The Blanket

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Um, this just came out of nowhere ^ ^


A blanket -made of wool, cotton or silk- is the provider of warmth. Ultimate warmth. It also bought comfort and content to a level of which no other inanimate object could. At least this was what Cassandra thought.
She believed this from a child, as her mother used to wrap her in a blanket to comfort her when she was hurt. To warm her in the cold and to bring content when she was stressed. So from a young age, she aspired to learn to knit, so she could make her future children a blanket of ultimate warmth, comfort and content.
The years passed, and this thought, this belief became opaque to her, almost translucent. She still understood the innocence of it, but decided it was childs play and let herself get lost in the life of a teen.
The life of a teen bought her nuisance and a teenage pregnancy. It also bought foolishness, and over confidence. So she kept her baby.
Contrary to the thoughts of her peers and elders, this baby humbled her. And she was a good mother. She comforted it with a blanket.
Her childhood aspiration of knitting a blanket of ultimate comfort, warmth and content returned as solid as ever. So in her spare time from mothering her child, she would knit, and reminisce on her childhood. How simple it was. How lovely.
Although she was skilled in knitting, she was slow. So it took several months before she was halfway through this blanket. This symbol of childhood innocence.
And at the half way mark of the production of the blanket, she fell gravely ill. Her mother looked after the baby and she was free to rest and knit.
The illness made Cassandra week, and she was slower than ever at her knitting. It was almost finished. So close, yet so far away, as she knitted stitch by stitch until all energy was drained from her, allowing her to rest.
The baby grew before Cassandra’s eyes. And although she was not as ill as before, it left her weak and uncapable of finishing this blanket. The blanket of ultimate warmth, comfort and content.
More years passed and her fixation on the completion of this blanket overtook her and she spent more time with her fixation than actually trying to complete this blanket. For not only would it have been completed, but it was nearly three metres long.
After being so intent on this blanket, the day came when she decided it was finished. But this was also the last day of her life. The fixation bought no warmth, comfort or content.
So the child of Cassandra was left with a blanket that did not provide any warmth, comfort or content and Cassandra died unsatisfied with her life.
~Trovare un amico e` trovare un tesoro~




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Hey there :)
*rubs hands together because they're frozen solid at the tips
Didn't really know what to expect from this one, and you surprised me I must say. I wasn't expecting all this.
I believe the basic idea was good but a little too epic to be short story. This is something I would love to see stretched in a longer story or a novel simply because all the emotion you tried to pile into it just felt a little forced. Way too much happened in way too short a time.
Someone once told me that it was never a good idea to kill off your MC in a short story and to be able to pull it off is quite rare.
I don't feel you were able to pull it off unfortuantely, your sentences were a little matter of fact and emotionless in places and by the time Cassandra died I didn't feel that much of a loss.
Sorry if this sounds really mean and harsh, but I'd rather tell you how I really feel than tell you otherwise.
Don't hate me!
-day
"A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere." ~courtesy of one of history's funniest men, Groucho Marx. ^_^




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Firstly, one thing:
"The illness made Cassandra week, and.."
It should be weak, not week.
Oh and another, I'm pretty sure it's incapable, not uncapable, I'm not sure though.

I liked this story, even if it was quite sad. It could have done with more description, possibly. I mean I read the whole thing and have no idea what the MC looks like.

Anyway, just suggestions.

-Bella
-----
Hey Thar




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Hey
Thanks for the replies.

First of all, the spelling mistakes were my word programs auto check. I've no idea why that happened. I think I need to fix it...

Secondly, I know it was too emotional for a short story, but it's not supposed to be perfect. I wrote it feeling so many emotions and to be honest, it felt good after I finished it. Although its not aesthetically pleasing, I'm happy with it.

Thankyou for your critisism.

MissMadHatter
~Trovare un amico e` trovare un tesoro~




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Very poignant, and quite beautiful. Not being a big fan of fantasy or science fiction it was great to see a work like this. Your use of adjectives was superb, and the way the story unrolled felt almost like watching a documentary. Although your language was fanciful it felt as if the story was very stark and bare which is exactly how it should have been. My only critiscism was that there wasn't much storylike about it, it felt a little like statements of facts. Other than tat - Fantastic, and keep on writing!
Oh and one last thing - I LOVED how your central theme was something fairly obscure, it made the story very different to read!



It's funny how humans can wrap their mind around things and fit them into their version of reality.
— Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief