in the hope of open hands ⋆ a short story ━━━━ ₀₈⸝₁₇ (fullscreen reccomended!) hello there - it's been a long while since i've shared a story here! i'll link my original author's note in the notes and credits, but this was my entry for the july 2023 swc writing competition. despite all its imperfections, it's the first piece i've written that i've really felt a connection towards - and that counts for something <3 i'd also like to thank moonsy (@moonlitseas) for keeping me company through several concept brainstorming sessions, 3am draft writes, and the countless times i nearly gave up on writing this! thanks for keeping me sane ;D without further ado - please enjoy <3 ━━━━ forum version ⋆ https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/695422/?page=1#post-7413954 music ⋆ instrumental of saturn from sleeping at last (backpacked from moonsy, thank you again :>) thumbnail ⋆ designed by me in canva, background image generated from an ai art website
original author's note: in the hope of open hands is an amalgamation of everything that’s been drifting around my brain since november 2021. from the first threads of inspiration being drawn from my favorite constellation daily, to every apology and epiphany woven into it, horologium’s letter is written equally towards him as it is myself. writing letters to soothe my emotions is something i’ve picked up from my mom — in the past, when she didn’t know how to express her emotions, she’d do so in letters to me! i've never read them, nor am i meant to; but when i know exactly what i’d like to say, but i’m morally restrained from actually saying it to anybody — it helps to have some way to tell it to them in a way that doesn’t result in catastrophe. horologium is the constellation of the pendulum clock. the story swings between between a letter written to himself, and the present moment of him writing it – as well as the aftereffects of finally achieving that level of expression. the ticking in the faraway distance obviously symbolizes towards a clock – but i'd like to think it's also up to the reader's interpretation. personally, i connect it to anxiety - the pounding feeling that always lingers and keeps you in paralysis, and only grows more prominent when you try to break free from it. (if you have a different interpretation, i would love to hear about it <33) before i end my author’s note, i’d like to extend an immense thank you to moonlit and alia for both critiquing my entry and listening to my ever-winding rambles of concepts and indecisivity – i wouldn’t have been able to reach this point without you <3 (credit for the title – the song five from sleeping at last)
