The dwarf tied the hands of the human creature behind it, keeping hold of the end of the rope. They started to walk at a fast pace. Crossing the forest at night was not easy. The dwarf was carrying a small lamp. They had to reach the Witch’s castle before midnight. Then, the expected trial would begin.
At the castle, the Witch was getting ready to receive the dwarf and the prisoner. Twelve dwarves were called to serve as jury. None of them particularly liked human creatures. At precisely ten minutes to midnight, the dwarf and the human creature arrived.
©️Susan Fourtané, 2025 - All rights reserved
About the Creator
Susan Fourtané
Susan Fourtané is a Science and Technology Journalist, a professional writer with over 18 years experience writing for global media and industry publications. She's a member of the ABSW, WFSJ, Society of Authors, and London Press Club.
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Character development in fiction writing
The development of characterisation, (i.e. the development of the characters that will appear in a fiction story) throughout history is fascinating. In the ancient world, writers used the knowledge they have learned from the sciences and other disciplines to create their characters.
By Susan Fourtané 8 months ago in Fiction
Identity and the Exhaustion of Grand Ideas
Over the past few decades, intellectual life has been shaped by a growing distrust of ambitious theories that once claimed to explain history and society as a whole. The fading influence of the radical projects associated with the 1968 generation produced a more careful and restrained scholarly atmosphere. Many historians and social theorists became skeptical of large narratives and universal categories, preferring limited scope and methodological caution. In Germany, this shift took a distinctive form through the rise of microhistory, an approach that emphasizes close attention to sources, local contexts, and everyday life. Microhistorians sought to revive the craft of traditional historiography while distancing themselves from older positivist assumptions. Their work often challenges broad concepts such as capitalism, industrialization, and the state, treating them as abstractions that obscure rather than clarify lived experience.
By Gopal Balakrishnanabout 23 hours ago in Fiction
Day 4 of Quitting
If this is how sobriety feels, maybe it’s better to go through life a little buzzed… this, along with other hits like, I want to kill myself, I wish I was dead, and I’m going to throw myself off a bridge have been the only thoughts on rotation these past few days. I promise myself that if, in a month, I still feel like this (‘this’ meaning despondent, full of rage, and simultaneously numb) I can go back to smoking. Until mid-February though? Nicotine is off the table.
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Comments (2)
Is it wrong of me that I'm looking for more?
Oh no, I gotta know what happens next!