Pandora’s Box: We Need Hope

Long ago, according to Greek myth, there were only gods. Then one day they decided to form the first woman and asked Hephaestus to mold Pandora from clay. Each of the gods next bestowed upon her a gift; femininity from Aphrodite, deceit from Hermes, and crafts from Athena. Pandora means, “she who bears all gifts” in Greek.

Soon the beautiful woman was betrothed to Epimetheus. As a wedding present she received from Zeus a box that she was told contained many more amazing gifts. In fact it held all the ills of the world. He told her to keep it safe but never to open it.

Pandora was wed and should have been happy. But that box called to her. Day after day she gazed upon it imagining the wonders it might contain. Finally, her curiosity got the better of her and she lifted the lid. This unleashed every imaginable evil upon the earth. She tried to halt the onslaught and quickly closed it. But that all was left at the bottom was a tiny bit of hope.

How do we use this myth as writers? I believe that every story whether it’s fantasy, horror, or tragedy needs what was left in the bottom of Pandora’s box. Without hope, the audience is left uneasy and unsatisfied. Battles may ensue. Lives might be lost. Love could be elusive. Yet still, the audience craves the fantasy that things just might be okay somewhere down the line.

About Laurie: The author of the recently released Finding Joy as well as The Pharaoh’s Cry,  Portal Shift, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky of the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles, and Forests Secrets.  Laurie Woodward  is also a screenwriter who co-authored Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy. Her poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies and she was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet,  and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California. More about her work can be found at Author Laurie Woodward — Next Chapteria.net

Banished Butterflies: A Poem

We live in an age of love’s corporeal metamorphoses

Where butterflies are banished back to chrysalides

Veiled in pupal gowns

They emerge as larva crawling and devouring

Ever younger and greener shoots

Until the garden is denuded

And it is time to call upon corporeal lust

To nourish an emptying sky of butterflies

And as the wind is hushed from the beating of astral wings

And skyriders descend into the venery of a mucinous desert

Gypsy moths dance on their aborted souls

About Laurie: The author of the recently released Finding Joy as well as The Pharaoh’s Cry,  Portal Shift, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky of the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles, and Forests Secrets.  Laurie Woodward  is also a screenwriter who co-authored Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy. Her poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies and she was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet,  and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California. More about her work can be found at Author Laurie Woodward — Next Chapteria.net