It was towards the end of fall, with the threat of an unusually harsh winter looming, when the letter came. As isolated as the village was, it was a rare event for a villager to receive mail. Only three times, as far back as their father could remember, had a letter been delivered to anyone living there. Each time, it had brought bad news to the family. This meant that the Glenns were not pleased to find they were the recipients of such a missive.

I.
a silent isle, a cold-clear river;
the weeks before another winter
sends frost to claim the barley.

Preface: Hey, guys. Just a word of explanation here.

On the same forums where the Ander story was started, a friend challanged me to write a retelling of the story of Repunzel. So...I did. I'm not completely happy with it, but it turned out pretty good, and I thought I'd post it here, a bit at a time. Any advice you have one making it better would be welcome.

It's set in an ancient-Chinese-type-world (I had just finished watching "Mulan", it was in my head...) and I have to admit that I strayed from the old story a good bit. For one thing, the hair never even made it in.