Stories Carried Forward — An Introduction In many families, the most enduring stories are not the ones that end well, but the ones that fall silent—stories marked by absence, disappearance, and unanswered waiting. These tales were written by my brother James some years ago, recounted to him in childhood by our father. James has alwaysContinue reading “Deserted Rural Houses”
Author Archives: bartyu19
The Ordinary as a Test of Freedom
I meet my brother for lunch every week. I tap a heart to my beloved. I scroll through my photo album and notice faces I haven’t seen in years. And then it hits me—how quickly time has passed, how quietly distances form, how easily a life can drift without anyone meaning to drift. In thatContinue reading “The Ordinary as a Test of Freedom”
Where Imagination First Met Truth
As a child, the storybooks my brother gave me opened doors into new worlds. Those early readings didn’t just spark my imagination — they quietly changed the way I see reality, stories, and truth itself.
A Second Existence – Epilogue to ‘The Day That Wouldn’t Turn’
A ghost story that explores memory, loss, and the stories we tell about the dead. When a young teacher in 1960s Hong Kong takes her own life, she leaves behind questions that haunt a seven-year-old student for decades. This fictional reimagining gives voice to the silence, followed by a meditation on fiction’s power to offer second existences to those whose lives were cut short.
The Day That Wouldn’t Turn: A Short Story
The living owe it to those who no longer can speak to tell their story for them.—Czesław Miłosz I got off the bus into the early dark. That particular November dusk already filled with a cool sensation. A woman stood still beneath the amber streetlight. Leaves from the trees that lined the street dropped andContinue reading “The Day That Wouldn’t Turn: A Short Story”
Escaping the Illusion of Infinite Choices
a look at why too many choices mess with our heads and how we can take our agency back
Why Soft, Simple Writing Stays with Us
You don’t always need big ideas or sophisticated literary techniques to make an impact. Sometimes a softer approach—a simple story told without complexity or pretension—can reach people more deeply. Tuesdays with Morrie is a perfect example of that. It’s quiet, straightforward style doesn’t try to dazzle the reader. Instead, it invites you in gently, andContinue reading “Why Soft, Simple Writing Stays with Us”
Telescopic Lives: A 400‑Year‑Old Man Remembers
Inspired by a story of extraordinary longevity, this piece imagines how memory shifts, blurs, and reshapes itself across four centuries.
The Paradox of Creating From Dreams
Dream-inspired ideas are always incomplete. We remember parts of a dream and lose the rest, and creating from it means working with both what stays and what fades. This blend of memory and forgetting is what shapes the final work.
A Star that Shines with Words
The other day, my brother asked if I’d managed to build a following for my blog. Well, I’m not particularly trying to build a crowd; I’m trying to become a star – one that shines with words. Even if I exist as a solitary star in a quiet corner of the universe, that doesn’t matter.Continue reading “A Star that Shines with Words”
