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Comment
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DonnaQ
Registered User
(9/13/01 10:10:03 pm)
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The City of Shoes:
A Post-Crisis Fairy Tale.
The townsfolk gathered. They stared in silent awe at the rubble
and dust. Everywhere they looked, the streets were littered with
shoes. Little and big shoes, old shoes and new ones; they came in
all shapes and colors and all were abandoned.
Each shoe had its own story. They told of happy times and sad, hopes
and dreams and finally, the nightmare. Numbly, the people collected
the shoes, listening to the tales they told, and washed the dust
away from the shoes with their tears.
The shoes were brought to a special warehouse set aside specifically
for that purpose. Some of the people, though, took a shoe home with
them or sent them to friends and relatives. Soon, the shoes came
to be spread throughout the world.
A judge in the South kept a shoe on his mantle. He found that it
inspired his thoughts on justice. A firefighter on the West Coast
had his shoe on his bed table. It reminded him of heroic deeds and
it helped him feel brave just when he needed it most. A schoolteacher
in Japan kept her shoe in the classroom. She showed it to her students
and they talked about unity. A storekeeper in Germany made a special
stand for his shoe and put it in the window, and it reminded all
those passing that life is precious.
People all over treasured their shoes and, in this way, their stories
live on.
The warehouse where the rest of the shoes had been collected was
eventually turned into the Museum of Shoes. It became a special
spot for rememberance and contemplation. In this place, the shoes
sang their stories to great crowds.
It was here, much later, that once again the townsfolk gathered.
They danced to the song of the shoes all night long. They danced
for the stories the shoes had shared and the lessons they had learned
from them. They danced for love and laughter and life. And then
they danced just a little bit more, especially for the people who
had left their shoes behind.
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Lotti
Unregistered User
(9/17/01 1:50:24 pm)
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Understanding
a little better, now
Donna,
I was feeling very divided about your story at first. I felt that
this was no time for fairy tales. That it was not fitting to write
fairy tales now, to turn part of this into a fairy tale. But your
story has come back to haunt me over the last few days. I begin
to see that it helps to remember the horror for a long time, to
keep alive the feelings we need to learn our lessons. I hope it
has helped you to cope, and I thank you for sharing it. I will definitely
keep it.
Best wishes,
Lotti
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Jess
Unregistered User
(9/17/01 9:03:20 pm)
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Are fairy tales
appropriate?
There has been a lot of discussion about whether it is appropriate
to be discussing/writing fairy tales after the ordeal on last Tuesday.
Besides that which crisis interventionist will tell us, i.e. talk,
write, get your feelings out, there are other reasons why I think
it is important. Great works of art, whether visual arts, drama,
music, or literature are often the human response to tragedy and
speak about the harshness of today and the hope of a better tomorrow.
Shostikovich's Leningrad Symphony comes to mind - written during
the siege of Leningrad in WWII, when people were literally starving
to death and eating such things as wall paper paste just to stay
alive. If you are unfamiliar with the piece, I highly recommend
it. Another piece of music inspired by tragedy is Aaron Copland's
Fanfare for the Common Man (part of his third symphony) - also written
during WWII as a patriotic piece of music.
What does music have to do with fairy tales? For these composers
their words were notes and their books were symphonies. For those
who write on this forum your genre is fairy tales, and thus, it
is through the language of fairy tales that you communicate your
thoughts, feelings and the feelings of others. The fact that fairy
tales are not just simple children's stories does not need to be
explained to this audience. Whether these stories tell of hope,
or of gruesome horror, there is a certain underlying truth to them
that has surfaced in this time of crisis. The more we write, the
more we discuss, the more we leave to history and our children as
a legacy of our emotions. Perhaps they will learn from our stories.
And as one of those forum members that are truly just readers, I
implore you to keep writing.
Jess
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La
Reine Noire
Registered User
(9/20/01 10:19:38 am)
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Appropriateness
Today was my first day of English 575: Shakespeare and the Tragic.
And in the class, pretty much all we talked about was September
11th. What people felt, how people reacted, how it affected all
of us. And how does that relate to Shakespeare? The same way it
relates to all other forms of literature and art - some of us use
it as a means to channel emotions that we cannot express in other
ways. And in that particular case, as our class was concentrated
on the tragedies, it gave us a heightened sense of the territory
we would be entering and residing within for ten weeks.
I cried when I saw the news report. But only the first time. Afterward,
I was numb. I felt horrible because it seemed as though I had no
emotional response to this catastrophe that has affected so many
people I know and love. But writing is a means of showing your emotions,
the same as anything else.
I loved this faery-tale post, personally. And I feel that faery-tales,
as much as any other form of art, are more than appropriate for
such an event as this. Elgar wrote his Cello Concerto in response
to the horrors of trench warfare in the First World War. Why should
we not seek a form of catharsis through creation?
~Kavita
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4betterhealthmsncom
Unregistered User
(10/2/01 7:12:27 am)
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The City of Shoes
How beautiful....I have to write a research paper. I would like
to do it on fairy tales. I came across your work. It is so wonderful.
I think I would like to write about how fairy tales help in time
of crisis. How they offer hope. From what I have read, Pandora's
Box, The Firebird, Cinderella and Bluebeard are fairy tales that
I should read. Can you make any other suggestions? I might just
use your fairy tale. Have your read any other fairy tales dealing
with a crisis? Do you mind if I make reference to your work? Thanks
Kate
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DonnaQ
Registered User
(10/4/01 12:49:32 pm)
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Re: The City
of Shoes: A Post-Crisis Fairy Tale.
HTML Comments are not allowed
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Heidi
Unregistered User
(10/4/01 1:39:36 pm)
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Hmmm....
Donna,
Could you give me an idea of what you were trying to post, so I
can figure out why EZboard didn't allow the post?
I haven't seen this problem arise before.
Heidi
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DonnaQ
Registered User
(10/4/01 2:54:38 pm)
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Re: Hmmm....
HTML Comments are not allowed
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4betterhealthmsncom
Unregistered User
(10/7/01 1:28:02 pm)
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The City of Shoes
Donna...I am a high school student and would like to make mention
of your fairy tale.\in my research paper. Are you stating that you
would rather that I don't? I love it and have been sharing it with
my girlsfriends, am I breaking the rules?
Thanks Kate
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DonnaQ
Registered User
(10/8/01 10:17:47 am)
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Re: The City
of Shoes
Kate
I don't know what happened with the previous posts. If you want
to refer to the story, just contact me first so I can give you the
necessary info to accomany it. Thanks!
WriteOnQ@aol.com
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DonnaQ
Registered User
(10/8/01 10:21:30 am)
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Um...
That should read - accompany - it.
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Jess
Unregistered User
(11/20/01 5:00:08 pm)
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oops
It was Donna, not Helen that was the author. Oops. Sorry Donna.
Jess
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