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Creative Nonfiction Fiction

The sky is beautiful today evening. When the last sun rays of the day kiss the heathland, when the oranges and purples melt into grey under the moonlight. They move slowly, lolloping in their ungainly way, modifying as they go. They go so slow yet so fast. I can’t even get started on how short the beauty of the sunset lasts. Sometimes I watch them for a while, but today I have to go to the forest so that my dad could teach me rabbit hunting. I know, I live in a city and yet do this. Why? I guess it’s because we used to live in the countryside and rabbit hunting was a ‘trend’ over there. After my dad taught me how to do it several times, it was my turn. I hate killing harmless beings and I hate people who do it. I can’t say that to my dad though, he’ll get offended and say that I’m being racist to our culture. I don’t think he even knows the meaning of the word ‘racist’.


“C’mon, hurry up. The rabbits aren’t going to stay out here all day, they’re gonna go back” Dad urges me to hurry up.

Then I take aim, one bullet, one fat rabbit for stew, job done, right? Well I guess it’s not that easy. They scatter around and I don't have the patience to stick around for more.

“I can’t” I say fed up.

“What do you mean you can’t?” Dad answers.

“I’ve been here all day, and I don’t want to kill an innocent rabbit!” I argue.

“Fine.”

“Really?”

“Yes fine.”

I couldn’t believe he finally let me go. I felt as free as a bird coming out of its cage for the first time.


Before leaving, I spot a tree. Abnormal from the rest. It’s in the distance, but I can see smudges of red among it. I walk closer realizing it was a strawberry tree. I carefully picked one out. The strawberry is small but perfectly red, like the ones I remember all those years ago in the farm store. It bears resemblance to the white-topped monsters in the supermarkets, large with such a diffuse flavour and barely-there sweetness. This little fruit-royalty wears a jagged crown of deep green like summer foliage. And yes, the smell. it smells like heaven in my palm, instantly inducing a sense of nostalgia.

I remember when I used to stay up all night waiting for everyone to fall asleep and then sneaking out in order to get my hands on those strawberries. And then the next day the shopkeepers would find half of their strawberries gone with some half-eaten ones on the floor. It was pitch dark though. The eerie darkness of that night would never escape my memory. The milky speckles twirled and danced along the sky in various patterns, tugging at the corners of my lips in a way that almost made me smile. It was hard to shove aside the worries corrupting my mind. Worries that I would get caught for ‘stealing strawberries’. I stopped walking over the aisle with the strawberries and just... stopped thinking. I was alone. It felt as though nothing from my life could touch me. Not a single thing could harm me. I stared up at the sky and studied the silver glow of the moon. It smiled down at me with love so intense it warmed my soul like a fireplace on a cold winter's night. And there I was, standing in the grocery store at midnight to eat… strawberries.


That last sentence sounded better in my head.


Anyway. The look that the moon gave me didn't cause the storm to go on inside of me. Instead, a hot blue fire flickered in my heart and soon started to grow, eating at all of the dark emotions in its path. My worries burned away. But the worries that I would get caught weren’t the only reason. Why would I remember that night so well then? Well, what really happened was that I had escaped home. Yes, I ran away from home. It was because my parents were giving me higher respect to my sister, which I hate. I felt as if I was invisible. But I had to go back the next day.


Crying felt good, especially when they were tears that I didn't want to push away. They weren't drops of sadness, no. They were more like the feelings of joy, relief, happiness and freedom streaming away from my hurt eyes. They were temporary cleaners to wash away the pain. I never cried; it just wasn't me. But that night, under the protection of millions of stars and the beautiful moon, I felt like I could let the floodgates open with a single snap of my fingers. I stared up at the sky and continued to let my pain run away for the moment. The cold midnight waves rolled in and tickled my feet as I stood on the tiles of the grocery store, not ever wanting to leave.


 I start drifting away before abruptly snapping out of it.


“What are you doing? Hurry up, we’re gonna be late” Dad groans.

I hide the strawberry into my jeans pocket and walk home, sneakily nibbling on it on the way. The Sweet-sour tastes swirl in my mouth and I can still smell the blissful natural smell. It felt amazing being reminded of home and made me feel grateful that I had the chance to live in a countryside. Maybe rabbit hunting isn’t all that bad I suppose.


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Back at home, I sat there patiently waiting for dinner to get ready. I started remembering what happened in the woods. It was a truly a wonderful time. Even if it was as bad as running away from home, it was fun. And having fun sometimes is good. Isn’t it? I looked up at the sky from my backyard, hoping to see the same moon and glorious stars like that day. I lay under the stars, which were like a beautiful, surreal blanket above my head. I would call them beautiful, but even that wouldn’t do its justice. This is something you can’t describe or tell anyone about to share the experience, not even something you can capture in a photo. You can only know by experience, only seeing them through your eyes will you be able to see the beauty. Stars are just shiny silvery-blue dots in the sky, so why are they so pretty? What makes it different than dots of light shining through little holes on a black paper? I’d never figure it out. Maybe it’s the reality of it. The mystery. A mystery I’m not up for solving.

September 30, 2020 07:47

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46 comments

22:22 Nov 14, 2020

Hii! First of all, you started the story of AMAZING. This line - ´. When the last sun rays of the day kiss the heathland, when the oranges and purples melt into grey under the moonlight. ´ is so beautiful and caught my attention right away. Your story is really descriptive and the memory was awesome. Oh and I also upvoted you some cause you definitely deserve to get on the lb with these stories and I will help you get there!

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05:14 Nov 16, 2020

awww ty!!!! Your so kind!

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13:58 Nov 16, 2020

No problem!!

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03:22 Nov 23, 2020

Also if you would like to do an upvote spree for upvote spree anytime soon please let me know!!

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23:26 Nov 27, 2020

Hi Rachel! I just posted a new story and was wondering if you could check it out and leave some feedback (If you have time and want to of course). If not it is totally okay! :)

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23:48 Oct 03, 2020

Goodd job on this Rachel! I really liked the description of the memory and I also liked the ending paragraph. It was a very interesting story!! I also really liked the ending sentence from the first sentence I found that funny! But great job and keep writing!!

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23:54 Oct 03, 2020

Thank youuu!

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00:10 Oct 04, 2020

Of course!

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Can't wait for your new story dude, you are posting this week, right?

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00:11 Apr 12, 2021

if i finish it-

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00:20 Oct 20, 2020

Okay so can we talk about your bio? AESTHETICALLY PLEASING. ORGANIZED. GORGEOUS. BOOTIFUL.

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10:24 Oct 20, 2020

Wow okay... THANK YOU! i honesty love aesthetics!

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10:29 Oct 20, 2020

Although I’m guessing you just loved the rainbow ness of it. Lol.

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12:37 Oct 20, 2020

Lol, that’s definitely a bonus XD

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Awesome job Rachel, the description of the memories that the character had was beautiful. I loved it! Keep it up! Happy Writing! ~SS

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05:32 Oct 02, 2020

Thank you 🥰

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You're Welcome! :)

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21:32 Nov 08, 2020

Very beautiful! There was a lot of description within the memories and that made it quite interesting to read. I loved how you wrote the last paragraph, it contained many insights and thought provoking questions. Keep it up!

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06:05 Nov 12, 2020

Thank you!

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What a beautiful, nostalgic and ~poetic~ story!

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03:40 Oct 16, 2020

Thanks!

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Amaya .
21:06 Oct 12, 2020

congrats on leaderboard!!! :)

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06:15 Oct 13, 2020

Ty!

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TJ Squared
05:02 Apr 05, 2021

nice pfp, I actually know that show lol also, Idk if this was intentional or not but you mentioned the same two quotes like three times in your bio so...

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B. W.
04:18 Nov 08, 2020

Hey, i think that i really enjoyed this story and that ya also did a really great job with it ^^ so I think that ill go ahead and give this a 10/10 :)

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05:49 Nov 08, 2020

Awwww ty!

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B. W.
05:54 Nov 08, 2020

no problem ^^ if its alright with ya, do ya think you could check out my new story "Otherworldly repairs" and leave some feedback for it?

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22:48 Oct 31, 2020

Rachel!! You joined Nano??!!

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07:44 Nov 06, 2020

Yeah a while back

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Hriday Saboo
02:49 Oct 15, 2020

Hey Rachel, would you mind reading my new story?

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05:51 Oct 15, 2020

There is no point in going around and begging people to read your stories. I've seen you writing the same thing in many other Reeders' stories. There is really no point if you don't give ANY feedback and just straight away ask. Till now I've been ignoring whenever someones asks me that without giving any feedback, but this getting out of hand. Do you really believe you deserve people to come and give you feedback if you don't give it to them? I'm sorry if I sound too harsh. But I think everyone agrees with me.

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Hriday Saboo
06:24 Oct 15, 2020

Ok

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06:27 Oct 15, 2020

Ty for understanding. I would still highly appreciate if you could give me some constructive feedback on this story. Also, I have homework right now but will see your stories after that. :)

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Ray Dyer
00:49 Oct 05, 2020

Very nice story! Thank you for sharing. If you're interested in constructive feedback, I think there are a couple places where punctuation might help a little. For instance: ...they’re gonna go back” Dad urges me to hurry up. In this case, I'd recommend ending the quote with a period, because what follows is a complete sentence. “I can’t” I say fed up. In this case, I'd recommend commas after "can't" and also "say." Totally minor things in a very interesting story. I like the use of dialogue and the relationship with Dad; ...

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01:17 Oct 05, 2020

Thank you so much. Unfortunately I can't edit anymore but thanks anyway!

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Maya W.
15:03 Oct 01, 2020

Hey Rachel! What a nice story! I love the fragmented thoughts, and you have a very good grasp at character development. All in all, great job! Would you mind reading some of my more recent stories here? Thanks!

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21:29 Oct 01, 2020

Thank you!

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User_2443 0967
19:39 Feb 18, 2021

Yo your bio... I was going to post the dear bullies thing on my bio but its such a mess no one'll see it, so Imma post a link to ur bio in my bio.

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21:08 Feb 19, 2021

Really? Thanks!

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User_2443 0967
02:32 Feb 20, 2021

Np:)

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Amaya .
01:53 Dec 27, 2020

i saw your comment on Abigail's story. You said that saying sorry was sprinkling salt on the wound. is that actually true? I had no idea, I feel so terrible

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07:05 Dec 28, 2020

It's what I believe. Like if such thing happened to me, and wouldn't want every person saying sorry because it's a terrible reminder.

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20:46 Oct 07, 2020

Hi, Rachel! Your stories are amazing and I thought you deserved a lot more upvotes, so consider yourself upvoted!! ;) PS) Can you check out my new story, Worst Luck?? Thanks!

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21:32 Oct 07, 2020

Thank you!

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Arwen Dove
21:47 Apr 17, 2021

This is an amazing story!

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22:19 Apr 17, 2021

Thank you ☺️

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