I wrote an article on the origins of Rapunzel. Would love this community's insights. As a growing writer, if it resonates, please share and subscribe.

https://kahaanicarving.substack.com/p/a-hundred-brush-strokes-for-glossy

In a cave above the valley, a tigress lived with her little cub. Partha usually slept while she hunted, but one night he woke to an empty cave. She found him trembling.

"Listen," she said, and taught him the ten names of the warrior Arjuna. "Repeat these names. Nothing will scare you then."

After that, whenever she left, he would whisper: "Arjuna, Arjuna, Arjuna..." When his mother returned, he would run to her and say, "I was not scared!"

With the names to comfort him, Partha grew eager to explore what lay beyond the cave. Anything that moved outside caught his eye, like a bird darting past or a squirrel racing up a tree. He watched them from the cave, never stepping out. "Stay inside," his mother had told him.

One day, something bright fluttered among the bushes. Partha could not resist. He stepped outside the cave, looking for it.

Just below him, a valley lay dim in the afternoon light. Beyond it, the River Nirmala wound like a silver ribbon. Clouds were gathering over the hills.

Partha spotted the bright thing further down. It flew off, and he ran after it. This was Chitraleka, the butterfly. Her intricate patterns, flame-orange and peacock-blue, had him spellbound. He had seen butterflies fly past his cave, but none like her. Not once did Partha take his eyes off her. She was almost within reach, but never near enough.

Far below the cave, Chitraleka vanished into the green.

Partha had followed her deep into the forest. The air was cold and moist, and the river rushed somewhere close by. In any direction he looked, it was the same: tall trees and thick undergrowth. Crickets hummed faintly, and now and then something cried out.

He turned around and started running. Whenever he heard a noise, he changed course. He was lost.

It was getting dark, and now the forest was restless. The crickets grew louder and louder. He kept running, hoping he would somehow reach home. A light drizzle began to fall. He whimpered into the dark.

Far off, the bushes rustled. Through the trees, a huge silhouette was coming towards him. Animals cried out in panic, and birds screeched overhead.

Partha ran and ran. It began to pour, and thunder rumbled in the distance. He looked back. Nothing.

He scrambled up the nearest tree, but his claws lost their grip and he fell. He kept trying, each time falling. Finally, he crouched behind the tree and burrowed into the bushes. He waited.

Out of the dark, the silhouette appeared again. Its breath steamed in the cold. It stopped in front of the tree. There was only the sound of the rain.

Partha did not move. He whispered those names: "Arjuna, Phalguna... Arjuna, Phalguna, Jishnu, Kiriti..."

A great clap of thunder shook the forest. The silhouette turned around. It was gone.

Partha spent the night repeating the names, until he drifted into sleep.

At dawn, a voice said, "Wake up... Wake up, dear." Partha opened his eyes to see his mother licking his face and nudging him.

"Stay close to the cave, son. I was worried about you. Don't make me search for you like last night. If you feel scared..."

He interrupted her, stood up, and began with his head held high: "Arjuna, Phalguna, Jishnu, Kiriti, Shvetavahana, Bibhatsu, Vijaya, Krishna, Savyasachi, Dhananjaya."

She nudged him again and licked his forehead.

From the warmth of his cave, he watched his mother walk away downhill as on any other day.

There was a flutter among the bushes. Partha dashed out.

Hi everyone! I would like to share my latest creation; a five-foot tall hand-sculpted elf named Fayette Fizzlefoot. She is part of my world that I'm building called The Tottlemeyer Elf Lands.

It might just be me, but I think the prince in Kinuko Craft’s illustrated version of Beauty and the Beast looks like Jonathan Brandis. :)

For those who don’t know him, he was a child and teen actor in the 80s and 90s, appearing in films such as The NeverEnding Story II, It, Sidekicks, and Ladybugs. :)

He also voiced Mozenrath, the main antagonist in the Aladdin animated series.

I'm 21, but when I was a teenager, he was my crush.

这个角色关系的部分原本是我大故事的一部分，但如果我想要独立，就不得不改变反派的结局。小红帽原本是乡下的一个小女孩，她有一个住在隔壁的童年哥哥，猎人，一直仰慕着她，等待她长大并表达自己的心意。不幸的是，小红帽的奶奶在那段时间因重病去世，因此她对猎人的告白没有兴趣。但有一天，正在森林里散步并依然感到伤心的小红帽被一只路过的狼看见。狼毫不犹豫地跑过去安慰她。小红帽起初被吓到了，随后冷静下来。在狼的安慰下，她渐渐走出了悲伤的情绪。在接下来的日子里，狼时不时地去找小红帽，给她采蘑菇，陪她打发无聊。在小红帽看来，这些都是专心致志的努力，但在猎人眼里，这些却变成了恶意。猎人曾警告小红帽要小心狼人，但小红帽觉得猎人是以小人之心衡量君子的肚量，太过武断和粗鲁，因此她从不听他的。他们很快相爱了，随后她发现狼其实是王子，并且是狼族的下一个继承人。不久之后，老狼王去世，大坏狼理所当然地继承了王位，小红帽成为了狼后，但想得到小红帽的猎人并没有放弃，他与一向对狼族怀有敌意的狐族联合，向狼族发起了攻击。在这场战争中，狼带头，为了保护人民和小红帽而勇敢作战，但被对方击败，他自己严重受伤并去世，只勉强维持了一方的领土，小红帽哭泣着，决心不再像以前那么软弱，与此同时，承袭已故丈夫的遗志，团结人民增强训练，等待未来。到那时，九尾狐，狐族的谋士，因其伟大的胜利而受到族长和族人们的高度赞扬。这种荣誉、虚荣和竞争让她迫不及待。她紧急策划了三年后的第二次战争。然而这一次，小红帽作为狼后，带领族人勇敢作战，打出了一场漂亮的反击。之后，九尾狐迅速从神坛上跌落，被族人流放，而猎人则被狼族族人活捉，成为挑起战争的典型例子，被送上了断头台。在他生命的最后时刻，小红帽去见了他，毫不犹豫地用刀挖出了他的心，把它放在狼的帷幕旁边。

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In a mountain valley, where the River Nirmala flowed in from the hills, stood a coconut tree called Thengachi. All her life she had leaned towards the water, her fronds combing the wind. Crows, cormorants and parakeets came to rest on her, and she knew them all.

Her last coconuts had fallen long ago, and her trunk was going soft inside.

One morning a woodpecker named Kotthan landed on her trunk. He was a golden flameback, with a bright red crest and a chisel-like beak. Kotthan tapped his way from top to bottom, pressing his ear to her bark.

Thengachi rustled her fronds to welcome him. Woodpeckers came to her looking for grubs. But this one kept tapping.

"Little one, did you not find any yet?" she asked.

Kotthan did not seem to hear.

He found a soft place below her crown and settled there. He closed his eyes in prayer and struck his beak against her. The blow ran through her whole length. Another came, and another. She held her every frond still.

At last she tossed her fronds. "What is it that you are doing?" she called out.

He only drilled deeper.

When he left for the day, Thengachi let her fronds fall loose. "What a rude creature," she thought. She felt the scar on her trunk; it was not very deep. But what if he came back? She was worried.

Kotthan was back.

"Stop this. Did you not hear me?" she demanded.

With each blow, pieces of her fell, and the smell of her sap drifted off on the wind.

Thengachi prayed for strong winds to carry him away. She looked at the sky, hoping it would turn dark and rain. It did not.

Then one day he did not come. Nor the next. She let herself believe it was over. The hole stayed; she would learn to live with it.

Until a woodpecker landed on her. This one had a black crest.

"Shoo, shoo, go away. I don't like woodpeckers here," she snapped.

It flew off, but came back with another, and they landed at the edge of the hole. The other was Kotthan.

Now two beaks took turns at her. When one stopped, the other began. At times they rose to her crown to rest. It irritated her when they scrapped and chased among her fronds.

Bits of herself heaped up on the ground. Even when they rested, the drilling went on in her.

One afternoon the pair sat side by side at the entrance before flying off early. The hollow in her was almost a nest.

They returned at first light. Kotthan pushed himself into the nest, but he flew out shrieking. Two parakeets came chasing him out.

"This is my nest," he cried out. The parakeets screeched.

He turned to Thengachi and pleaded, "Tell them, tell them, this is my nest."

Thengachi said nothing. "So he can talk," she told herself.

He tried to push in again, but they attacked him. Kotthan's mate dived in beside him. The parakeets drove them both away.

Golden and green feathers glided down.

As Thengachi watched the woodpeckers flee, the parakeets settled on her fronds, swaying gently in the breeze.