Brandi's Place

Jack Unit 382 is a clone — one of a thousand identical Jacks laboring in the textile mills of Raven 5, a world his kind can never leave. Each night he journals the days since the treaty. But 382 has begun to suspect he is different from his brothers: he dreams, he wonders, and he wants things no Jack is supposed to want. This is his story. Journal Entry 691 Seven days. It has been seven days since I sat beneath the magnolia tree and told Black Bird ZX98 I would ask 583 to teach me to sketch, and tonight I am writing with charcoal dust under my fingernails. It will not wash out. I have tried three times. Part of me does not want it to. I did not ask him the next day. I waited three days, because asking felt like stepping off a ledge. On the fourth morning, I found 583 on his break, drawing the mill's great door on the back of a thread-crate slip, and I said it before my courage could leave me. "Teach me." He went very still. Then he laughed — not a mocking laugh, bu...

Jack Unit 382 is a clone — one of a thousand identical Jacks laboring in the textile mills of Raven 5, a world his kind can never leave. Each night he journals the days since the treaty. But 382 has begun to suspect he is different from his brothers: he dreams, he wonders, and he wants things no Jack is supposed to want. This is his story. Journal Entry 684 It has been eight days since Jack Unit 754 whispered to me about females, and I have thought of little else. I have tried to distract myself with my observations — 583's sketches grow more elaborate by the day; he is drawing the magnolia tree near G7 now, petal by petal — but my mind keeps circling back to 754's words. Soft curves and delicate features. I have stared at my own face in the washroom mirror until my eyes blurred, trying to imagine what the opposite of this face might look like. I cannot do it. It is like trying to imagine a color I have never seen. And there is something else, something I have not wri...

  In Chapter 22 of Legend of Sylphar, The Silver Queen , the aftermath of a battle on Atlas leaves the Lyken camp shrouded in grief and loss. Amidst the somber atmosphere, Ariadne, the protagonist, follows Prince Theeson, who carries the weight of responsibility for his fallen soldiers. In a profound moment of vulnerability, she overhears his song of lament, revealing the depths of his sorrow and the burden of leadership. *** The voice grew louder as she followed her sense of him. Looking around some large boulders near the edge of the cliff, she spotted him. He was sitting on a large stone overlooking the canyon’s edge. And now she could hear the words to his song more clearly: The trees have fallen, and the rivers bleed. Oh, the weariness weighing in the heart of the king. Heavy his sorrows and heavy his cares. Heavy the burden that a king must bear. For sorrow’s his wine, and burden his bread. And heavier still, the crown on his head. *** The song portrays the weariness and...

Jack Unit 382 is a clone — one of a thousand identical Jacks laboring in the textile mills of Raven 5, a world his kind can never leave. Each night he journals the days since the treaty. But 382 has begun to suspect he is different from his brothers: he dreams, he wonders, and he wants things no Jack is supposed to want. This is his story.   Journal Entry 676 Time has become a river, flowing relentlessly, carrying me further along the currents of curiosity and self-discovery. Days have melded into weeks, and weeks into months since my conversation with Black Bird ZX98. In the interlude, my pursuit for individuality has taken a new form—one of keen observation, as I search for elusive signs of uniqueness amidst the seemingly homogeneous sea of Jack Units. Within the bustling confines of Raven 5, I encounter my fellow clones, each bearing the same face, the same stature, and the same scripted routines. Yet, there is a flicker, a hint, that dances in the periphery of my awareness. I...

If you were a kid in the 90’s, you may have seen the awesome packaging of a frozen meal product called Kid Cuisine at the supermarket and BEGGED your parents to let you try it. I mean it had stuff like dino nuggets, fries, mac n cheese, maybe some corn... but what REALLY catches your eye is that chocolate desert that comes with it! Wow what a delight that would be. And if you had cool parents like me, they caved and bought you one of these magical frozen meal things.  So you took it home, opened it up, popped it in the microwave, and it took WAY too long to cook, but you waited with anticipation for it to finish. And then... finally... it was ready. You reached in, picked up one of those steamy dino shaped nuggets... and then immediately dropped it because the temperature is close to the average temperature of the surface of Mercury. It’s HOT!!! So now... after having to wait 3 whole minutes for it to cook, you can’t even enjoy it because you can’t even touch it, let alone ea...

The Importance of Fiction in our Lives When we immerse ourselves in a good book, we often find that we come away changed. Whether it's a new perspective on life, or a newfound appreciation for our own world, fiction and fantasy have a way of impacting us deeply. In this post, I want to explore the ways in which fiction and fantasy can change our lives for the better. I sent this quote written on a birthday card to my son just before he moved into our home as a foster placement. I understood that he grew up in the system and was essentially raised by DHS and a myriad of foster homes and children’s homes. My son was alone in the world for most of his life. And yet, he still clung desperately to the hope that he would one day find a family. Part of what kept him going, he said, was his love of reading. And so one of the ways I have been able to reach out and encourage him is through the lens of fiction and to help him understand that even the “dragons” of his life can be defeated and ...

Jack Unit 382 is a clone — one of a thousand identical Jacks laboring in the textile mills of Raven 5, a world his kind can never leave. Each night he journals the days since the treaty. But 382 has begun to suspect he is different from his brothers: he dreams, he wonders, and he wants things no Jack is supposed to want. This is his story.     Journal Entry 657 It's strange how much I'm looking forward to going to work these days. I'm on a mission to find Black Bird Unit ZY98. He has information about Jack Maltus, the man who was cloned to create me and all the other Jacks. I need to know if I'm just one of many copies or if there's something unique about me. I need to discover my true identity. I hope to find the Bird who spoke to me at the party and see if he's willing to share what he knows about Maltus. Finally home. What a day it's been. I anxiously waited for my shift to end. As soon as it was over, I hurried towards G7, where I hoped to find Black B...