Chosen for Further Reading (June 2021)
Outstanding stories from The Masterpiece
June was wonderful!
We’ve edited and published so many amazing stories in The Masterpiece. Some of them touched our hearts, some taught us the amazing art of storytelling, and all of them enhanced our understanding of life.
From those stories, we’ve chosen the following ones for further reading. If you are in search of good stories on this platform, you will like them for sure.
Let’s explore and have an amazing reading experience!
The First Time I Almost Became a Widow
written by Rachel Lane
His voice was kind of muffled as I asked him “What’s up, love?” “You didn’t listen to the voicemail, did you?” “No… why?” There was lots of urgent voices in the background and weird noises that started to make me nervous. “I was in an accident. Listen to the messages. I gotta go.” And he hung up.
Frantically I dialed my voicemail and listened to a supernaturally calm nurse identify herself and the hospital where I could find my husband. The only thing I remember now from the message was her repeating…
“Your husband appears to be okay, but it was a bad wreck and you need to get here now. I repeat, he appears to be fine.”
How I Experienced a Personal Renaissance on a Month’s Stay in Eastern Europe
written by Hannah To
In 2018, I went on a four-week trip to Eastern Europe to volunteer for an after-school program in Kraków, Poland. From 4–8 PM each day, I would play with the kids or organize an activity to teach them about Philippine culture.
Throughout the time, I shared a hostel room with other volunteers from Hong Kong, Germany, America, India, and the Middle East. During weekends, I would take an overnight bus to travel to nearby Austria, Budapest, Prague, and Poland’s Gdansk.
An assortment of novel experiences, rich reflection time, and mingling with different cultures led to a profound sense of inner clarity. I wish to share what I discovered about myself, what new convictions I gained, and how I endeavor to respond to life from now on. Do read and reminisce with me.
Acts of Disappearance
written by Walter Bowne
In the middle of town, a derelict grain elevator rose defiantly in rusted sandstone. Nearby, a police car idled in a church lot with “no tolerance for speeders” signs posted along Main Street and Broadway.
At noon, the bank closed. Old homes maintained a dignified grace while awaiting repair. Signs at three closed car dealerships directed buyers to visit the showrooms in Vineland. Of course, I’d already heard that St. Anne’s was disappearing into the larger parish in Mullica Hill.
Even the small Elmer library was closed.
Then I found an open coffee shop on Main Street, no bigger than a Victorian bedroom. As soon as I entered, a girl with wavy, shoulder-length brown hair said, “Good morning, honey,” her voice as warm as buttermilk. It was that ‘honey,’ I imagined, that made their coffee sweeter than Wawa’s.
Odd, though, that she called me honey since I was twice her age.
We Went Hiking in the Mountains of Switzerland
written by Felipe Xavier
This was one of the first days we had there and we wanted to explore everything but not the city itself. We wanted a little bit of nature — the city is already extremely green — but we wanted raw nature, and that was the perfect place for that.
We talked to the crew in our hotel and they had a hiking lunch package that was offered to visitors who wanted to explore the mountains. That was just what we were looking for. We left at 9 a.m and had no idea what time we would be back, so we needed to have our provisions.
Our idea was to go up the hiking trails so we could find astonishing views and just enjoy nature. Well, we were numb from so much beauty in a place.
Life Lessons Learned From Making Coffee for a Living
written by Violet Daniels
Returning to work was scary. It may sound dramatic but sitting at home for that long, in the confines of your own walls and not being in the routine of talking to strangers, doesn’t prepare you to be thrust back into the normal world. When serving my first customer on that nervy morning, my stomach was doing butterflies, and my hands were shaking so badly I could barely steam the milk.
In short, it was a terrifying experience. Now, a few weeks in, it almost feels normal again. As I have returned to this job, I’ve been feeling somewhat reflective.
For all those who work in customer service-based jobs or hospitality, I’m writing this piece for you. Unfortunately, we don’t often get enough credit. We’re usually paid the minimum wage for a physically and emotionally draining job. It has its ups and downs. But one thing is for sure; it’s given me a lot of valuable life lessons.
It’s Time to Slow Down Our Fashion
written by Toffy Char
Well, for one, fast fashion isn’t created to last. You might wear it a few times, and then it ends up in a forgotten corner of your wardrobe, only to be chucked out later.
And it’s cheap, so you can probably guess that they’re cutting costs somewhere along the production line. This means things like underpaying garment workers, subjecting them to arduous and inhumane working conditions. A well-known example is the collapse of Rana Plaza, a building housing garment factories in Bangladesh.
Because it’s mass-produced, it’s also terrible for the environment, creating millions of tons of waste and using up trillions tons of water per year.
‘Summertime’ — Are You Really Living?
written by Orianna Nienan
In a letter to her friend Elizabeth Holland, Emily Dickinson once said, “Friday I tasted life.” It has been so long since I felt like I tasted life. But there’s something about this show that reminded me what it’s like.
I have practiced being present in the moment for a long time, really paying attention to my choices, and being somewhat detached from outer circumstances. But tonight, I wonder about my own rigidity.
While I know that anything is possible, I haven’t taken a chance in a long time. Perhaps the biggest chance I’ve taken is being very open in my writing on Medium. Because I have a consulting career, I was hesitant at first to share some of my more “out there” beliefs. But then I realized I don’t care what other people think. So I started sharing whatever I felt.
The Foulest of the Fowls
written by Josephine Crispin
The Canada geese were first introduced to the UK by King Charles II around 1660. They were added to the wildfowl collection in St James’ Park in London. With this Royal connection, the fowls became popular with the landed gentry, country estates, and country gardens with lakes and ponds across England.
They spread across the UK after WWII. In some areas, they became pests as they congregated in large numbers, causing damage.
Notwithstanding the above, the Canada geese, along with all wild birds in the UK, became a protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981. According to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, there are 62,000 pairs of breeding Canada geese and 190,000 individual birds wintering in the UK.
One Day You’ll Be Thankful For Those Bumpy Roads
written by Esther George
The image I have conjured up in my head is mine exclusively. Even if I attempt to explain it, no one can truly see it the way I do. Our brains perceive information through a filter of personal experiences and preferences, so people will give many reasons why it’s not possible. That’s because they perceive they can’t do it and so they assume I shouldn’t be able to do so too. They will point out the gap between where I am and where I’m heading. Of course, they are not bad people. However, their good intentions tend to sabotage instead of support.
Everything remains an idea or a dream until we take it from the mental realm, breathe life into it, and put it out into the world. That’s when the intangible now becomes perceptible and visible to the world. This applies to everything regardless of what I’m creating, whether it’s a story I’m writing, a project I’m committed to, or realizing a future dream.
This Yogi Spent 76 Years Without Eating or Drinking Anything (Confirmed by Scientists)
written by S M Mamunur Rahman
Though he died on May 26, 2020, at the age of 91, he claimed to have lived eight decades without food and water. His name is Prahlad Jani, an Indian breatharian monk who claimed to have lived without eating and drinking since 1940.
This monk was known among his devotees as Chunriwale Mataji and had a huge mass following in Gujarat, India. His astonishing power of living without food and water made headlines in numerous world-renowned dailies and left people bewildered.
However, his extraordinary ability has been tested several times by researchers, scientists, and doctors. The result was jaw-dropping and, of course, unexplainable.
Read the above stories and be inspired to write better than ever. Thank you.
If you are in search of more amazing stories, you may explore the following links.
- Chosen for Further Reading (May 2021)
- Chosen for Further Reading (April 2021)
- Chosen for Further Reading (March 2021)
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