…is the name of today’s story at Fictive Dream.
Throughout the month of February 2022 I will be showing you illustrations I did for Flash Fiction February 2022 at Fictive Dream, an online magazine devoted to the short story.
Here’s the image editor Laura Black chose for this story, A Matter of Perspective, by Sandra Arnold.
And here is the artwork with the banner. Take a look at this image. And then…
Read the story at Fictive Dream.
Claudia McGill and Her Art World 
I really identify with this story, having once been accused of plagiarism by a teacher. The reason he gave was that I never talked in class. Of course the reason I no longer talked in class was a previous teacher who humiliated me in front of the class for talking too much…
Your illustration captures well the gulf between the ways children are treated by adults. (K)
I remember back to my childhood and how eeverything (often even the kids around me) seemed to behave according to rules or whatever that I didn’t understand and often only realized were there when I got into trouble.
Yes, all those unwritten rules. Still everywhere.
And Always will be and I will always be puzzled. But not so bothered any more.
A Matter of Perspective by Sandra Arnold is a story with which many will identify. The narrator remembers reading Gulliver’s Travels as a child and seeing a miniature world from the top deck of a bus. The illustration captures this image beautifully. In addition, I love the palette which I feel captures the tone of the story. Thnak you, Claudia, another great artwork.
Thank you. I enjoyed all the different perspectives in this story, both internal and external. It is also a feature of doing abstract artwork that the scene changes with each change the artist makes, and a new perspective is found.
The story of the classroom dynamic was told just right. It has a ring of truth about it, as if autobiographical. I love the description of teacher. Adults in charge of kids have a heavy responsibility. I’m surprised the dad didn’t go down to the school and whup her butt. lol. In the art, I see the left side as the teacher’s mouth, chomping up her students.
I love that about the mouth. I think, even if you liked school, as I did, there was a lot of just trying to get through the day kind of thing without getting into trouble for things that seemed arbitrary or just puzzling. Being a kid is a lot harder than we want to remember it.