Fiction: Postcards from the Afterlife

Dulce Avery was spending too much time at the park, the place he named the long rider, a long stretch of land that took over two hours to walk from start to end. 
    In his forty-six years on earth, Dulce had spent almost all his time in the office and inside stuffy buildings, sitting at meetings and making more plans for more meetings. And now that he is dead, he should be traveling all over the world. But each time he thought to go elsewhere, he came back to the long rider. He preferred being here surrounded by trees, the scent-filled air and the sometimes familiar faces that came and went.
    Not once did he imagine he would get a second chance. His afterlife had certain limits and he couldn't talk to the living but he didn't mind it. He got to do what he never got time for and stay hours lingering at a place or beside someone.
    It was right after his third wife left him that he began to believe in the afterlife. Her death was immediate and sudden and he never got to see her for the last time. But a night after her funeral, he had a dream that she was living her afterlife doing the things she wanted and she assured him she was well. His daughter, Ivy, was only four then and he told her her mother left but she was living her afterlife.

We Love Fairy Tales Week - Tag

Rachel at Hamlette's Soliloquy is hosting a We Love Fairy Tales Week (February 9-14). Feel free to join in and answer these tag questions.

1. What's your favorite fairy tale?
In the past I would say Beauty and the Beast but now I prefer East of the Sun and West of the Moon which thought to be the inspiration for Beauty and the Beast but instead of a beast, it's a bear which I guess is like a beast.

This book (above) version has a frog instead of a bear but it's a children's book.

East of the Sun and West of the Moon is about a man (perhaps a prince) cursed to be a bear until a girl (maiden) lives with him for a year while he's in his bear form but he cannot tell her he's cursed or let her see him in his human form. Somehow, he begins to share her bed but he comes into her room in total darkness so she never sees him as a human. Later, being curious about who her bedfellow is, she somehow gets a candle to light the her room and finally sees him in his human form which ended with him being taken to the troll palace (which is located east of the sun and west of the moon) to marry the troll princess. The girl travels to the troll palace with the help of various wind beings and sort of recuses him with some trickeries and somehow breaks the curse and they live happily ever after. (I have no idea if the original story is like this but this is the version I like.)

2. If you could cast any actors and actresses ever in a movie version of that fairy tale, who would you pick?
I don't know who to pick but definitely actors/actresses who are not well known because I prefer the characters to stand out and not the actors. But then again, I probably prefer an animated version so the faces are not anybody in particular.

3. Do you have a favorite fairy tale movie?

Disney's Tangled (which is a Rapunzel retelling) which is a musical which I don't like all that much but for this movie, I didn't mind it. Also, I'm sure if I have more time to think it over, I would come up with some other title but I guess it would still be a Disney movie as I maybe watched a bit too many Disney movies growing up.

4. Do you have a favorite book that retells a fairy tale?
I have made a list of favorite fairytale retelling books here.

5. If you got to be in a stage or film production of a classic fairy tale, what fairy tale would you want to be in, and who would you like to play?
I can't pick a tale but I would play someone wicked, one of the villains maybe, not a good guy because I think playing the bad guy is more fun but definitely someone with magic/powers.

6. Do you like fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen or the Grimm Brothers best? Or someone else's?
I like both Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm Brothers - combined, they give you a more complete types of tales but I'm sure there are other fairytale storytellers that I don't know about out there.

7. What more obscure fairy tale do you think more people should know about?
The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye? I don't know if it's considered a fairytale but it reads like one. I don't think it's obscure but I don't hear about it much.

Feel feel to answer the tag questions. Check out We Love Fairy Tales Week at Hamlette's Soliloquy > 

Words for Wednesday Prompts - Feb 11, 2026

This February, I am the host for Words for Wednesday. Words for Wednesday is started by Delores and continued by Elephant's Child who sadly passed away. River at Drifting through life is our new coordinator but the prompts are provided and hosted by various people and hosted on various blogs. The aim of Words for Wednesday is to encourage us to write using some or all of the prompts.

This week's prompts are: 
1. heartbreak
2. cheeseburger
3. postcard
4. afterlife
5. beachcomb

Charlotte's color for February is Electric Rose (#f00699) which you can see it better here.

You may write your piece in the comments or post it on your blog. If posting on your blog, please leave a direct link to the post so we can all visit you. Have fun writing!