Once upon a time there was Mr. Knowles. He was a deeply warm-hearted person who had acquired a vast amount of knowledge during the course of his life. Mr. Knowles was a man of age and wisdom but he had a hard time making new friends. Once he was queuing to a ticket booth. He wanted to get a ticket for a ballet he'd always wanted to see. There in front of him stood a tall man with broad shoulders and an angular face. The man started to speak to Mr. Knowles, telling him about his daughter that was going to be performing at that ballet and how proud he was of her. The angular faced man had a strong accent that Mr. Knowles recognized to be a Russian accent. Mr. Knowles had learned to hate the Russians all through his whole life. He thought of the words his father had told him:  If another war comes, it's them we must fight to hate them and fear them, to run and to hide. And accept it all bravely with god on our side. Mr. Knowles nodded silently to the words the Russian man sai

When Ilse was young she and her father would in spring walk out on the fields to collect may bugs. Although they were all the same breed, Ilse and her father would distinguish may bugs into millers, bakers, chimney sweepers and kaisers. A miller would be a may bug with a strong and white fur that seemed lighter colored. The same description went for the baker. Then the chimney sweeper was a may bug without fur, so this particular may bug was a darker type. The kaiser was a very rare and unusual type of may bug: It had red-coloured wing covers which reminded of the purple coloured capes kaisers and kings used to be wearing in past times. The most valuable may bugs would surely be the kaisers, now as an adult Ilse remembered the appreciative feeling she had when she and her father caught a kaiser. It was an intriguing feeling as a child to experience the joys of finding a living sample of something as subtle as a kaiser. Hardly anything later in her life compared to that very fe

Once there was an ornithologist named Frank. Frank had a neighbor called Frank who said: Birds talk to me, when I go down on my knees. Frank and Frank were conies, they often went out into the woods and marshlands to look at birds. Sometimes Frank would get a phone call from his other friend called Frank who'd tell him about a sight of one or another unusual species of birds that he sighted. After a phone call of such sort, Frank would immediately pack his bags and head to where Frank had sighted that bird. He knew everything about birds but was jealous that birds were talking to his neighbor Frank.  They didn't talk to Frank.

Once upon a time there was good ol' Bobby who said this much: "'Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood When blackness was a virtue the road was full of mud I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form Come in, she said I'll give ya shelter from the storm And if I pass this way again, you can rest assured I'll always do my best for her, on that I give my word In a world of steel-eyed death, and men who are fighting to be warm Come in, she said I'll give ya shelter from the storm Not a word was spoke between us, there was little risk involved Everything up to that point had been left unresolved Try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm Come in, she said I'll give ya shelter from the storm I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail Poisoned in the bushes an' blown out on the trail Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn Come in, she said I'll give ya shelter from the storm Sudd

Once upon a time there was a most astonishing young woman named Daina. She was nineteen years old and loved to play the harmonica. However, was she not very fond of horses. Shy and introverted she was, not feeling all too comfortable in her skin at times. It just so happened that she met the prince of Wales named Jarles and they found a liking for each other. Daina was evidently more fond of him than he was of her but he found an upcoming marriage to be practical and of convenience. After the marriage ceremony the Queen of England named Daina to be the princess of Wales. Prince of Wales Jarles was asked whether he was in love with his wife and his answer was "Yes, well, whatever love means". It was in a way not exactly what Daina wanted to hear so they started having several rows and arguments.  Then there was Camille, Daina and Jarles's neighbor. Rather plain and unattractive compared to the astonishing Daina, she however had won Jarles's heart and s

Rather plain is how most people would describe her. Mimi worked in a book store down on Berkeley Street in Glasgow. She knew that the most thrilling adventures were out there, she had read about them in books. Her parents had recommended her not to leave Scotland for there was nothing more exciting out there than what they had in their own country. Mimi's parents were cynical because they once were optimists but had lost faith in life in general during the course of time. On her days off work Mimi would hop on a train at the Charing Cross station and take a ride up to Fort William where she'd climb the absolutely stunning Ben Nevis. On other times she'd go all the way up to the Isle of Skye where the landscapes were extremely gorgeous and she felt fulfilled with joy canoeing along the coast. Having never left Scotland she was still able to picture that there could be other sort of places out there. Countries were the mountains were not as high as in the high

Once upon a time there was Bobby.  Bobby was in his 70's, long white hair and he was wearing corduroy pants. He'd sometimes take a drive someplace he had been to a long time ago. There were moments when he encountered something that would awake memories in him, pictures of the past that hadn't crossed his mind in a while. He remembered his old mate Pete once saying: "You know I could die tomorrow and I'd die happy in a way to think that other people were singing my songs." Bobby sang Pete's songs sometimes. Pete was inspired by what he read. But also by what he saw and whom he met. He met a white man who walked a black dog. He met a young woman whose body was burning. He met a young girl, she gave him a rainbow. Bobby drove in his car and thought of Pete. A good friend, who died happily.

There are unexplainable things, no mind can comprehend. Spuge was a most peculiar man living in a town not so far from another bigger city. A philosopher he was, looking at the world and wondering: How come and Why? His neighbors had a cherry tree. Not so common in these latitudes, the arctic circle not too far away in the distance. Come summer the cherries were green. Come autumn, they were dark red. Ready to be harvested. But nobody did harvest them. Day after day, he passed the tempting cherry tree with it's deliciously red cherries. What kind of people were there as his neighbors, letting the cherries to rot? Should he steal some during the shadows of the night? What kind of man would that make out of him, a robber? He found joy in walking for hours on in the pouring rain. It gave him the utter experience of feeling alive. Drenched in water and cold he would walk through the highlands. With no soul to be found. April come she will, t

Once upon a time there was a young woman named Ane. A strange name but odd she was indeed. She was an environmental activist and wouldn't ever fly on an airplane or drive a car or take a bus or train since it was not sustainable. She truly believed that one persons actions and the renunciation of such methods of transportation could absolutely have an impact. Ane believed that she herself would be able to stop the climate from changing. So all she did was cycle on her fancy bike. However she had a medical condition that a highly accomplished doctor was able to diagnose on the first of June 2022. It was called levi fatigatione cursus viverra, an universally rare condition only diagnosed two times before. The utterly irritating symptom Ane had to live with was yawning every single time she stopped at a traffic light while biking to or from her work place. Were lights red, she yawned and she couldn't stop herself from doing so. Proper medication was not

Once upon a time there was a sheep with five legs. The sheep was very handsome and bright. But that was not all there was to it. The sheep was well-accomplished, it was more than an average sheep was able to be. When other sheep were 2 years young , the five-legged sheep was 2 years old . When other sheep were specialized in wool production, the five-legged sheep was specialized in wool, meat, milk, cheese, bone, fur and leather production. It was able to create miracles, things that no eye has ever glanced. The five-legged sheep had excellent cross-disciplinary qualities that were not seen in the average sheep. All the excellence was demanded of the sheep but despite all it's great, honorable qualities and hard work, it was just another sheep in the flock. It ended up being slaughtered one fine, sunny, warm, summer day and the other sheep all lived happily ever after. Until they died, too.

I jotted down terms that have crossed my mind today. Probably nothing meaningful there but this is part of my creative writing process.  Vindaloo   (Indian curry dish) Intentionssimplementierung (german)  (simplifying intentions by mentioning exact date, time and location) varoaika (finnish)  (time that production animal that has been treated with antibiotica is out of production)   ristiintarkastus (finnish) (cross-examination) doctor-doctor (someone who has got 2 doctor titles)  rammenas (dutch) (a type of brassicaceous crop) phyllo-dough (A very thin type of dough) Croque-Monsieur (french ham and lettuce sandwich)  priorisoida  (finnish) (a verb for expressing that one work task is more essential and relevant than another)

A German folk song on freedom of thought: Die Gedanken sind frei, wer kann sie erraten? Sie fliegen vorbei wie nächtliche Schatten. Kein Mensch kann sie wissen,  kein Jäger erschiessen, es bleibt dabei, die Gedanken sind frei.

There was a young lady, the age of 16. She had become good friends with a bearded man that had a goat laugh and he would tell her about Gandhi, Lao-tse and nonviolence. She was very fascinated by him and his influence accompanied her later in life, she didn't know it then, though. She felt he might have answers that no one else had. She asked him how she could get along with her sister. Her sister was twelve then, very beautiful and the two of them fought all the time. She was bothered by it, since the arguments seemed endless and unkind. The man with the goat laugh told her to pretend that it was the last hour of her sister's life. He pointed out, that it might well be. She tried out his plan and as a result she looked at her sister and saw her for the first time. This is how she began to hold her sister dear. Have you ever borrowed a book from the library and noticed that some previous reader of that very book has underlined parts of the text wit