The Grimm Diaries Prequels Volume 11- 14: Children of Hamlin, Jar of Hearts, Tooth & Nail & Fairy Tale, Ember in the Wind, Welcome to Sorrow, and Happy Valentine's Slay. (22 page)
Authors: Cameron Jace
Of course, there is a hospital, town square, an abandoned mall, and you could buy used musical instruments at the Talking Harp.
Purr & Furr is our pet shop. Avoid it, please. Animals in there aren’t scary or anything, but they usually talk to you and negotiate the price they want you to pay for them.
I can’t show you around all the neighborhoods at the moment, but I could mention the names of some like Arcadra, the Bullyvards, Pentamora, Nifelheim, Nifeldorf, and a small zoo called Zolom where there is a snake that is bigger than an elephant. If you manage to survive it, then you will have a great day in the zoo.
We have other neighborhoods like Teacher’s Ravenue, Ginger Drive, and Blackenwoods. I don’t know much about those.
I hope you’re not bothered by the geography of Sorrow; most of the streets slope up and down. It’s our town’s nature. A tourist once said that it reminded him of the streets of San Francisco. Of course, I haven’t been there myself so I can’t confirm.
If you look down this sloping street, you should see the Yew & Eye pharmacy, right next to the Samarra morgue. No one likes to walk there at night, but if you lift your head up you should see the Woodpecker’s Lot where you will find our famous Breadcrumb Street.
Breadcrumb Street is famous because it’s the only route to the creepy Candy House up the hill. A boy and girl live up there. They are cute; nerds, and a bit introverted, but many people fear that house.
Sorrow. What a lovely town.
I think I have shown you around most of the important places. Now it would be time for me to tell you about the parts of town you should avoid—not every tourist guide will be that honest with you; but believe me, these places are wicked.
The problem with these places isn’t that you might end up dead there, but that you might actually become
even deader.
Most of Sorrow’s inhabitants would prefer not to mention these places. They like to think of each place as that itch on your butt—allow me to use that metaphor because I am not a poet. I am just a hunchback.
So, we were talking about the itch on your butt. It’s there. You know it’s there. Probably your doctor—and a whole lotta others—know it’s there. But we never talk about the
itch on your butt
, because it’s a dark and scary place, and we all would like to forget about it.
Sorrow has those kinds of itch everywhere, except they are much scarier; haunted houses, resurrecting cemeteries, and ghost infested schools.
For example, you should never go near the Will O’ Wike neighborhood where the Buried Moon Cemetery is located. And you should avoid neighborhoods like Wicket Woof, Furry Tell, Lucky Doubt, Saffron Park, Anvilum, Thorning, Auberon and Gutherum, and The Red Snow Road—please stay away from The Red Snow Road.
And if someone tells you they’d like to picnic at the Juniper Tree—which some call the Impossible Tree,andclaiming it grows book—just don’t listen to them.
Other than places, there is something else you should try to resist. It’s
the calling.
People say the calling is an inner urge you feel, as if someone is hypnotizing you then calling for you to go to some special place; which in our case will be the most forbidden ‘scratch’ we have in Sorrow. It’s called the Black Forest.
The Black Forest is right in the middle of the town. It’s encircled by many layers of protective guardians. The first is the Buried Moon Cemetery, where it’s said the moon itself was buried. And there is a rumor that whoever is buried there returns as a zombie, but I haven’t witnessed that myself.
If you were out of your mind and followed the calling, you would be crossing the Swamp of Sorrow right behind the Buried Moon Cemetery. It’s a dark, green swamp with no living organism inside it—dead, yes; living, no.
The Swamp of Sorrow used to have small bridges and causeways in the past that would have allowed a visitor to cross over to the forest beyond it. None of them still exist nowadays. It’s said that trolls ate the bridges and the swamp flooded the causeways. These days, you’ll need a canoe, rowing in the dark, to cross over.
Good luck with that.
If you’re still out of your mind and succeed in crossing the Swamp of Sorrow, you’ll find yourself on the threshold of the Black Forest. Frankly, I have never been there, and the scary things I’ve heard about the forest vary from one to another, but they all assured me it would best to stop there and turn back.
Unless, of course, you’re still hypnotized by that calling. Then you’ll end up finding the castle we call the Schloss, which has been described in many ways to me; but all agree that it’s more of a haunted house than a castle.
But I know you’re probably still hypnotized by the calling, so you will walk into the castle, roam around, fascinated by its fairy-tale-like designs until you finally reach what was actually calling and hypnotizing you.
It’s nothing you should worry about. It’s just a beautiful princess in a glass coffin. You’ll notice her skin is pale as snow, her hair is black as night, and her lips red as blood. And you will want to kiss those lips if you’re a boy, and help her if you’re girl—and maybe kiss her if you’re a girl; I’m just a hunchback, I don’t know.
Then when the moment comes and you kneel down to kiss her, she will open her eyes, and you’ll discover she has fangs.
She has fooled you with the power of controlling your heart’s desire, lulling you into the castle with her sleeping beauty charm, and her beauty of the beast.
And now, you’re hers.
I told you not to go there.
Goodbye.
Before you wither away, you will hear young girls jumping the rope outside the castle, singing a nursery rhyme that is well known in Sorrow; only we shiver when we hear it:
Snow White one, Snow White two,
Sorrow is coming out for you.
Snow White three, Snow White four,
Black as night, go lock your door.
Snow White five, Snow White six,
Blood red lips and crucifix.
Snow White seven, Snow White eight,
White as snow, don’t stay out late.
Snow White Nine, Snow White ten,
Snow White now killed Snow White then.
I hope I have been a good guide, ushering you through our lovely town, which is located East of the Sun, West of the Moon—you can’t find that address using a regular map.
Now, it’s time to wait for a sixteen year old boy named Loki Blackstar to arrive. Unbeknownst to him, Loki has the power to spark up the adventure. If only he knows what’s waiting for him.
On behalf the town, I’d say to him, and you of course: Welcome to Sorrow.
End of Prequel no# 15
Afterward
I hope you did enjoy reading the Grimm Prequels 10.5 – 15 as much as I enjoyed researching and writing it. I like to point out that I will continue writing the prequels – but there will be no more prequels before Snow White Sorrow’s release. From now on, the word “Prequel” will mean things that happened before the incidents in the first main book of Snow White Sorrow, which happens in the present day when the characters are awake. Prequels will always be a nice way to shed a light on past events in the ever-expanding fairy tale world. This doesn’t mean you have to read them before the main series. It just enhances your experience much more.
Lastly, I know there was very little romance—if any—in this set. Like I said, the main purpose for this set was to tighten the plot, and the many romantic plots had to be postponed for this to happen.
If you have the time and could kindly review the prequels, that’d be awesome. You have no idea how much this means to me. An honest review helps me learn and improve as an Indie storyteller. I also answer all emails sent to me if there is something you want to ask about—even if I had been slow lately because I was trying to get the writing done.
And if you’re already interested in Snow White Sorrow and want to be the first to know about its release date, please join my Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/camjace
.
Thanks again and wish you all a new and awesome year.
Remember: Evil is a point of View
Cameron
To know more about Snow White Sorrow,
HERE
List of the Grimm Diaries Prequels available so far:
The Grimm Diaries Prequels 1- 6
narrated by Snow White Queen
2
Cinder to Cinder & Ashes to Ashes
narrated by Alice Grimm
narrated by Peter Pan
narrated by Little Red Riding Hood
as told by the devil
narrated by Prince Charming
The Grimm Diaries Prequels 7- 10
7
Once Beauty Twice Beast
narrated by Beauty
8
Moon & Madly
narrated by Moongirl
9
Rumpelstein
narrated by Rumpelstiltskin
10
Jawigi
narrated by Sandman Grimm
Upcoming single diaries:
16 - T
he Pumpkin Piper (not until Snow White Sorrow is released)
Other books by Cameron Jace:
The I Am Alive series:
I Am Alive volume 1-3: Nice Day to Die, Wheel of Fortune, Through Your Eyes (Ya Dystopian series)
You can contact me at
or
or
or
@cameronjace
( I answer all emails personally )
Oh, One More Thing
…
When you turn the page, Kindle will give you the opportunity to express your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter automatically. If you enjoyed my book, would you take a second to click that button and let your friends know about it? If they get something out of the book, they’ll be grateful to you. As I will!
Thanks again and happy Easter—at least it’s on its way:
See you in Sorrow *evil grin*
Table of Contents
Table of Contents