Empowerment. Engagement. Authenticity.
What's Your View?
PART ONE
On mornings, particularly in the summer, sunlight streams through the white blinds in my bedroom/study, creating orange-yellow slat patterns on cream pile carpeting. In a room of white furniture, rose-coloured curtains, a ruffled blue-and-lilac quilt, and an arrangement of pink and lilac silk lilies bring out the matching tint of the walls. White bookcases are brought to life with glossy, colourful books, arranged by author and series. Stuffed animals are everywhere in pastel and primary splendour – sitting on the tower case of my computer, posing between framed family and friend photos on the three-tiered hutch, longing on the twin bed among scattered cushions, grinning beside Disney videos. Even more spill from a wicker basket beneath the window. The computer desk and the bed line the north side of the room, while bookcases, a desk and a dresser occupy the south. Oak accents decorate the walls – a shelf displaying a collection of souvenir dolls in various international dress and assorted framed academic achievements from elementary school to university. One shelf on the hutch holds mementos from places I’ve visited: toothpick holders from Trinidad and Tobago, New York, Las Vegas and the Azores; keychains from the Cayman Islands and Goa; a miniature Eiffel Tower; and a stuffed koala holding the Australian flag. Here, stories are immortalized.
PART TWO
I have given reluctant thought to transforming this fairy-tale hideaway. Instead of carpet, I would have dark hardwood floors to complement the polished frames of my academic achievements. In the same colour and quality of wood, there would be a queen-sized canopy bed, an antique writing desk and tall bookcases. There would be two or three chests placed strategically around the room, where my childhood treasures would be safely tucked away. The curtains, quilt and cushions would be of rustic brown cotton, with embroidered foliage and deep red roses. The same oak accents would grace the wall, newly enhanced by the earth overtones in the room. Family photos and homemade latch-hook hugs would add colour and cheer to walls repainted a rich cream.
(c) Kristy Kassie, 2006
Setting
The setting (location or locations, scenery, atmosphere) is the cornerstone of good fiction. Readers should be transported into the world you create.
Reference: Setting - Element of Fiction
