Fairies, Fairy Dust and Melancholia

Dust in our homes is a pain. Every few days it reappears. However, there are times when it can be beautiful. For example, when the sun streams in from a window and all the dust particles drifting in the air twinkle in the light.  This is when I see Delilah Dusticle with little fluttering wings, waving her duster like a wand, making the glittering particles of dust glide around.  

We are all familiar with the idea of a little pixie fairy that sprinkles sparkly dust. Tinkerbell from Peter Pan comes to my mind first. Delilah Dusticle is somewhat different. She is a dust fairy who can sprinkle or remove actual dust. When I imagine this, I see it as the normal dust that relentlessly covers every surface in my home. At the same time, I also imagine her fairy dust to be like snow. Beautiful, quiet and at times filled with sorrow. When she is sad and unable to come to terms with her emotions she showers dusts everywhere.

When we are feeling down, we generally hold everything inside, keeping our facial expressions and body language in check. Trying to transmit the message ‘I am ok’’. Just look at Facebook. I sometimes want the images on the screen to come alive and tell me the truth. “Yes, this is the wonderful gift he gave me for my birthday, but I had to buy it!”

Perhaps this is why I find physical expression of sadness so interesting. When we feel pain, delight or even serenity it can have such an impact that it almost deserves some kind of outward reaction, some kind of physical image. Thunder for anger for example, or dark clouds swiftly passing in the iris of the eye. If you were to physically manifest sadness, what would it be? How would it look? How would it sound?

The next story I am writing is called Delilah Dusticle’s Mission Impossible. So far in the series, Delilah has mastered her powers and her emotions. I am now looking at what else can challenge her that she must overcome, how this will manifest itself and how it will look. I have realised when I write, I always start the story with a picture in my mind and a sensation of how I want the reader to feel.

Today, I am imagining her kryptonite. All kinds of variations of the story are running through my head. This is one of my favourite parts of story-telling because anything is possible. So excuse me now as I drift off into my imagination.

Have a great weekend!