The Boatman
The mysterious island. (600 words)18 total reviews
Comment from Pantygynt
It always surprises me how similar myths can be, even when the cultures to which they belong ar widely divers. The aborigines it seems have ferryman to take the dead across a watery divide berween life and death just like the ancient Greeks.
Wuluwait and Charon serve the same purpose in two cultures that almost certainly never came into contact with one another.
Great little tale.
reply by the author on 26-Jan-2022
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It always surprises me how similar myths can be, even when the cultures to which they belong ar widely divers. The aborigines it seems have ferryman to take the dead across a watery divide berween life and death just like the ancient Greeks.
Wuluwait and Charon serve the same purpose in two cultures that almost certainly never came into contact with one another.
Great little tale.
Comment Written 26-Jan-2022
reply by the author on 26-Jan-2022
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I appreciate your high rating very much!
It seems that ideas cross cultures quite often - such as things Confucius and Jesus said. A boatman for the dead may well appear in other cultures as well as Aboriginal and Greek - there are ethnographic parallels in Burma as well.
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I am sure you are right. Many cultures also share an inundation legend. So many in fact that someone had to bring out a book of rules for preventing collisions at sea!
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Now we have to worry about all those collisions in space.
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Scary, ain't it?
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It's ridiculous that so many things are launched up there.
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At one time we thought the sea was big enough to be our dustbin. We are learning that was a mistake but we are unable to transfer that knowledge to space.
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Just because we can doesn't mean we should. Our mistakes just seem to get bigger and bigger.
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True.
Comment from poetwatch
I'm happy that you brought the land and its people to my sight, Jenny. :) I traveled to a country and you showed me its history. You are a writer. Jenny could you look and read the line, "My limbs ached, like I was sickening for something." Did you want something? maybe, "or something?" I don't know, you're the writer. This is a great entry for the Supernatiral Story-not Horror Contest. Thank you for sharing.
reply by the author on 25-Jan-2022
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I'm happy that you brought the land and its people to my sight, Jenny. :) I traveled to a country and you showed me its history. You are a writer. Jenny could you look and read the line, "My limbs ached, like I was sickening for something." Did you want something? maybe, "or something?" I don't know, you're the writer. This is a great entry for the Supernatiral Story-not Horror Contest. Thank you for sharing.
Comment Written 25-Jan-2022
reply by the author on 25-Jan-2022
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Thanks Jose. Your comment made me look at that line again. I think I meant to write "Sickening with something" (the 'something' being an illness.)
I appreciate your review!
Comment from Wendy G
A really good read, for many reasons, including the various subtle elements of your work. I enjoy that you are speaking of Aboriginal themes, bringing to life the Aboriginal legends, and describing the country so well. Your notes are wonderful too. I hope you will have great success in the contest, as you deserve.
Wendy
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A really good read, for many reasons, including the various subtle elements of your work. I enjoy that you are speaking of Aboriginal themes, bringing to life the Aboriginal legends, and describing the country so well. Your notes are wonderful too. I hope you will have great success in the contest, as you deserve.
Wendy
Comment Written 25-Jan-2022
Comment from Mary Vigasin
An excellent supernatural story for the contest. You not only wrote a story full of mystery and suspense but you added aboriginal culture and folklore. It is a fascinating story.
Good luck in the contest.
Best wishes,
Mary
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An excellent supernatural story for the contest. You not only wrote a story full of mystery and suspense but you added aboriginal culture and folklore. It is a fascinating story.
Good luck in the contest.
Best wishes,
Mary
Comment Written 25-Jan-2022
Comment from Michele Harber
I love that I always learn so much from your works, and I'm embarrassed to admit how little I know (or knew, before reading your works) about your part of the world. If you asked me about Australia, I'd probably mention kangaroos, koalas, the Sydney Opera House, and nothing more.
This is an interesting story and, by avoiding the notes at the top and bottom saying what type of story this is, I was able to be totally surprised. When you mentioned the river at the beginning, and the warning not to go in the water, I suspected I was reading a story about either a death or rescue at sea. When the grandpa mentioned, "We don't know enough about our neighbours," I expected the kids to go about speaking to the others around them, turning this into a moral story. That allowed me to be totally (and pleasantly) surprised to find out it was a supernatural story. Based on what you said about the grandfather earlier, and his explorations, it seemed perfectly reasonable that he took the kids' story in stride, and almost humorous that he made it sound like a natural occurrence - despite the warning about the boat to the island of the dead. Even the lack of an exclamation mark after "You had a lucky escape, kids" enhances the feel that this is just another day in Grandpa's somewhat unusual life.
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I love that I always learn so much from your works, and I'm embarrassed to admit how little I know (or knew, before reading your works) about your part of the world. If you asked me about Australia, I'd probably mention kangaroos, koalas, the Sydney Opera House, and nothing more.
This is an interesting story and, by avoiding the notes at the top and bottom saying what type of story this is, I was able to be totally surprised. When you mentioned the river at the beginning, and the warning not to go in the water, I suspected I was reading a story about either a death or rescue at sea. When the grandpa mentioned, "We don't know enough about our neighbours," I expected the kids to go about speaking to the others around them, turning this into a moral story. That allowed me to be totally (and pleasantly) surprised to find out it was a supernatural story. Based on what you said about the grandfather earlier, and his explorations, it seemed perfectly reasonable that he took the kids' story in stride, and almost humorous that he made it sound like a natural occurrence - despite the warning about the boat to the island of the dead. Even the lack of an exclamation mark after "You had a lucky escape, kids" enhances the feel that this is just another day in Grandpa's somewhat unusual life.
Comment Written 25-Jan-2022
Comment from Mary Shifman
I enjoyed this story. It reminds me of some of the legends we hear. It was a little spooky. I can't help but wonder what might have happened if the children had set foot on the island. Good luck in the contest.
reply by the author on 25-Jan-2022
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I enjoyed this story. It reminds me of some of the legends we hear. It was a little spooky. I can't help but wonder what might have happened if the children had set foot on the island. Good luck in the contest.
Comment Written 25-Jan-2022
reply by the author on 25-Jan-2022
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Thanks for your review. I hate to think what might've happened to the children on the Island of the Dead. The mystery boatman would know.
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You are very welcome.
Comment from lyenochka
Thank you for this cultural tour in this part of Australia. You worked in a lot of mystery and suspense and added more information about Aboriginal mythology. Interesting that they have a boatman just like the Greeks!
Best wishes in the contest!
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Thank you for this cultural tour in this part of Australia. You worked in a lot of mystery and suspense and added more information about Aboriginal mythology. Interesting that they have a boatman just like the Greeks!
Best wishes in the contest!
Comment Written 25-Jan-2022
Comment from Melodie Michelle
Perfect entry for the ~Supernatural Story-not horror writing prompt and best of wishes in the contest my friend! This storyline is captivating and held my attention throughout the piece and the characters bounce off one another nicely;-) The imagery is spot on!
Thanks so much for sharing this well written piece with us and may God bless you;-)
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
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Perfect entry for the ~Supernatural Story-not horror writing prompt and best of wishes in the contest my friend! This storyline is captivating and held my attention throughout the piece and the characters bounce off one another nicely;-) The imagery is spot on!
Thanks so much for sharing this well written piece with us and may God bless you;-)
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
Comment Written 25-Jan-2022