On The Mantelshelf

The glistening ornaments shone in the misty sunlight, crystals, glasses of green and red- diamonds, the children giggled, wide eyes gazing into the empty cottage. Through fear the wind may catch the door, they creaked it open slowly and before shutting the latch behind them. Like boys in a candy store the girls marveled at the decorative creations, glazed eyed and open mouthed.Millie, being only 16 and still violently naive, stretched out a hand, leaning towards an old oak music box, before having it violently snatched away by Lou. "Do you want to wake her?" she hissed silently before resting the box back in its place.

Picking a random paragraph in a book of childrens stories I put pen to paper and chose to continue the story with just one more paragraph. Knowing nothing about the story (after having read only one paragraph) i chose to focus on the naive nature of the two girls and their child like facination with the ornaments on Miss Parsons mantelshelf.

The Tale Of Mrs Appleton- child literature experimentation

A timid creature, of around fourteen years, although no one knows for sure, Mrs Appleton is an elderly hedgehog who lives at the bottom of Young Spring Woods in an old cottage tree stump, made of antique oak.
Loved by all the animals, Mrs Appleton is never short on visitors and a fresh pot of tea is always brewing on the chance that a passer-by might be in need.
The winters are harsh and hibernation is a curse for those who love a clean house but spring greets the animals with a warm smile and fresh flowers filling old jam-jars, along with a collection of new-born lambs and chicks, each coated in a thick home-made jumper knitted with the finest sheep's wool and by the most delicate hands.
Mrs Appleton may be old but her home is always thriving, giving the story-teller a host of new tales to tell.
One thing is certain, as certain as the leaves are green, Mrs Appleton is loved by all she meets.

Iv been dabbling in the art of child literature recently, taking inspiration from one of my favourite childhood authors Beatrix Potter, this short story explains the life of an elderly hedgehog called Mrs Appleton. The tale above is aimed at a child audience and although I know little about children I have always had a passion for their literature. The story below follows the same tale but is aimed at a more adult audience due to the extended vocabulary. The idea of an enchanted forest with live animals carrying human traits is a concept that can be enjoyed by all ages and I wanted to translate the story so that it could be.

The Tale Of Mrs Appleton (Adult version) 
A timid creature, of around fourteen years, although no one knows for sure; with fragile spines made of porcelain and eyes that glitter, with a distant youthful viritity. Her age shown only through the journey mapped around the fragile lines of her eyes.
An aesthete, a precocious raconteur with tales to fill a thousand hearts and a delicate smile; neither wifty nor naive, but eloquent, knowingly blessed by the land.
Her cottage filled with tea stained air, built up over years of passers-by and dust dancers, unsettled by the sunrise through the bark encrusted windows, peering over to the selcouth forest named Young Spring Woods.