Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Morace's Story
    Morace's Story
    Morace's Story
    Ebook83 pages1 hour

    Morace's Story

    By Kaaron Warren

    3/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Botanica is the island, but all of Botanica is taken up by the Tree. When Morace and other students set out to walk around the Tree, a five year journey, he has no idea what lies ahead. Little does he know the risks his teacher, Lillah, will have to take to keep him alive, and the dangers he will face himself to save her life. A young teen companion book to Walking the Tree.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIFWG Publishing International
    Release dateAug 22, 2022
    ISBN9781922556936
    Morace's Story
    Author

    Kaaron Warren

    Shirley Jackson Award winner Kaaron Warren has published five novels and seven short story collections. She’s sold two hundred short stories to publications big and small around the world and has appeared in Ellen Datlow’s Year’s Best anthologies. Her novel The Grief Hole won three major Australian genre awards. She has lived in Melbourne, Sydney, Fiji, and Canberra; her most recent works are “The Deathplace Set” in Vandal, and Bitters, a novella. Warren won the inaugural Mayday Hills Ghost Story Competition.  

    Related to Morace's Story

    Related ebooks

    Children's Fantasy & Magic For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Counselor of Chippewa Cabin

      Jun 26, 2020

      Counselor of Chippewa Cabin
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Frog

      Jan 16, 2022

      Frog
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      ‘Never Say You Can’t, Always Say You Can And You Will’

      Aug 27, 2020

      Supportive parents really make a difference. My mum and dad, Marge and George, were always very encouraging. I think because I was born just after the war there was the sense in them of, ‘This is the generation that can have more than we had.’ She wa

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Problem with My Dachshund

      Dec 11, 2019

      The Problem with My Dachshund
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Alan Cumming

      Nov 1, 2021

      Alan Cumming
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Animal Magnet

      Oct 1, 2024

      Animal Magnet
      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Advent

      Nov 22, 2018

      Advent
      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Our Secret

      Oct 19, 2023

      Our Secret
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Cricket League

      Jan 1, 2019

      Lydia Rosenburg, age 10 Bellingham, WA The boy curled against the rundown brick wall, too weak to even sit up. The pain behind his eyelids had dulled to a throb, but now his world was nothing but darkness. How long ago had it happened? Day and night,

      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      I Used to Give Men Mercy

      Feb 12, 2018

      I Used to Give Men Mercy
      12 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Mr. Bojangles

      Feb 26, 2022

      Mr. Bojangles
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Social Promotion

      Mar 19, 2024

      I didn’t understand. If that boy couldn’t read, why was he up there? The girl they originally had hosting the ceremony didn’t show, but why they put that boy there? Just because he volunteer for everything? You can’t read off enthusiasm. It made the

      21 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      After Prison, I Became a Better Dad

      Jun 14, 2019

      “Even when a parent has been part of a child’s pain, that parent’s love can still be the antidote.”

      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Stuck In The Middle

      Jan 27, 2023

      Stuck In The Middle
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Counter Waves

      Oct 23, 2020

      Counter Waves
      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Shame Shack

      Jan 1, 2023

      My dad, brother and I were going to a NBL game and on the way my dad told us to go to the bathroom so we wouldn’t have to go during the game (smart). I went to the bathroom and got into the cubicle. I did my thing and once I finished, I turned around

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      You’re All Mine

      Aug 8, 2024

      You’re All Mine
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Winds Of Change

      Dec 10, 2019

      “Till the end of the pitted and dusty lane, she was a dry, brown leaf swiftly floating down a clear stream. Part of it was easy, the part about being brown. ‘Brown as mud and common as mud,’ Aaji would scream every morning waking her up. The rest of

      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      How Dementia Saved Mum & Me

      Mar 31, 2021

      How Dementia Saved Mum & Me
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Mother House

      Aug 6, 2020

      Mother House
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Q&a With Richard Lui

      Mar 26, 2019

      Q&a With Richard Lui
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A Gift from above

      Jun 6, 2024

      Big fat raindrops sploshed into the water around me and I looked up to the sky in delight. It was 1955 and, aged 5, I loved nothing better than venturing out to the bomb craters in the paddock by our home in Manchester, left behind after the war. The

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Protagonists

      Jun 18, 2021

      Was the craft of fiction around desire and obstacle taught by men and for men, for men protagonists and men readers? Was fiction part of the patriarchy? Was the craft of fiction part of the patriarchy? The answers were all yes. The post Protagonists

      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Birthday Surprise

      Sep 17, 2021

      Birthday Surprise
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A Letter To… My Bullies

      Oct 15, 2020

      A Letter To… My Bullies
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Meet the MODERN GRANNIES

      Oct 6, 2020

      Meet the MODERN GRANNIES
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Morace's Story

    3/5

    35 ratings5 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Slights by Kaaron Warren is a disturbing book. This should not come as a surprise to people familiar with the author’s other work (or anyone who read the quote from Russell Kirkpatrick on the cover).Stevie (short for Stephanie because her parents were expecting a boy) is a psychopath in the literal sense of the word: she lacks empathy, consideration, is obsessive and fairly self-centred. She is not a sympathetic character, but she is fascinating.After a car accident which kills her mother and puts her in hospital, she has a near-death experience. Instead of seeing a white light or a tunnel or something like that, she finds herself in a room filled with all the people who she’s slighted at some point in the past. Hence the title and hence the cover. (Speaking of the cover, how creepy do the rightmost dude’s eyes look?) And her slighted people do unpleasant things do her.Beyond that, it’s a difficult book to explain. It doesn’t exactly have a plot, it’s more an examination of Steve’s life, told in first person, including her learning new things about her past as she gets older. Her life isn’t particularly pleasant. I found the first third or so of the book quite confronting and it squicked me out a bit. I had to take breaks from reading it, although that became less necessary as it progressed (or I became desensitised). I wouldn’t suggest this book to anyone with any sort of conventional triggers (particularly sexual ones). Fair warning.As the book progressed, I felt it became less about horrible things happening to people (sometimes Steve, sometimes others around her) and more about the things happening in Steve’s head. And towards the very end, aspects of her family history that she wasn’t necessarily aware of when they were happening in her youth. I knew why the people were in the room and who they were; each and every one had been slighted by me, and each slight, by me or anybody else, snapped up a bit of their soul and sent it to the dark room of some unknowing person. Or to my dark room.The progression of her understanding of the room she goes to when she has near-death experiences (yes, they’re plural, the story would have much less impact if they weren’t) is interesting. I felt it was the kind of book that might be studied in a high school English class, if it was a bit more age-appropriate. I certainly found it more meaningful than some of the novels by Tim Winton I was forced to read.In case you didn’t pick it up, Slights is definitely a horror novel. Don’t read it if you don’t like icky things or being inside the minds of disturbing people. On the other hand, if you like being disturbed and enjoy a dark psychological read, then this is a good book to pick up.4 / 5 stars
    • 1/5
      Very strange. Not sure why I chose this one in the book shop. Was quite dissapointed in general. Left feeling a bit puzzled as to what the point of the book was. Not sure either how this was classed as a horror. Had tiny elements that hinted at something sinister but not even frightening in the same league as other non-horror books I've read. Really wasn't compelled to finish it and not particuarly glad that I did either, other than relief that it's finally over. WIll not be looking at any more books by this author.
    • 4/5
      Pros: creepy premise, strong writing, good pacing, interesting family mysteryCons: unlikable protagonist, didn't feel like a horror novelStevie is an unreliable narrator. She remembers her father, a cop, as a good, quiet man. Others remember him differently. He was the kind of cop who didn't like to see the guilty get away with their crimes, even when there wasn't enough evidence to convict them.Stevie was 18 when her mother died, passenger in the car Stevie was driving. The accident gave Stevie her third near death experience. Before, she'd been too young to understand what happened. This time she realized that when you die you enter a room. A dark room. A dark room where those you've slighter want to hurt you.The book is presented as a horror novel and the premise is quite terrifying. But in execution, it's less about horror than it is about the mystery of who Stevie's father was and what death actually holds for her. And while she runs from the first mystery, wanting to believe her father was a great man, she runs towards the second, trying to get back to her room to see if it changes.As a protagonist she's a thoroughly unlikable character. She's rude, disrespectful and goes out of her way to anger the people in her life. And yet, her story is fascinating and she somehow remains sympathetic.The writing is strong and the pacing good, doling out enough clues to keep you interested.One word of caution, try not to read the synopsis on the back of the book. It contains a spoiler that makes part of the mystery a lot easier to figure out. If you want to get a sense of the book, read the first few pages.
    • 4/5
      This was not a bad book, but it was not great either. I think it all has to do with the main character Stevie, I just did not like her. I had to find out what happened to her at the end of the book, but overall I was not impressed with her. I do believe that this was the aim of the author, so I think I got it from that perspective. For me a decent read, just not something calling me back to read again. The cover and publisher is what attracted me to this book. I am glad I decided to read it and would like to see what else this author has to offer, so I am intrigued for sure.
    • 2/5
      um it was good towards the middle but i'm really confused about the plot. It was really quick at some parts than slow. I wasn't sure what was going on and random people just popped out of no where that i was apparently supposed to know.i won this book free and thought the idea was good but the plot was non exsistent.

    Book preview

    Morace's Story - Kaaron Warren

    Moraces_Story_Front_Cover.jpg

    Chapbooks Published By

    IFWG Publishing Australia

    Black Moon (mature content, Eugen Bacon)

    Tool Tales (mature content, Kaaron Warren & Ellen Datlow)

    Stark Naked (mature content, Silvia Cantón Rondoni)

    Infectious Hope: Poems of Hope and Resilience From the Pandemic (mature content, ed. Silvia Cantón Rondoni)

    Morace’s Story (young teen companion book to Kaaron Warren’s Walking the Tree)

    Songs From a White Heart (poetry collection), by Jack Dann

    Turning the Seasons - A Dark Almanac (poetry/prose collection), by J.S. Breukelaar and Sebastien Doubinsky

    Morace’s Story

    by

    Kaaron Warren

    A Young Teen

    Companion Story

    to Walking the Tree

    This is a work of fiction. The events and characters portrayed herein are imaginary and are not intended to refer to specific places, events or living persons. The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the publisher.

    Morace’s Story

    All Rights Reserved

    ISBN-13: 978-1-922556-93-6

    Copyright ©2022 Kaaron Warren

    V.1.0

    This ebook may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical with­out the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

    IFWG Publishing International

    Gold Coast

    www.ifwgpublishing.com

    For Mitch and Nadia

    Laburnum—OMBU—Aloes

    We call it Our Place.

    I am ten years old.

    I hope Mother lets me go to school this year. I’m bored being home with her. School may be hard, and it may be scary and tiring, but at least it will be different. I can’t think of what to do to convince her to let me. I don’t want to be too useful or kind in case she can’t bear to part with me. I don’t want to be bad because she might punish me.

    I’ll have to talk to Dad. He might be on my side, see that I have to go to school and he might be able to think of what to do.

    School takes five years. We leave our village and we walk around Botanica. Around the Tree, the island. We walk quickly, and we stay in other villages and we will walk back into Ombu five years from now.

    The other children have no doubt they are going. They don’t have crazy people deciding for them.

    Every time a school comes through here, I am jealous. I want to disguise myself and go with them. They are tired, often, but they are so confident, so full of knowledge and information, so easy with each other and with all of us. I want that. I really want that.

    Rham came by to ask me to go swimming. She’s younger than me but taller. With her, it doesn’t matter. The others tease me because I’m skinny and short, but she doesn’t care.

    Mother won’t let me go. I kicked a rock as I spoke and hurt my toe.

    She won’t know if you dry off before you get home. Rham bounced around me. She always had good arguments.

    She knows everything, and if she finds out she won’t let me go to school, I said.

    Come and watch then. I let her drag me along. I could collect shells along the shore at least, to trade with the older boys for sweet berries or for small carved tools. If I save enough shells, I might get a fish spear. Then I’ll be popular on the school walk. I’ll be useful.

    Once I go to school, I’ll swim so far, so hard. The teachers will let me. I will follow my mother’s rules until I am out of her sight, then no longer.

    I collected two scoops of shells, piling them onto a smooth, flat piece of drift-in wood. Carrying them back home, I planned what I would say to Dad when I found him alone.

    He was readying his things in a basket and I knew what that meant. I tried, anyhow.

    Dad? I said.

    Morace, I can’t talk. Magnolia’s started to have her baby.

    Mother hates it when another woman has a baby. She doesn’t like to share Dad yet she has to. He’s Birthman and the women want him with them.

    Mother’s awful when Dad’s away. Shouts at me, as if it’s my fault, until I want to hide under my bed and pretend her voice is the Tree screaming in the wind.

    I walked with him to Magnolia’s house, knowing I could get a few points in while he was distracted.

    So, Dad, you know Rham is going to school this year? She’s so smart, don’t you think?

    Yes, yes she is.

    And it would be a shame if I wasn’t around that cleverness for five years, don’t you think?

    You’re very clever yourself, Morace. So you don’t need to convince me about school. I know you should go. But it’s hard for your mother to let go.

    Every other mother does it.

    He stopped walking and put down his basket. You know your mother is not like others. I can’t talk about this now, Morace. Magnolia needs me. Come along and help. We’ll think of a way to convince your mother.

    When we got to Magnolia’s, Dad was greeted with great wel­come. I waited for a while, but it took too long for the baby to come and I felt useless. I went to the Trunk and explored the caves there. Some people are scared of ghosts inside the Tree but I know what to say if I ever meet one. I’ll say, Can you show me what’s inside? I went back to Magnolia’s a

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1