STORYTELLING WITH ANTO

Some time had passed. Minutes, hours, it was impossible to know exactly how long, but some time had definitely passed, and there were no signs that they would be rescued any time soon. Hannah held her son tightly and thought back to the moments right before it hit.  "Sleep well, I love you," she said as she placed a kiss on her son's forehead.  "I love you too," replied little Ollie, closing his eyes and turning on his side.  Hannah walked to the door and flipped the light switch. She looked at her son's sleeping face once more and was about to walk away when she heard it. A roaring sound that would stop anyone right on their tracks. Whoever has experienced a strong earthquake knows, you usually hear it before you feel it. That night, the roar was so distinct that each and every hair in Hannah's body stood up in a matter of seconds, and she knew what was about to come.  "Mommy I'm scared," Ollie's voice snapped Hannah r...

Years ago, when no men existed on the earth, the first man was curled up inside a beach pea pod. He slept there for four days, and on the fifth, he stretched out every limb ad broke out of his pod. He fell unto the earth, where he walked around for several hours, perhaps even days, disoriented. After some time had passed, he came across a large black bird called Raven. The bird pushed up his beak and instantly became a man.  "What are you? Where have you come from?" Asked Raven, as he quizzically looked at Man.  "I am a man, I came from that pea pod over there" he answered, pointing at the pod.  "I made that, but I did not know something such as you would come out of it," he paused, as if wondering how such a strange creature had even come to be. "Have you eaten?" "No, I have not, I only drank from the liquid at the beach." "Ah, you drank water, eat this then" Raven handed him some berries, which Man ate and soon ...

There once was a beautiful woman name Afiong. All of the men of the land and lands far beyond were interested in her; they all tried to woo her, but one by one they were shut down. Afiong's parents tried relentlessly to convince her to take a man, they even arranged several marriages for her, but it was useless. Afiong refused each and every proposal, for she thought herself far too beautiful for any of them, and worthy only of the finest specimen of manhood.  Rumors of the woman's beauty spread all over the world, even reaching the far corners of the spirit land. The Skull, a spirit known for his ugliness, heard of Afiong and deeply longed and to meet her. He was ashamed of his looks, so he traveled all throughout the spirit land asking for body parts. One friend offered him his legs, another his face, then eyes, torso, arms, until his body was complete and he looked like the most handsome young man. The Skull then traveled to Afiong's country, and for days he watched...

Foreign As I stare at the screen and wait for your call my heart fills with pain as it starts to recall the million goodbyes and thousands of tears that I have collected throughout many years. I remember the first and toughest of all when you hugged me so hard and refused to let go you sent me away to go all alone and sadly since then I have been on my own. And I know it is best, that change must be good, but I long to go back I wish that I could the land that I left is all lost and gone only you remain and I must move on. But oh how I miss you and oh how it hurts that I pray to the world for time to reverse to go back before this before I knew this pain to when we were together before I got on that plane. Drawing by Andrea Méndez Author's Note: I decided to write a short poem about how hard it is to leave my home country and live so far away from my family. As of now, it has been about four years si...

Dear Brother,  If you are finding this letter it is because something went wrong during our last visit to the king's treasure chamber. After the first time we snuck into the chamber unnoticed I started wondering what would happen when the king realized that someone was stealing from him. Guards, traps, undercover spies, a bounty for our heads, it all came flashing through my mind. Since then I have hidden this letter every time we left to steal from the chamber so that if I were ever captured you would have something of mine, to remember me by, and to ease your guilt from what I know you will have to do.  Brother, do not feel that you are responsible for my passing, even if it did happen by your hand. Please know that I do not hold you responsible or resent you for having to take my life, I gladly would give my life a thousand times if it meant that you could continue to live yours, dear brother. I know that this was a difficult decision for you to make, I know that i...

Medusa Mirror of Memory by Incantata Hint Fiction (25 Words) Though others thought her to be cursed, Medusa's appearance was a blessing to protect herself against men, so as to never suffer being raped again. Drabble (100 Words) When Athena found poor Medusa lying naked on her temple, she knew she had been badly hurt. Medusa wept, begging for the goddess's help, but there was little to be done. Athena could not avenge her, as she could not challenge the sea god, Poseidon, but she could ensure that she would never be hurt in that way. She turned the maiden's hair into serpents and gave her eyes the power to turn any living thing to stone. Now, for as long as Medusa lived, no man would lay eyes upon her, nor touch her without her consent ever again.

After Hermes had explained how to face the goddess, Odysseus started walking up the hill, thinking dark thoughts about what was to come. He grasped the Moly root in his hand and listed all the things Hermes had told him, so as to not forget them. "The Moly will ward off the spell, point my sword at her, have her swear an oath, and sleep with her" he muttered under his breath. "Moly, sword, oath, sex..." he continued to repeat all the way up to the goddesses' door. "Moly, sword, oath, sex...Moly, swor--" he stopped himself just in time to raise his hand and knock on the door.  "Come in brave warrior," said a sweet female voice from the inside, as the door slowly swung open of its own accord. Odysseus took a hesitant step, clasping the Moly in one hand and his sword in the other. "You must be thirsty from your travel. Please, join me for a drink and then we shall have some supper." The goddess Circe then handed Odysseus a golden ...

Pygmalion was a young and handsome man that lived in the ancient city of Paphos and dedicated his life to sculpting. He was kind and liked by all, but was perpetually alone. He had chosen to steer clear of love after seeing the Propoetides, daughters of Propoetus, selling themselves to any man, disrespecting their divine bodies. Pygmalion had seen this and lost faith in ever finding a woman that would measure up to his high expectations, to what he thought he deserved. For his hubris, Venus decided to seal his fate and make fall in love with someone with whom he could never be. And so beautiful Venus planted an idea in his mind, that of a young woman so beautiful that would rival her own charms, one whose eyes would entrap anyone that would view them.  That morning Pygmalion awoke with one thought and one thought only, to sculpt this beautiful woman he had dreamed of. He labored for hours, even days without rest until he was satisfied. He then looked at his creation, and witho...