Storybook Fragments, pictures and words

Pictures by me, stories by Maya Dobjensky.

Quietly: After the apocalypse, there was only two of every species. Mamma polar bear and baby polar bear looked out at the ice fields, and from where they stood they could see the skeletons of civilization frozen in the ground below. “Quietly,” said mamma polar bear, “so we do not break the ice and release those ghosts.” And together, quietly, they went on. 

Moving Right Along: Mamma and baby polar bear made it past the ice fields and found the place where the machines used to live. Baby polar bear stopped to talk to a nearby tree. “What are you doing, tree?” said baby polar bear. “I’m taking back my kingdom” said the tree. And indeed, he and his shoots were covering the steel and glass, and from the broken concrete sprouted little green things, soft and new.

Drawing drawings: Finally mamma and baby polar bear found another mammal. It was woman, and she was sitting all alone at an easel. “What are you doing, woman?” said baby polar bear. “I’m documenting the history of the world” said woman, who was using the blood on the ground to paint. “Where is your companion human?” said mamma polar bear, concerned. Woman did not know where her companion was, so together, the three of them set out to search

Once there lived two beautiful swans who loved each other dearly. These swans were two of the loveliest creatures ever seen, their alabaster necks shining like long opals in the sun. And they were so beautiful that the King of the Night noticed them and decided he wanted them for himself. (The King of the Night is a great and powerful ruler and has very few friends because of it.) “Join my kingdom, pretty beasts” said the King of the Night, not considering their refusal. But instead of complying, as the King assumed they would, the swans extended their lovely long necks and bit the King, their great wings flashing in big blinding swoops. “Why were you made so beautiful if you were not meant to be had?” said the King, very furious, feeling dejected. But all creatures both grand and terrible are meant to fight. And still to this day the King of the Night chases the swans, but the swans will always bite back and refuse the powers of the night. 

Once there was a fish who fell madly in love with a seagull. She was beautiful, the seagull, and the little fish wanted only to explore the heavens beside her. One day, in a seizure of excitement, the fish leapt from the ocean in hopes of sprouting wings. Instead, he found himself stuck on the pier, and there he floundered and flapped until he asphyxiated. 

The frog and the turtle were best of friends. They lived together in the marshland along with the fish, the mosquito, and the crane. One day the crane came to them and told them of a mystical land which she had heard about through her other bird friends. This land was called “the city”. It was full of lots of the two legged ones and loud things that smelled terrible. The frog and the turtle wanted so badly to see this land for themselves, for they adored an adventure. So they wandered the marshlands and ventured to the east, to the west, to the north and to the south. But everywhere they looked they could not find the city. “I suppose we will just have to use our imaginations,” said the frog and the turtle. But they did not have to use their imaginations, because soon the city came to them, and by that time it was too late anyway.