Stories

Francis Rosenfeld

Fiction

  1. 4D AGO

    A Year and A Day - May - The Night of Power

    “Aifa,” grandmother whispered, although nobody in the house was sleeping. “Are you ready, granddaughter? It is time to go to the Hearth.” Aifa wrapped her garment a little tighter around her waist and washed her face with the rose water her mother had made, put on her shoes and walked in silence behind her grandmother, stepping purposefully on the old stone paving, under the eerie brightness of the full moon. There was no wind in the air, there were no clouds in the sky, and the perfume of the lilacs filled Aifa’s lungs like the essence of an ancient mystery, as if its fragrant flowers wanted to partake in the holy time when the spirit itself came down from above.

    10 min

  2. 12/27/2025

    A Year and A Day - April - The Return of the Thunderbirds

    Anyway, that afternoon Aifa and the Twins were out on the daffodil meadow, which Ama and Jal seemed to be particularly fond of, when all of the sudden the sky grew dark and shook with rumblings. Any other children would have run for the hills, screaming their lungs out, but not the Twins, who looked mesmerized towards the horizon, as if they have been waiting for this particular event their entire existence. Covering the horizon, gigantic and proud, their wingspan the width of a mountain, their feathers and scales the color of fire, their mighty cries a deafening rumble, the thunderbirds had returned. Their first rumble, like a slow rolling thunder, had brought everybody out of the city, running to welcome the return of the glorious birds, which flew, majestically, over the city, like they did every year, to cheers of joy and waves of ribbons in every color of the rainbow. The thunderbirds had returned!

    11 min

  3. 12/27/2025

    A Year and A Day - April - The Feast of Returning to Life

    From the moment the Twins arrived, poor Aifa hadn’t experienced a moment’s rest. They were five years old now, constantly moving around and getting into everything, and last, but not least, they never stopped talking. They seemed to have reached that glorious age when everything aroused their curiosity and the Caretakers couldn’t stay abreast their endless lists of whys. One question they seemed to be obsessed with was that of mortality in general, and their own mortality in particular. They couldn’t understand that they would show up again the next spring, no matter what, they were afraid of what might happen to them during the winter, and they kept pushing Aifa for answers. Aifa, who was a little more than a child herself, didn’t know what to tell them.

    10 min

  4. 12/19/2025

    A Year and A Day - March - The Dawn of the Flowers and Seeds

    The closer it got to the spring equinox, the more animated the Grand Hall of the Hearth became, engulfed in a flurry of activities related to sprucing up, clearing and decorating it for the arrival of the Twins. Every now and then one of the Caretakers went out into the yard, to check if the ice on the pond had thinned, or even melted, gazing intently at the space above it in the hope of seeing two snow flurries, the last of the last snow, fall into the water, the sign that marked the blessed event every year. Every Caretaker hoped to be the lucky one who could announce that the Two had arrived, but it never worked that way; by the time they rushed to the Hall to tell the others the good news, the Twins were always somehow already there. This year was no different. Regardless of the time differential between the Twins’ arrival and the belated announcement of said event, the thrill of being the one who saw the snowflakes fall into the pond still held its charm, and this year it was Aifa.

    10 min

  5. 12/12/2025

    A Year and A Day - March - The Reading of Blessings

    The Day of the Blessings usually started early in Aifa’s household. Aifa and her siblings were already dressed up in their costumes by the time the sun was high up in the sky, and were crowding each other in the kitchen, where they were all gathered to stuff their goody baskets with filled pastries and other yummy treats. They were lucky this year, the day was sunny and relatively warm for the beginning of March, it was really no fun having to wear a heavy coat over the costumes they had spent so much time and energy to create for themselves.

    12 min

  6. 12/05/2025

    A Year and A Day - February - The Feast of the Blue-Green Dragon

    Towards the end of February winter started easing its grasp on the mountain springs, allowing them to come back to life, almost suddenly, in bubbling expressions of movement and sound. The tiny brooks searched for each other down the mountain, forming tiny pools and waterfalls, and when they could, they joined their forces in larger streams, with the playfulness of living things, and very young ones at that. From the window of her room, Aifa had a very good view of that side of the mountain, and the moment the water started shimmering between the distant peaks, she hurried down the stairs with great noise, to give the entire family the news that spring was near.

    11 min

  7. 11/28/2025

    A Year and A Day - February - The Festival of Candles

    Ifyou were born in Cré at the beginning of February, you would be among the youngest people to enter the Hearth. It was the yearly tradition that new mothers should bring the babies who have been born over the course of the previous year to receive a blessing. Aifa was born in the summer, so she was a few months old when she first breathed the air of the Hearth, which was believed to be able to imbue people with health and vigor, and even, in some instances, restore health, but many of the babies that had been brought to the Hearth that year, bundled by their doting mothers in several warm blankets, were merely days old.

    12 min

  8. 11/21/2025

    A Year and A Day - January - The Spirit of Awakening

    “Wake up, granddaughter,” Aifa’s grandmother shook her gently, so she wouldn’t be startled out of her deep sleep. “We need to go to the Hearth soon, we don’t want to keep people waiting.” Aifa got up quickly, washed her face and hands and put on the clothes that she’d been setting aside the day before, hand made and never worn before, like tradition required. She knew they weren’t going to leave immediately, one had to sit and think, and write down what one perceived to be one’s shortcomings from the previous year, to be relinquished to the sacred fire.

    12 min
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About

Fiction

Information

  • Creator
    Francis Rosenfeld
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    197
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2022 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Stories