rose every evening inside the abandoned train on the tracks. And every evening, he went out to see it, straining his eyes to see anything past the brilliant red of the window panes. But he could never see anything. Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Photo: ghost train, by cover of darkness, Flickr.

There were three of them. Three little children, lined up in a row: Edward, Lacey, and Albert. They were triplets, their mother had been a triplet, and their grandmother before them. Lacey often voiced her finest wish was to have triplets herself, two boys and one girl. Find this blurb on Pinterest !

He fell apart. Too literally to be believed, his body began to pull apart from itself until he had practically disappeared, the pieces were so small. They were witness to molecular reorganization.  Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Photo: Sunburst (c) Ade Santora.

I never should have come here alone. The passage I had uncovered the day before sat below me, almost daring me to turn away and never discover the secrets that I knew must be revealed. Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Photo: (c) Cari Ann Wayman .

The light swirled up her arm, below her skin, and flowed into her palm. Perhaps, she thought, it was only because it was so dark that she could see the terrible reminder so well.  Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Check out the related storyboard, The Amateur Magician !

This is the fifth post in a series leading up to the premiere of Netflix's 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' on January 13, 2017. The series will cover each of the 13 books and 'Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography.' Be warned: there are spoilers ahead. In terms of child care, The Austere Academy is almost a redemptive misadventure for Mr. Poe, as he's endeavoring to get the kids back into some sort of regular life by attending school again. However, the school puts the Baudelaires, as orphans, at a complete disadvantage throughout the entire book. With the self-absorbed violin-playing Principal Nero, the oblivious and ridiculous teachers, and the cruel Carmelita Spats, the children are destined for a terrible educational experience. Aside from the oppressive nature of The Austere Academy , this book is unique in one important regard: The Austere Academy introduces friendship for the Baudelaires. Here, among crab-infested shacks and night se...

The blue shoes glided across the stage, all eyes focused on them rather than on the ballerina herself. Later that evening, as the ballet company mingled with their audience, her face was unrecognized and her name unremembered, until reminded of her shoes. She would become known as the Blue Ballerina, her true identity forgotten but always debated, and remaining images often obscured her face. She became a legend, not for her true talent, but, as Cinderella, for her choice in shoes. Find this blurb on Pinterest !

"But why would they text you?" "Don't be a jealous idiot. Just go left." Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Prompt: Found on Stencil.

Graveyard names outnumber the list of the living, and cemeteries have become the new apartment homes once hated so much. And now those buildings lay dormant, empty, abandoned. Find this blurb on Pinterest !

He bent down over the small girl, looking up at him with wide eyes and an even wider smile, and handed her a single solitary rose from his garden. She thanked him, and glanced around the hall that was to become part of her home. He watched her, slightly nervous, but she seemed to accept the somewhat gloomy nature of the hall. "Can I see my room?"  Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Visit this blurb's storyboard, currently untitled as New Thought 2 . Art: Svetoslav Petrov.

The cat hopped up the steps, seemingly oblivious to the small children following it. There were two of them - two boys stepping carefully and quietly behind it. One of the boys pointed up the steps, at a door, and, disregarding how intently the cat avoided the door, they hurried up the steps.  Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Photo: Serra de Estrela Natural Park, Portugal.

She scratched her foot as she adjusted the coloring of the scene she had painted. The door opened behind her but she didn't turn as the visitor fought to push the door open against various debris.  "Still at it?" he asked when he finally got in.  "I'm always at it," she replied, squeezing more paint onto the palette.  "Do you have to work here?" he asked, tapping an old window with the toe of his polished shoe.  "If you don't like it, you don't have to come see me," she replied. He sighed.  Find this blurb on Pinterest !

"Save her, redeem her."  "She doesn't need redemption. She needs our help." Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Photo: High Tide. (c) Kiara Rose, Flickr.

Footage from the security camera: "What are those six looking for?" Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Photo: via vinylespassion.tumblr.com.

This is the fourth post in a series leading up to the premiere of Netflix's 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' on January 13, 2017. The series will cover each of the 13 books and 'Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography.' Be warned: there are spoilers ahead. The Miserable Mill , compared to the rest of the series, seems a bit out of place. The children are taken to live and work at a logging mill. Aside from the clear child labor and general labor law violations that follow, it's not really clear why Mr. Poe brings the children here, allows them to work here, or is so incredibly oblivious to the obvious child abuse. Supposedly it has to do with a "fair deal," wherein the dubious Sir "protects" the children from Count Olaf as long as the siblings work there. This is the first book in the series in which Count Olaf pulled in some outside help. Dr. Orwell, an optician who specializes in hypnotism, works with Olaf to sabotage the ...

"I don't suppose you have a proper reason for climbing up to my window," she teased, not caring at all if her family heard them below.  "My bed was lumpy," her friend replied, shrugging as she pulled herself completely onto the roof. Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Art: via rubitsart.tumblr.com.

It was that bird she saw off in the distance that caught her attention.  Find this blurb on Pinterest ! Find the Hidden Wings storyboard! Photo: sahramorgan , DeviantArt.

"I do so love the sound of moonlight."  "The sound?"  "There's a certain music, a pure and calming song."  "I don't hear anything."  "Not everyone does, poor things." Find this blurb on Pinterest !