Author Topic: PC670: An Empty Cup  (Read 887 times)

Ocicat

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on: March 20, 2021, 05:36:30 PM
PodCastle 670: An Empty Cup

Author: J.T. Greathouse
Narrator: Carlo Matos
Host: Setsu Uzume
Audio Producer: Peter Behravesh

Originally published in Deep Magic.

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Show Notes
Rated PG-13.



As for every child of the Islands, when Eshi was born a zephyr descended from the Upper Air to alight on his shoulder. Grandmother Sul burned precious driftwood, inhaled its cinnamon scent, and begged the zephyr to give her grandson the gifts of a healer. There were never enough healers on Eastwind Island, and healers were well regarded and well positioned in life. Eshi’s father, a less ambitious and more realistic man, burned driftwood of his own, but asked only that his son’s zephyr grant a talent for fishing or for hunting, or even for whipping the wind. Practical talents, but more common. Talents the community could use.

Eshi’s mother, too, burned driftwood. Her prayer was the simplest. She asked only for her son’s happiness, and that his zephyr would give him a talent to match his soul.

If not for that prayer, perhaps Eshi would have lived an easier life.




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Álex Souza

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Reply #1 on: March 20, 2021, 06:57:40 PM
I enjoyed this story a lot.

I identified with the MC; the story resonated on me. There’s a scene in particular—the rain scene—that conveys a superb vivid image.

The soft magic is… OK. It’s just a means to tell the story and pass the message.

I doubted the medical part. I don’t know if the stranger could survive that long with “blood slowly filling his lungs”. And he even learned a whole new language. Actually, his presence felt weird. At first, I thought that the stranger appeared because the author wanted to throw something new on the plot. From the beginning to the middle, the story was following all the traditional steps of a narrative, so I thought about Dan Harmon’s story circle. But then it occurred to me that the man was there just tell the meaning of the title.

The reason why I identified with the MC is because I see this as an analogy for multitask people. And I am one of them. For us, seems like no job or career in the world is suitable. We know a lot of things that seem useless; however, we don’t love any topic in particular to get a doctorate around it. We get sad and disappointed when we see people who seem to be born to do things. Like, a child who protects his peers from bullies and ends up becoming a lawyer, or people who post pictures of themselves wearing doctor’s coats—as children and as real doctors—or journalists who have been journalists since the school newspaper. Me, on the other hand, am currently a writer, but I don't know what tomorrow holds. Maybe I'll just become a shoemaker.

Or maybe I'll just live in a tent on the beach.
« Last Edit: March 20, 2021, 08:27:49 PM by Álex Souza »

I just wanna go pro before AI takes over and the bot dogs from Boston Dynamics kill us all.