My flash fiction story, Can You Not See Them At All, has been published in Sparks Literary Journal. It’s a modern-day fantasy story, where the protagonist, Neasa, travels to the mysterious Gleann Nimhe, seeking to escape her troubles by crossing to a different world.
What’s Sparks Literary Journal?
Sparks Literary Journal is an Irish creative writing magazine. This is how they describe it:
Sparks is a literary journal that seeks to publish poetry, flash fiction and short stories that spark the imagination. Whether that be a story about aliens, or just about a run to the shops, it doesn’t matter.
What’s Can You Not See Them At All About?
The logline is:
When a sensitive young woman tries to escape our uncaring world by entering a parallel realm, she encounters a creature made of fire and air and smoke who tries to prevent her crossing between dimensions.
To avoid spoilers, it’s probably best if you read the story before reading the rest of this article. It’s available in the Samhain 1 edition of Sparks Literary Journal.
Can You Not See Them At All: Analysis
Okay. Spoilers from here on:
The Parallel World
I’ve written multiple stories set in a universe inspired by folklore and legends about a world parallel to ours. In my spin on these legends, they reflect a non-supernatural reality where our world is the world of earth and water, and the otherworld is a mostly separate realm, populated by creatures of fire and air and smoke.
In the mythology of many nations and religions, there are other worlds parallel to ours: The Duat in Egyptian religion and Midgard in the Norse myths, for example. The best known Irish name for this concept is Tír na nÓg, which means land of youth, though in Irish mythology Tír na nÓg is just one of the many other worlds beyond ours.
People give many names to the inhabitants of the other world. Some common terms for these creatures are fairies, djinn and spirits. Christianity mischaracterises all these disparate creatures as simply ‘demons’. Other traditions characterise them as powerful and complex creatures who are potentially benevolent but have their own agendas. Two of the more common names in Irish folklore, as mentioned in the story, are ‘Themselves’ and ‘the Sidhe’.
In Irish folklore, there’s also a belief that travel between this world and parallel worlds is possible, particularly at certain times of the year, and this is what many of my stories in this setting are about: what happens when the two worlds cross over. Most stories about otherworldly creatures are written from the point of view of a human encountering a creature who’s travelled here, so Can You Not See Them At All? is a little unusual in that it’s about a human trying to travel to the other world.
The Dream Children
In this universe, the Dream Children are humans who have some awareness of the otherworld, usually through dreams and visions. Most people dismiss them as ill, and their stories of creatures of fire and air and smoke as symptoms of delusion. The protagonists of the stories are often marginalised and unstable outsiders in normal human society.
The Samhain Roads
Can You Not See Them At All? is a prequel to a longer story, The Samhain Roads, which tells the story of Neasa’s siblings, Aoife and Liam one year after Neasa’s disappearance, as they search where she was last seen: Gleann Nimhe. As they search, their quest for answers becomes a haunting exploration of guilt, loss, and acceptance.
Can You Not See Them At All? was written before The Samhain Roads, but The Samhain Roads was published first, in September in Superpresent Magazine. For more about that story, see The Samhain Roads Published.
Gleann Nimhe
Gleann Nimhe is a valley in Donegal, Ireland, at the base of Errigal mountain, the highest mountain in Donegal.
In English it’s known as Poisoned Glen. Poisoned Glen is actually a mistranslation of the Irish name, the correct translation being ‘Heavenly Valley’, but the mistranslated name is how it’s known in English. It’s a beautiful spot, and if you ever visit it you’ll see how easy it is to imagine it being a place where the veil between worlds thins.
Can You Not See Them At All: Want to Read It?
Can You Not See Them At All? is available in the Samhain 1 edition of Sparks Literary Journal.
What do you think?
If you have any thoughts on Can You Not See Them At All?, then please email me. Otherwise, please feel free to share the article using the buttons below.
Discover more from Graeme Shimmin
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
