A Cup Of Fiction

A Cup of Fiction, Magic Realism

Good morning, my lovelies. I started writing this episode on a Monday. I am not afraid to tell you all that I struggle with Mondays. But I have decided that Monday won't stop me from my goal, so here we go. Let me know if you struggle with Mondays as well. I will assume you do and that it is because of work, school, or some otherworldly endeavor that must be done. But if it is something else and you feel like sharing, leave a comment let us know what it is. Get a cup of your favorite morning beverage and join me as I dig into today's creative writing element. How can we turn the mundane of our everyday life into the fantastical world of the characters we create in our writing?

It would be fun if we could use Magic Realism to do to the world what we do to our fictional characters' worlds. The element of creative fiction writing is magic realism. This literary genre seamlessly blends fantastical elements with realistic settings, creating narratives where the extraordinary is treated as ordinary. It differs from traditional fantasy by grounding its stories in familiar, often historical or contemporary, worlds while subtly introducing magical or supernatural occurrences.

Unlike fantasy, where magic is often explained and explored, magical realism embraces ambiguity, leaving the fantastical elements unexplained and accepted as part of everyday reality. This approach allows authors to form and explore deeper themes and social commentary, often highlighting cultural and societal issues.

Consider "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez, where ghostly whispers and unending rains of yellow flowers seem as natural as breath itself. These magic moments do not jar the reader; they enrich the world with an otherworldly event.

One of the key characteristics of magical realism is its ability to blur the lines between reality and fantasy. By presenting magical events with a matter-of-fact tone, authors encourage readers to question the nature of reality itself. This can lead to thought-provoking narratives that challenge conventional perceptions and invite multiple interpretations. Additionally, magical realism often employs symbolism and allegory to convey deeper meanings, allowing readers to connect with the stories on both a literal and metaphorical level.

In Stephen King's book Firestarter, the character's ability to create fire, or pyrokinesis is just something that is. Many renowned authors have explored the techniques and potential of magical realism in their works. Gabriel García Márquez, often considered the master of magical realism, seamlessly weaves mysterious elements into his stories. Consider Leaf Storm, by Marquez, this collection of short stories features tales that blur the lines between reality and fantasy, often incorporating supernatural elements and magical realism.

In your stories, when you use magical realism, you can create characters who can levitate or objects that come to life. Magical realism is often a Latin-American strategy in narrative creation. The two terms oppose each other, mixing the ordinary with the extraordinary and creating intrigue. In my work of contemporary Fiction, In the Silence I Hear, a young man, Fredrick Appleton, deaf from birth, gains the ability to hear along with visionary flashes in his dreams. Later in the tale, Fredrick attributes the extraordinary moments of auditory perceptions to the muses of Greek myth. The young man is plagued by auditory premonitions and visions of people he encounters in his deafness doing evil. His story leads him to choose between allowing evil or preventing it. Because this is a Dark Vigilante Justice piece of fiction, Fredrick prevents evil with his own style of justice, which, to most, is also evil. However, even the element of the Muses I include in this tale may be too much explanation for magical realism, which is presented and not explained. The reader must accept that the supernatural event is and read on. The character that can communicate with the dead, the immortal that has lived for centuries.

Warning this story is a dark Vigilantie Justice tale. It ofter covers very sensitive and evil topics within the human condition.

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What stories have you crafted that can be called Magical Realism? Let us know in the comments so we can take a gander and applaud your craftiness.

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A Fresh Cup of Fiction

Enjoy!

The Garden of Forgotten Names

There is a well-kept and wondrous garden in a village where no one is seen tending it, and no one claims to keep it. The black iron fence and gate appear new. The gate is open and bears no lock. People whisper that it is the work of the old gods or perhaps a quirk of nature that is too strange to explain. Inside, flowers bloom in unnatural hues. Violets that shimmer like stars, roses the color of autumn fire, and lilies that bend their necks toward the whispers of passersby. The air carries a heady fragrance, like forgotten memories revealing themselves to those who lost them.

Mary, a widow with weathered hands and a heart heavy with too many farewells, sipped coffee one morning; she looked upon a picture of her late husband but could not recall his name. It was as if the name had never existed. She touched the ring encircling her finger and felt a chill, like the weight of a final goodbye.

Later that day, while passing the garden on her way to the corner store. The beauty of the flowers and the wonderful fragrances called to her. She had never entered the garden before, enjoying it from the street as she passed; today, she entered.

The air inside was light and calm; a gentle breeze flowed throughout. Bees hummed faintly as if whispering secrets. Her eyes caught a bloom near the path, a delicate orchid, pale as moonlight, with a single word etched on its petals. Theo. Her husband's name.

Her knees trembled, but she knelt to touch the flower. The moment her fingertips brushed its soft surface, memories she didn't know she'd lost cascaded back. Theo's laugh echoed in their kitchen, the scent of his pipe tobacco, the way his hand felt clasped in hers during their final walk. Tears streaked her cheeks as she lingered in the bittersweet flood of recollection.

She stayed for hours, wandering the garden and discovering names carved into petals, bark, and stones. Each belonged to someone she had lost; when she touched them, forgotten moments revealed themselves.

As twilight fell, Mary whispered, "Why do you take them?"

The flowers stirred, and the leaves rustled in a breeze that felt like a sigh. No voice answered, but deep in her heart, Mary understood. The garden didn't steal names; it kept them safe, sheltering them until they were needed again.

Her friends noticed Mary smiled more and hummed songs no one else remembered. When asked about Theo, she simply said, "He's still with me, just as he always was."

Meanwhile, the garden stood silent as ever, waiting for the next soul to forget and remember.

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Thank you for sticking with me and my new endeavor, "A Cup of Fiction." Please read, highlight, and reply. If you feel so compelled, recommend it to others. Remember, all the links to the books mentioned in this blog are affiliate links, and I benefit if you use them and purchase anything on Amazon.

Books mentioned in this post.

© 2024, T. Mark Mangum

I am T. Mark Mangum. From an early age, I was hooked on the imagined, unfathomable worlds of Star Wars, Star Trek, Conan, the Lord of the Rings, and many others. I love writing fiction tales. I love writing in multiple genres, but my favorites are Sci-fi and Fantasy fiction. I am a father of six; we have two cats and two dogs. Tabletop gaming is a passion of mine.

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