The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."
— Mark Twain
Short Stories
You'll find the following short stories in the book
"The Joy of Being" by Hildegard Caringi.
♦
Crystal Palace
by Hildegard Caringi
© Nov. 2007
Horses,
pulling a carriage,
gallop through the night.
As the sun rises higher in the sky,
the carriage passes through a number
of clear streams flooding the road.
The rippling waves
reflect every color in the rainbow.
The horses seem to know their destination
and hurry ahead,
as they turn into a private road
lined with tall black oak trees,
easily a few centuries old.
Within minutes they arrive
in front of a magnificent palace
of translucent crystal,
surrounded by vast, well-manicured gardens,
idyllic and perfectly innocent-looking.
A flapping of wings
and a strange birdcall is heard,
as a silhouette of a man,
emerging from the shadows of the trees,
approaches a nearly translucent gate,
partly overgrown by green vines.
Opening it quickly,
the carriage enters the courtyard.
A delicate scent
of a sweet fragrance fills the air
and becomes stronger
as the coach gets closer to the palace.
A slender young woman,
in awe of the beautiful place,
sticks her head out of the coach window
inhaling deeply,
never taking her eyes off the crystal palace
in fron of her.
Horses and coach come to a stop,
while a mild breeze drifts across to them.
The coachman opens the door for the passenger inside,
and watches her,
in a trance with her eyes closed,
approaching the crystal palace.
The setting is electrifying.
The same strange birdcall
is heard again…
and a buzz of adventure and excitement
fills the atmosphere.
Suddenly! Lightning flashes...
and the wind increases with a fury,
snatching the woman off the ground
and blowing her across
to the palace,
which is now engolfed in a glowing mist.
The doors to the palace
fly open mysteriously,
swallowing her up.
The sweet fragrance in the air
is overwhelming.
Nauseaing fear grips the coach man
and he jumps up onto his seat.
He snaps the whip and the carriage takes off.
But there is no way out.
The green vines have grown,
and now cover the translucent gate completely.
As lightening and thunder cut through the air once again,
and tall oak trees explode
and come crushing down to the ground,
he sees a slight movement and a strange glow
between the shadows of the branches,
which takes on the form of a large head
and lets out a terrifying sound,
resembling the strange birdcall.
The driver’s anxiety increases,
and he struggles for air.
yet to the same time it leaving him breathless.
Totally enveloped by the glow
and the quickly growing shadows,
the driver suddenly relaxes
and so does the storm...
Darkness falls quickly
and it grows oddly silent...
The sweet fragrance in the air
becomes overwhelming….
Site Navigation
