Rapunzel is Dead

By Tiah Beautement

A vibrant collection of stories by Africa’s younger writers – here Short Story Day Africa has assembled the best seventeen stories from their 2013 competition.
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“Don’t look so surprised ladies. You know I love a good party. So naturally when I did not receive an invitation... well let’s just say I was a little disappointed.”
‘She who Slept’ by Tamarisk-Ray Glogauer
YA category winner
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Illustrated by Cat Hellisen, author of When the Sea is Rising Red, with a foreword by Tiah Beautement.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Short Story Day Africa
• Release date: Jan 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9780620588850

Book preview

My involvement with Short Story Day began in 2011 with an email containing a single sentence: Do you live in Mossel Bay?

Oblivious to what this pertained, I answered, Yes.

Next thing I knew, I’d agreed to give a short talk on the short story: their various lengths and forms, where one could submit them, and provide samples via my own work or others.

While gearing up for the talk, however, I noticed that the bigger cities were setting up groups to take part in a chain-story challenge. I looked at the premise and thought, We should get children to do a version of that.

So I found a teacher at the local primary school who was willing to do it with her class. Then I approached the local library and we set up a day to run a writing workshop where I’d help any children who pitched up to create chain stories. I emailed the Cape Town contact and informed them that Mossel Bay had some eager children and they were going to participate in Short Story Day, too.

I had no clue what this small show of enthusiasm would snowball into. But snowball it did. Because in 2012 I was asked to be the YA/Kids Co-ordinator of Short Story Day Africa. We decided to set up a contest. We also encouraged other writers to start going into the classroom, and writers from South Africa and Botswana did. People from the southern African writing community donated their time and prizes. It was fantastic!

But.

We noticed two things:

1. The age group for the contests was too wide.

2. There are very few places for children to showcase their work despite the

many eager voices asking, ‘Where can we get published?’

Thus, for 2013 we set out to improve those two points. We broke the contest into three age groups with three winners for each category. Those nine winning stories and a smattering of ‘well-loved’ entries would then be used to create a real e-book, just as if they were adult writers.

Except we would have a few illustrations. Because illustrations are fun and interesting. Because I can remember the first time an artist ‘interpreted’ one of my stories, and it made me feel unbelievably good. It showed me that my work was now part of a conversation. And conversations are precisely what adults should be having with the youth. Children have so much to say and unique ways of saying it.

Short Story Day Africa is delighted to present Rapunzel is Dead. Seventeen stories, from writers aged six to seventeen. These works take old tales and reimagine them to fit our world.

Africa, you have talented children who show a great love for the art of storytelling. Please join me in reading (and listening to) these storytellers, because these writers-of-tomorrow have so much to say today.

Tiah Marie Beautement

Short Story Day Africa Kids/YA Co-ordinator

The Winners of the YA competition 2013:

1st Place Tamarisk-Ray Glogauer, age 17, for She Who Slept

2nd Place William Burger, age 16, for The Mirror Has Two Faces

3rd Place Kimité Cancino, age 17, for Rapunzel is Dead

The Winners of the 10 -13 competition 2013:

– Nina Steyn, age 12, for The Truthful Answer

– Corné Lindeque, age 12, for The Colours and the Flying Saucer

– Morgan Lottering, age 12, for The Commoner’s Tale

The Winners of the 9-and-under competition 2013:

– Tyla Lottering, age 9, for Max Blood Hood

– Léanna van Blerk, age 9, for No Knight Needed!

– Jem-Dara Glogauer, age 8, for Olivia Pureheart

She Who Slept

Tamarisk-Ray Glogauer – Age 17

She stumbled down the hill, a mass of tangled gold hair framing her thin shoulders. Small and frightened, the wide-eyed girl ran blindly forward. Through the gathering twilight she came, clutching at the ribbons of cloth that trailed behind her. Where she walked she left the gentle and unmistakable scent of roses.

Steeped in black magic and oozing a sickly sweetness, she entered the room. Eyes the colour of a winter storm swept the glittering feast of velvet and silk. Eerie whispers and dark mutterings built to a crescendo. Then the woman smiled, and all at once there was silence. My darling, how… wonderful, to see you again. What’s wrong? Can’t a mother see her child once in a while?

Again a whisper blew through the hall, tangling in hair and rustling through trailing skirts. A pale woman stepped forward, regal in peacock blue. When she spoke, her voice was clear and fragile. You are not welcome here.

The girl, a crumpled doll, marionette limbs splayed white in the silver spider frost. Through the silence a dull rumbling becomes audible, thunder in the dreams of she who sleeps. Nearer the sound comes and then the night is awash in yellow light. Two burning eyes come to rest on the figure and abruptly the car comes to a halt. After a moment of hesitation, a figure gets quickly out of the vehicle, slowing as he nears the crumpled girl. The man bends