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C. J. W. Armstrong's avatar

Enjoyed this a lot, Minnie, thanks for sharing. A very clear sense of melancholy and longing. Some really nice turns of phrase as well - ‘patient graveyard’, ‘rain chasing us down the stairs’ and the image of the creature feeding on spiders in dark corners all stood out.

One thing I was wondering about: I presumed we were dealing with a kind of fantastical star-creature fallen from the heavens, but the bit about the Smithsonians I wasn’t sure about - I started wondering if it was supposed to be a real creature, or a metaphor for some space junk, a satellite or something? I settled in imagining that this was a kind of alt-universe where these star-creatures have been found before and are known to exist (and it also made sense why a young girl would want to keep her friend a secret, in order not to have to surrender it to the authorities)

Certainly picked up the warm and tender relationship between herself and the creature, which was genuinely lovely :)

Minnie Mayhem's avatar

Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it!

You're really pretty spot-on with your interpretation, at least that's how I envisioned it as I was writing it. With this story I did deliberately leave it a little abstract, though, because I want it to be open to the interpretation of the reader, to bring their own memories and attachments to it. I was aiming more for emotional pull than literal material.

I appreciate the feedback, thanks again!

Marissa Purdum's avatar

Wow, the language in this. So gorgeous, I’m obsessed. It gave me literal chills.

Minnie Mayhem's avatar

Thank you so much! That means a lot 🥹

Marissa Purdum's avatar

It really is so beautiful. I love language like this. It’s like reading a work of art.

dabarb's avatar

It was pretty good

dabarb's avatar

Totally something a hipster would write

Minnie Mayhem's avatar

Okay but did you like it? 🤨🤨🤨