Sky's River Stone

 Sky's River Stone

by Stephanie M. Sellers

YA crossover

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Six-year-old Sprite Sky’s skin and eyes suddenly change color due to a medical condition called heterochromia during a harrowing experience when she believes a demon jumped into her body. Add that to being a ravenous foodie, brainy and the only child in a loveless marriage. She calls home Crap Hill. Desperate, she creates a Valentine’s Day treat for her bickering parents and orders a normal family, but when her sweet intentions explode, she ends up telling her daddy, “I don’t know what I’ll do next.” Only days after her mother’s funeral, Sprite is at her wits’ end when the church’s feral cat colony is declared an emergency and her wily cousins, The Missing Genes, taunt her again. She plans an extreme revenge that is punishable by law. At the same time, Crap Hill is hit with another pile as her one true hero, the only one who ever kept promises, faces due process and she does not want to live with her grandparents. She brazenly takes out on her own to find solutions and is given a parable: To overcome the beating waters, like the river stone, you must have an angel throw you into the sun.

Sky's River Stone is also available in audio with Audible.

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GUTTERSNIPE Shakespearean English Stage Play with Translation

GUTTERSNIPE 

Shakespearean English Stage Play with Translation

Stephanie M. Sellers

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Guttersnipe (Shakespearean English) by Stephanie M. Sellers

     This stage play, encompassing fifty-three pages for each of the two versions, doth present a literary adaptation drawn from the works of Shakespeare, with a central motif inspired by Plato's "Cave."

It unfolds in a coastal realm, replete with opulent districts juxtaposed with the destitution of the denizens dwelling within the Guttersnipe caverns, the only place where azure glowworms thrive.

      Entitled Guttersnipe, this theatrical work artfully weaves elements from Shakespearean dramas: the masked personas of Twelfth Night conceal their true sentiments; the narcissistic parenting and envy portrayed in King Lear result in displacement; the Machiavellian schemes of Othello and the sociopathic Iago, who, emerging from penury, aspires to royalty and entertains notions of sorcery and homicide.

Ancient philosophies intertwine throughout the narrative. Plato's allegory of the "Cave" in The Republic illustrates the deluded existence of the naive denizens of Guttersnipe:

"We see the natural world, in other words, partly through the lens of convention, and however much these conventions may differ from community to community or from cave to cave, every community or cave depends upon conventional beliefs about human being, god, and world for its continued existence. The best community of the Republic is distinguished principally by the nobility of the 'lies' it tells its citizens, not by its freedom from the necessity dictating their use" (Bartlett 118).

     Guttersnipe delves into the notion that love maketh a home. The impoverished denizens of Guttersnipe dwell upon the outskirts of an affluent county, clandestinely targeted for acquisition by the elite for its cave, aligning with their magical-reality tourism aspirations. (Think virtual reality.) These folk’s abodes are hewn into the cavern walls. Tranquility reigns when compassionate sisters, who discover their kinship with the Guttersnipe "royalty," extend aid in the form of employment, conveyance, and instruction.

     The play doth explore themes of love and clandestine existence, as the homely, veiled sibling, Dula, transcends a childhood marked by sorrow to realize her worthiness of affection. Meanwhile, the community grapples with the revelation that their sovereign is unworthy of their allegiance.

      The translation follows the Shakespearean version.

 

Stephanie Sellers is a journalist and English instructor in North Carolina.

 

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SAMPLE:

Mike concealeth himself in a hidden recess.

 

ALMA

... as their queen, and establisheth a domicile here. I canst construct upon the grounds and commenceth a movement for traditional housing. I canst bring them up to speed and prepare them for life without Dula.

Water DRIPPETH. Glitter SHIMMERETH from the ceiling. A lengthy stalactite CRASHETH near Alma, causing her to run to the far wall. She looketh around and approacheth the low passageway cautiously.

MIKE CALLUM

(voice disguised)

The populace hath spoken. Queen Dula. Queen Dula. Queen Dula.

 

Alma rusheth upon her hands and knees through the passageway. Moments later, Mike emergest from his hiding place. He windeth up fishing line from the fallen stalactite and sweepeth up the minerals scattered by the fall.

 

MIKE CALLUM

That woman had better abandon this cat daddy’s hole, or she shall find herself as my gudgeon bait.

PIT PATS sound from the passageway, and Mike concealeth himself as Red hastily returneth to his boat and signal-eth for Rocky to untie the rope.

 

SCENE FOUR

GUTTERSNIPE - CAVE - INNER SANCTUM - DECEMBER - DAY

Alma weareth enchanted sight spectacles as she crawleth through a narrow cave passage and cometh to a rope hanging over the inner sanctum. Daylight is visible along the rope's length. She descendeth down the rope. A crown and gown awaiteth upon the altar.

She danceth as soon as her feet touch the ground, taketh the gown and crown into a hidden area, changeth attire, and emerge as distant MUSIC intensifieth. Dancing shadows materialize as her followers.

A banquet obstructeth the passageway of the sanctum. Water DRIPPETH into a punch bowl.

Darkness followeth along the rope's length. It is within her reach.