Snow Angel and Coal Angel

[Rukan Hisashi]

I recently got the idea to do a little side project. This is a childrens book that I have been wanting to do but doubt it will ever be published due to it's content. Keep in mind that this is intended for a much younger audience than ourselves.

Snow Angel and Coal Angel
By: Rukan Hisashi

   A long time ago, when the world was new. The gods got together for a meeting on a crisis they saw arising. Two people had fallen in love and the other people of the world were shunning them for it. So the great goddess of emotion stepped forward and smiled saying, “I shall take this task and make the people see them like the rest.”
   The other gods all thought this was a wonderful idea and they sent the goddess down to the world. She tried with all her might to make the people love the two lovers like they should but their cold hearts would not be changed so the goddess began to cry. She cried tears that turned to snow from the cold hearts and from that snow she created her plan. A fox made out of the purest of white snow.
   She made him special though. She took a hair from her head and made his mouth so that he could talk like the silky smoothness she had in every strand. She took a handful of sand and crushed it into two crystal eyes that shown with the beauty of diamonds so that he could see with eyes unclouded by pride. She then cut herself letting the blood flow into him so that he could feel the warmth of caring.
   Then she reached deep within herself and gave him a part of her heart so that he could find it in him to love another like himself. She used her magic to bring him to life and the snow turned into soft white fur, as he became a real fox.
   She spoke to him with a smile, “Now my snow angel. Go and find that special person like you and the people will then see that love has many forms.”
   And so he began to wander the world moving from town to town trying to find that special someone that he was to love, but every time he thought he had found them he saw with his unclouded eyes that they were only caring about themselves and not about him.
   The god of fire saw this and frowned seeing that the goddess’s plan would fail. So he and the goddess of compassion went down to the world to make their own creature. The god of fire set the ground a blaze and from the ashes made his creation adding his blood for a fiery passion as the goddess added a part of her heart for the love required.
   However, they had seen something that the goddess of emotion didn’t. They put two pieces of charred wood to be this fox’s eyes so that he couldn’t see the hate in the world like Snow angel could. The two gods used their magic to bring this fox to life and smiled seeing the black ash turn into a soft black pelt.
   “Now you must go and find the one for you Coal Angel for if you do the love you will share will be powerful enough to change the hearts of the people.” Said the gods as they departed.
   And so Coal Angel wandered the world looking for the one just for him blind to all the hate in the world and only capable of love and caring. He, however didn’t find the one for him and stopped in a forest glade to cry to his creators.
   Then Snow Angel happened upon Coal Angel and spoke to the black fox, “What is wrong dark friend?” Said Snow Angel.
   Coal Angel looked at Snow Angel and frowned in his sadness, “I was told to find the one just for me and I haven’t been able to.”
   Snow Angel smiled and walked over to Coal Angel with a nod, “I was told to do the same thing. Maybe we could travel together to find the one’s just for us?” Coal Angel smiled and they set off on their quest to find the ones just for them again.
   However, the road was long and hard, and there were many dangers along the way. Coal Angel fell victim to a horrible illness and could no longer travel with Snow Angel.
   But Snow Angel stopped to take care of Coal Angel. The spent the days together in harmony and realized that they were happier with each other than they were with anyone else. One day Snow Angel found a patch of beautiful flowers gifted to them by the mother earth. They were so beautiful he wanted to share them with his friend Coal Angel.
   So Snow Angel picked the flowers sealing the spell put on them by the gods and brought them to Coal Angel. Coal angel was so happy he couldn’t say anything. They flowers were the most beautiful in the land. He couldn’t help but give Snow Angel a kiss that changed the world.
   Coal Angel smiled as he felt something changing inside of him feeling the warmth of the passion the god had put into him. He felt the heart of compassion beating in his chest harder and harder as the magic about him began to come to life.
   Snow Angel couldn’t stand the warmth and he melted into a puddle on the floor. Coal Angel was so sad that he cried tears of fire on the ground making the whole area burn with his sorrow as he turned back into the ashes he had been born from.
   The god’s cried that day, for they hadn’t seen such love and compassion above that of Coal Angel and Snow Angel’s. They cried until the fires were gone. Then The god of fire, the goddess of compassion, and the goddess of emotion got together with a grand plan.
   They went down to the earth and re made Snow Angel and Coal Angel but this time granted them with real life that their love might light the way to people’s hearts and show them that love is indeed a blind thing. And so the story goes on that Coal Angel and Snow Angel are still out there wandering the world in secret and turning the cold hearts of the world into loving ones.

[Simo]

To be sure, getting anything published is going to be a real b****. it's damn hard to get that first contract. If you're going to do this, better grow a thick skin and expect lots of rejection letters.

As to the content, I don't see what's wrong with it. Of course, the KKKers and Supremists are going to read racial content into the "Snow Angel/Coal Angel" -- so don't expect to sell a lot of copies to that type.

Other than that, you will need illustrations, illustrations, illustrations for a kids' book.

Go for it and good luck!

[Rukan Hisashi]

meh... maybe. I'm not so sure though. Homosexuality is a very taboo subject. I don't think I could ever publish it because too many people see it as an adult subject. Remember when you were a child... you had been conditioned to believe that girls were the one's you were supposed to be with. even still people choose to deny the fact that homosexuals even exist. I'm thinking that the day this gets published will be a day that is deffinately not in our time.

[Simo]

"Homosexuality is a very taboo subject. I don't think I could ever publish it because too many people see it as an adult subject."

Perhaps that's what you meant, but that's not how I read it. I didn't interpret this as a gay tale. You are already calling your characters "angels" -- angels that happen to look like foxes. Remember: angels are traditionally gender-neutral.

[moot]

I can see the public having a hard time with this one. The first suggestion I thought of was to gain respect before you publish this one, though that is very easy for me to say. From what I've seen, taboo subjects like homosexuality are really a luxury for those who have the respect to sustain the blows from critics and readers alike who dislike the subject.

If you intend to write for a general audience of children, this writing is very good but sadly very limiting of your audience.

People in general are still very touchy about homosexuality. They don't want their children to be homosexual and with good reason. Don't take what I say as discrimination against homosexuality, but there are very many disadvantages to it, e.g. more chance of disease, less social acceptance, confusion, and billions of other things I could talk about.

I really can't suggest your publishing this as a debut. Perhaps if you made the angels entirely gender-neutral you could pull it off. However; like Simo said, many are going to read racial and sexual undertones into this book. It is natural for parents to be suspicious of these sort of things, I think.

However, if you do decide to publish this as a debut, I will support you.

-LW

[Serafine666]

Food for thought: what if someone figured out that one sexual orientation or the other was the proper one... and what if that proper one was homosexuality? *giggles* Seriously... this was pretty sweet although I think gender neutrality would drive the point home even better. I think it would be even more symbolic of people loving and caring for one another irregardless of gender. In that sense, the wolfy-dragon is with M00T.