SEATTLE: Friday, June 2nd
Christopher Ferris: LIVE piano improvisation
No Cover
Two sets, 9:00pm and 10:00pm
FENOMENA
200 Roy : Suite 104

SEATTLE: September 14th through 17th
Decibel Festival - Seattle Electronic Music Festival
Interkosmos LIVE (TBC)

MILAN: September 20th through October 10th
Interkosmos LIVE (TBC)

CDs: Unlimited LONDON MIX and PROXIMITY release!
A few limited CDs still available:
CDbaby.com

Stay tuned!

PIANO
Both “Bonjour Tristesse” and “A Chime in the Woods 2004” are now available to online digital music services subscribes, and Chime 2005 should show up there shortly as well. See "coming soon," below - February was all about

INTERKOSMOS
INTERKOSMOS is spreading around the globe. In January I released “London Mix,” taken from sketches I composed while in London last year, then fully produced into this album. It’s really upbeat, many folks have also said it is soothing and great to work to.

“London Mix” can be found online at cdbaby.com, and should start appearing on major digital music download services as early as April(iTunes, Rhapsody, MSN Music, others). The original sketches that led to the album are available for download in the Gallery.

The remastered, redesigned unlimited release of “Invasion Warning” is now out on CDBaby.com, and will also be appearing in digital distribution soon. Now you have no reason not to own it! Go! Go get it!

COMING SOON
As in, soon! “Proximity” is releasing March 15th, beware the ides of March. It will be available for purchase one week later, watch for the announcement if you're a subscriber!

Coming in late March I’m planning an online community performance series. It’s an experiment that you’re welcome to participate in, please do. Every day for two weeks I will record a new piece (improvisation) and release it to this site for free download. I hope you get a chance to follow along with me, it should prove to be an interesting format.

I'm also investigating May for a piano concert on a Friday evening. More news soon.

PIANO
“A Chime in the Woods 2005” has been released on CD and is available online at www.cdbaby.com. The general consensus is that the 2005 concert was “even better than the last” so if you haven’t heard it, head into the Gallery where I’ve got MP3s from the final master for free download. Seriously, free, so if you like it you should consider letting your friends know about it, too.

Also, if you or anyone you know subscribes to online digital music services, both “Bonjour Tristesse” and “A Chime in the Woods 2004” are now available, and Chime 2005 should show up there shortly as well.

INTERKOSMOS
My electronic music persona, INTERKOSMOS, is gaining some international attention, keep sending the encouragements! In January I released “London Mix,” taken from sketches I composed while in London last year then fully produced into an album that I am really proud of. It’s really upbeat and is ready to be played in clubs, yet many listeners have also called it soothing and great to work to.

“London Mix” has now reached my distributor and can be found online at cdbaby.com, and should start appearing on major digital music download services as early as March (iTunes, Rhapsody, MSN Music, and many more). The original sketches (MP3s) that led to the album are available for free download in the Gallery, too.

On a nice note, Rhapsody placed “A Chime in the Woods 2005” on their “most significant new releases of the week”. It was posted in the “Classical” genre, under 20th/21st century composers. It’s gone now, of course.

COMING SOON

INTERKOSMOS
Right on the heels of “London Mix” is “Proximity,” which is rapidly nearing completion! Another full-length album with (currently) nine tracks that pushes the Euro-club aesthetic into a variety of related genres including drum and bass, downtempo and even a track hinting at dub. There will of course be a good number of straight-ahead house tracks but all with whatever it is that makes my music different. Also slated for a February release!

The remastered, redesigned unlimited release of “Invasion Warning” is due out in mid-February on CDBaby.com, and will also appear in digital distribution soon after. Until then, the limited edition of 100 CDs is sold out. The new cover design by Allison Kline is awesome!

PIANO
WQFS in Greensboro, NC, is still planning to air a show about me, currently scheduled for “early February.”

Coming in late February I’m planning an online performance series. It’s an experiment that you’re welcome to participate in, please do. Every day for two weeks I will record a new piece (improvisation) and release it to this site for free download. I hope you get a chance to follow along with me, it should prove to be an interesting format.

The Concert
Was great. I was fortunate to be joined by RW, who read the spoken parts of the performance. Everyone joined me and my family for a reception afterwards in the dining room. The DAR chapter is a historical replica of George Washington's Mount Vernon home, and it seems to be growing into a home of sorts for me. If you didn't get chance to come to this concert, I expect there will be another. In the meantime, however:

The Concert Recording
Sounds fantastic, due entirely to DS, my microphone wizard. Lots of presence, plus a good clear sense of the room too, which you can sense because there's no noise or interference. I am editing the music together into another album now and will post MP3's here for all, and am producing a limited run of 100 CDs, gifts for those who came to the concert. And of course there will be plenty left over at CDbaby too.

WQFS
Has received my CDs including two pieces I have recorded but not released before. I've been told that the program will air in December, but I have no more news than that. I've added those pieces to this site in MP3 format for anyone to download. The first piece is one I composed for RY's ballet "Friction" for six dancers, which he set on Pacific Northwest Ballet's professional division students. The second is a series of three pieces I improvised, recorded in the summer of 2004, titled "Summer Series." I imagine that I will also send the latest concert CD to them as well. In other news:

INVASION WARNING
CB and I just wrapped up v2 of the remastered album and it sounds amazing. I'm also working with AK whom I've asked to redesign the cover and CD art, very exciting, she does great work. I dream of getting this "unlimited" edition released before Christmas gets here. Once it reaches my distributor I can also release it into digital distribution, so it'll hit tons of music services for downloading. See cynical note via the extended entry below.

Home Studio update
As a final note, I have finally compiled the correct concoction of technology, and can record my own piano with near perfect clarity and post the results on this Web site, hey presto! Just like that. Now I can try to perform longer series of pieces where I could just sit down every night and record one improvisation and post it for all of my friends each night. What fun!

SUNDAY October 9th at 2:00pm: A Chime in the Woods
A story without words, solo piano. A repeat of last year's performance, and at the same time a completely new performance; improvisation somewhat contradicts reproduction. Eight pieces that represent eight stages of a tale. Free admission. (See the Gallery for more)

Daughters of the American Revolution
Rainier Chapter (near Harvard Exit on Capitol Hill)
800 East Roy Street
Seattle, Washington

SUNDAY October ?: WQFS Broadcast of A Chime in the Woods
Guilford College Radio plans to air an hour segment on my music later in this month. They currently are not broadcasting on the Web but I'm looking in to getting a recording of the show to make it available on MP3 here on the site. Stay tuned! Holy smokes!

In the Gallery: MP3s of practice sessions before October 9th
Short, FM radio-quality MP3s recorded here in my home. I'm exploring the narrative of the story differently this year (always changing, evolving), and am posting some sketches I've come up with.

PIANO: I have a live piano performance coming up this October 9th, a Sunday, at 2:00pm. I'll be performing "A Chime in the Woods" again, although it won't be the same of course because it's improvised. Recordings from last year's performance are in the gallery, and the CD is available online, too.

ELECTRONICA: Also check out the new electronic music composed while in London this Spring; I've added those to the gallery as well (London Mix).

That should do it for now! Hope to see you October 9th - see "continue reading" below for more details.

October 9th, 2005
2:00PM to approximately 3:00PM

Free admission

The location is the same as last year:

Daughters of the American Revolution, Rainier Chapter
800 East Roy Street
Seattle, Washington

PIANO: The October 10th 2004 performance "A Chime in the Woods" is finally available on CD! I just received them last week and they look and sound great. I have copies for everyone who was at the performance, and plenty more; I've printed the "limited" version of 100 copies. For those of you who want copies, let me know, or you can get them online at CD Baby.

PIANO: Also available now at CD Baby is my 1997 album "bonjour tristesse." How fun! I recorded it at Bear Creek Studios on a remarkable piano - if you want to hear what I sounded like before I began playing regularly for ballet classes at Pacific Northwest Ballet, here's your chance. I still hear from people that they play it all the time - deep thanks for those who have encouraged me!

ELECTRONICA: There is (at the time of this writing) one copy of Invasion Warning left. Anywhere. It's sitting at CD Baby, and it's the last of the limited 100. Chris Ballew (Presidents of the United States of America) and I still plan to master IW together soon, and then it will be available again in unlimited (whatever that means).

OTHER NEWS:
- New camera, new photos coming soon
- Digital distribution! You can download tracks of my music from nearly any music download site now (except for IW, which won't be available until the final master is completed)
- Web site refresh - plans are under way to transform www.festeproductions.com - more news as the schedule comes together
- Mailing list is now over 150 people and growing - what a great group of people!

"Wow--you've got some interesting sounds mixed up in the music. It could be on a soundtrack for a film. I like it!" - JL

"After playing your CD thrice, I thought I'd better play something else or I would be overcome by addiction, ie, I enjoyed the CD" - RJ

Some great feedback. Anyone else? I'm going in to the studio to master Invasion Warning on Tuesday 22.

Especial thanks to SH, JL, DH, RJ and kF for constant encouraging reviews, MS for the official electronica approval, and to the mystery 3 at 5S, hope to hear from you! Everyone should send me mail and if the album did something for you, write something about it.

I also hooked up with indie music distributor cdbaby.com, INVASION WARNING is available there right now (have a copy?). How about that.

PIANO: engineer DS is helping me mic my piano exactly right, and now all we need to do is run cables through the walls and I'll be able to record at will in hi fi, oh yeah. I've considered doing a summer program once before, where I'd post a new piece to the site every evening, for a couple of weeks. On the spot summer evening piano improv for you out there in BE. Hm?

Chime in the Woods: I've received the CD print proof for the label and it looks great so I'll be producing the limited run of last October's concert in the next couple of days! Many of you already said you wanted one (or more) and I still have you down. Thanks again to DS for a rich, clean recording!

PERSONAL: photography? My latest big lesson in humility happened in Mexico a few weeks ago; don't mix snorkeling and digital cameras, that's all I can say. It's dead, so as my garden is in early Spring blossoms, I'm the only one enjoying them besides Smudge who is most enthusiastic about the longer daylight. Thanks to VH for her interest in prints, I'll put up a gallery of the ones she chose soon.

There's always more

I've just fired off an email salvo at a new big group of friends whose aliases I've just corraled, so for those of you visiting Feste Productions for the first time, howdy, I'm quite glad you've made it this far - stay a second or two and download some MP3s from me.

Warning: not all music is to the likes of all. I have wonderful friends who prefer the piano or the electronica over the other. There you have it. If you like the piano better, take a couple of seconds to download recordings from my concert on October 10th if that interests you. Please be my guest!

The MP3s are yours (please share!). Click on the MP3 AUDIO pix to access music.

Extended Entry (below): What's that on the horizon?

CDs (hi-fi not MP3) for Invasion Warning as well as for A Chime in the Woods are going to production this week, many of you have already indicated you wanted one or a handful (thanks CB) so here's the deal. I'm printing 50 copies of the concert and 100 copies of Invasion Warning. The gallery has the CD designs if you want to check them out. Lots of you also have 1 or more of my studioblank, of which I printed 100 and have about 40 left and am designing the next 100. I promise that I will never print them again and will number those of Chime and Invasion Warning by hand so it'll be cool. If I ever needed to print more I'd redesign the label again, simplify it or something.

At any rate if you'd like one you'd better contact me and I'll put you on the list I've got and we can sort out how I deliver them to you after that.

NEXT:

> Invasion Warning album notes:
- what are those things?
- track names mean what, exactly?
- audio sample notes (e.g. Dulles International Airport)

> Another performance of A Chime in the Woods is rumored to be happening in March in Seattle.

Titles:
The Persistence of Time 1f
Permission Denials 3b

Electronica album
eight tracks
releasing 00:00:01 Seattle 2005

As a piece evolves I save in versions. 1a would be the seed alone, with sometimes subtle growth in letters (b) and major shifts in composition in numbers (2).

I am printing 100 CDs with a unique label, for those who were at the concert and for others from the mail list who request one. When they're gone, they're gone. If by some odd chance you're not on my announcements list and would like to be, please feel free to send me a note, you'd be very welcome.

The MP3s are in the Gallery and are in order of the performance. For those of you who were not able to attend, see the extended entry below for the program and performance text, it will explain a lot, I think.

Welcome and thank you very very much for coming

My aim is to be brief, but I feel it is necessary to begin with this address, hence:

Apologia – Ancient Greek theatrical device, explaining the context of the performance, without which would be confusing or otherwise not fully appreciated

So. This is not: reproduction of classical repertoire, nor a series of discreet and unrelated works that together form a concert
This is: in part a concert pianist’s worst nightmare – standing before an audience, knowing that you are in fact not prepared at all. A conscious choice. This is planned, which brings up the reasonable question, what on earth was I thinking?

I’m starting with words, and am planning to tell a story. It’s an archetypal story, with a beginning and an end, with characters and conflicts. I’ve prepared the way (program), with words to remind us of what we already know – how a story starts, how it reflects life and transcends it, and how it makes its way to conclusion. The characters themselves are yours to create and dream, as are the landscapes, everything.

Now, they exist, most certainly, and I am intimate with them and will introduce them one by one. At this point, however, perhaps this apology seems truly warranted.

My premise is this; that music is its own language, rich with meaning, emotion, movement – and it is a language that we all to some degree or another can understand, although as if it were a dream of sorts, full of importance yet beyond our grasp. We turn to music for a lot of reasons; entertainment, background mood, for worship and for release. And yet, we all harbor some primal music decoder of sorts, that is as much of who you are as the you that claims the ability to understand words. (phew)

Accepting that premise, then, the leap of faith that I ask of you at this moment is to let go of any expectations, especially leaping for those of you who have never heard me play before. Presumably once I finally get around to playing I can reward your faith, but a few more words if I may.

I do not know where I will begin, honestly, nor where I will be going. What I am doing up here is sharing with you this strange gift that lets me say with confidence that I am going to make all of this up as I go, weaving in the characters and themes as they appear to me, hardly conscious of the journey.

Making it up isn’t really fair, however, because I have a vocabulary that I maintain and grow and change much as we maintain and grow and change our verbal selves, as we mature, as we grow in our careers, and especially as people in our lives draw closer or fade away. But I think you get the gist of it; I’ll be deeply absorbed in making lots of decisions as I go, on the fly, as it were. I realize that it is ironic that I am relying upon this written script to provide you with words, but there it is.

My hope is that you will be able to listen to this story as though it were a silent movie without light, or a fairy tale’s unfolding scenes beyond the words on the page you read alone at night. If you listen, and if I can manage it, the characters and themes will reoccur in ever-changing contexts, and in the end something more than music will have concluded. To that end:

Introductions

Five characters

The hero and heroine, the protagonists, the yin and yang, masculine and feminine, are motifs – at their heart, a brief series of notes, like a bird’s song, or names, or words spoken aloud. These characters can be anything that springs to your mind but try not to wrestle with your imagination, just listen for them. The feminine: four notes, rising, falling, sometimes distinct, sometimes implied. The masculine, five notes distinguished by its rhythm, three notes then two, always adding up to an odd count.

The villain, the antagonist, the void, is portrayed only as an emotional presence, subtle and sublime or forceful and unsettling, always begging the very reasonable question as to whether the darkness is outside, or is lingering inside our hearts instead.

The persistence of Time – an ostinato, repeating and forming the background against which all things move, swift or slow. It is a series of 6 notes, upon which patterns of 2s and 3s equally integrate, and over which 4s and 5s drift yet regularly synchronise

A chime in the woods – the moment of sudden clarity, where something occurs so pure and unexpected that we must drop all things and hold our breaths. Whether it is truth revealed, or merely our desire for overwhelming simplicity, still we stand motionless as it fades intangible, somehow inspired yet just as naïve and mortal as ever before. By itself it may pass unnoticed, but in one somehow magical context even its imperfection contributes to a remarkable, inscrutable importance

Last but not least, your guide, the narrator, the Greek chorus. An ironic or wry foil, or fool, to lighten the journey and perhaps offer comfort and perspective.

and there ends my apologies. I will introduce each element of the story briefly, and leave all the rest unsaid.

Introductions

This is the time of anticipation, the unreal world of innocence and naiveté. It is the point of no return, the place of silence where everything is exactly as it should be. Were it not for that magical Once, no spark would have flashed in the darkness to set this fire, and the silence would have continued uninterrupted, and nothing worth the telling of a story would have ever happened. Here, however, in the first words of the story, or the first notes, the Fates begin their weaving rhythms and the spell is cast. A chime in the woods

A growing sense of urgency

Once the world has been created and populate, the story begins to show signs of unrest; someone or something is encroaching on the idyllic world. It takes some time for the changes to manifest, as in life – even sudden conflicts often slowly unfold in the mind of the beholder, as implications multiply, making connections and drawing lines that ultimately ensnare the characters.

Yet something is there that pulls the threads taut and threatens the fragile lingering peace. It is not the way of things to remain simple, yet it is our nature to wish them so. Especially where desires are concerned. The suspicion that our hopes may be confounded by unforeseeable circumstances is at first only a distraction, but its presence is persistent.

Things become clear

At some point in the tale it becomes clear that what was once calm and serene is now irrevocably changed. Decisions must be made, some commitment required – to leave what was once comfortable and confront the new world. Inaction is no longer an option; tales do not concern themselves with inactive players, for it is their fate to fade into obscurity. Instead the unknown must be faced, and things become clear.

Time becomes insistent upon playing a crucial role in the conflict, constant ally to no-one, and often cruelly insensitive to our pleas for mercy, intent on teaching lessons to unwilling pupils. And even when gentle, Time insists on surrounding itself with sorrow – decisions must be made, some commitment required, lest the story become lost amongst the innumerable victories of defeat.

Respect for the path ahead

Preparations for the quest require solemnity and resolve despite the vastness of the unknown ahead. The action is just around the corner, and a collective and meaningful breath must be taken by all before those fateful steps are taken. It is a moment to be savored by the listener, that sense of the hopelessness of the quest and its bittersweet harmonies formed by urgency and the gathering of elusive courage.

This too is limbo, the land of trapped souls neither here nor there but in an endless state of arrested transition. It has a dreamy landscape and hypnotic melodies that melt resolve. Despite the countless multitudes of lost would-be heroes, it is a place suffused with loneliness, where the only words that remain amongst them are muttered self-recriminations, repeated circular defenses long ago robbed of conviction. Time here is merciless and swift, washing away hours and lives and leaving only littered sculptures from the bleached bones of unfinished stories.

The quest in earnest

With the commitment to motion comes the adventure. The tale presents surprises, twists, setbacks, dead ends, traps and temptations. All are accompanied by the fears of failure and the faint promise of a new peaceful world.

Conflict and consequence

Inevitably all of the threads are untangled and lead to the center of the web. There is too much momentum to stop and reflect; the tale brings all of itself into the center – weariness, fear, desperation, courage, fatalism, hope, and relief that the final task is revealed. The conflict begins and the tale abandons everything except for the moment, as though the listener has taken in a breath and must hold it to prevent tragedy.

The search for resolution

Though some would have you believe otherwise, what once was lost will never return, for the journey and travail permanently alters the characters. Some new order must settle from the consequences, but in the world of tales, that which is good and peaceful always returns when evil has been vanquished, as though the characters know the rule that tales end happily, and they work towards that peace with unquestioning dedication.

Denouement

Resolution is the end result of the tale, and is made sweet by the price paid to achieve it. It lasts beyond the Happily ever after, and lingers into the dreams of children, and into the serenity of their parents as they shut the book and turn out the lights. It even echoes inside the pages of the story, as the characters rest, satisfied, protected from danger while the covers remain closed around them.

My first concert since I performed "Tales of Na'ashivaal" in 1999 at Nippon Kan in Seattle. So it's been a while, and the string has been broken. "A Chime in the Woods" ended up being a nice way to start another story. For everyone and especially my friends who couldn't come (thanks MD and KDB in chocolate-land!), the recording mix is in progress and I should have a rough cut up on the web in MP3 format next weekend just in case you wanted to hear it again. Watch for the announcement...

I'll also be burning CDs when it's mastered, please let me know if you would like one. More details anon.

Current project: INTERKOSMOS releases their debut album "INVASION WARNING." MP3s of working versions coming soon to the site, watch for the announcement and more details here...

That's a Sunday afternoon, at 2:00, and will be held at the Daughters of the American Revolution Rainier Chapter on Capitol Hill. The building itself is a replica of George Washington's Mount Vernon home and has a large state room where the grand piano will be. There is no admission cost, and we can seat up to 120 guests or so - I have no fear of running out of room.

DAR is located at:
800 East Roy Street
(between Cornish and the Harvard Exit)

I've just added my program notes; see the link "Continue reading" below. The program is unconventional as far as piano concerts go, and you're encouraged to read ahead if you like. I thought perhaps this time I would refrain from speaking as much, but of course I can't, being a story teller. H just told me she was looking forward to hearing the latest poetry, so OK. I will speak, in an effort to bring context to the music.

Program Notes

i. Apologia
1. Introductions
2. A growing sense of urgency
3. Things become clear
4. Respect for the path ahead

5. The quest in earnest
6. Conflict and consequence
7. The search for resolution
8. Denouement

apologia - a defense, referring to books 9-12 of the Odyssey in which Odysseus recounts his adventures and defends why he is the sole survivor. Cf. Plato's Apology (the defense speech of Socrates from his trial) and the early Christian Apologists (defending their faith).

quest - The act of seeking, or looking after anything; attempt to find or obtain; search; pursuit; as, to rove in quest of game, of a lost child, of property, etc.
Upon an hard adventure yet in quest. --Spenser.
Cease your quest of love. --Shak.
There ended was his quest, there ceased his care. --Milton.

conflict - 1. A state of open, often prolonged fighting; a battle or war. 2. A state of disharmony between incompatible or antithetical persons, ideas, or interests; a clash. 3. Psychology. A psychic struggle, often unconscious, resulting from the opposition or simultaneous functioning of mutually exclusive impulses, desires, or tendencies. 4. Opposition between characters or forces in a work of drama or fiction, especially opposition that motivates or shapes the action of the plot.

consequence - 1. Something that logically or naturally follows from an action or condition. 2. The relation of a result to its cause. 3. A logical conclusion or inference. 4. Significance; importance.

resolution -
1. The state or quality of being resolute; firm determination.
2. A resolving to do something.
3. A course of action determined or decided on.
5. Physics & Chemistry. The act or process of separating or reducing something into its constituent parts: the prismatic resolution of sunlight into its spectral colors.
9. a) An explanation, as of a problem or puzzle; a solution. b) The part of a literary work in which the complications of the plot are resolved or simplified.
10. Music. a) The progression of a dissonant tone or chord to a consonant tone or chord. b) The tone or chord to which such a progression is made.

denouement - 1. The final resolution of the main complication of a literary or dramatic work. 2. The outcome of a complex sequence of events.

Each piece is given an abstract chart-like value that roughly corresponds to things like emotional intensity, changes in intensity, and ultimately to the changes in the plot of an archetypal tale. As though the reader’s heart rate were predicted first, then charted and followed in order to create another story. If a tale is gripping, it would be a measurement of how much the story has a reader gripped as the story unfolds.

But it is no more specific than that. Characters and themes interact over the course of the program, but what precisely they say or do, or what befalls them, is purely a consequence of the listener’s own internal musical interpreter. If music inspires joy, then at that moment the story is about something joyful, and what exactly that is may not ever be told in words. Likewise suspenseful, ominous, exhilarating, disconcerting, triumphant or despairing. All these can be expressed by music; when and how they appear in the performance is ultimately uncontrolled, but the course of the tale is subjected to the literary laws of its genre, to wit:

Introductions

Characters are introduced as musical motifs. The stage must be set, and the players established, before the story can truly begin. This is the Once upon a time, where the landscape and the weather and the players and their relationships are unveiled methodically.

A growing sense of urgency

Once the world has been created and populated with these imaginary facts, the story begins to show signs of unrest; someone or something is encroaching on the idyllic world. It takes some time for the changes to manifest, as in life – even sudden conflicts often slowly unfold in the mind of the beholder, as implications multiply, making connections and drawing lines that ultimately ensnare the characters.

Things become clear

At some point in the tale it becomes clear that what was once calm and serene is now irrevocably changed. Decisions must be made, some commitment required – to leave what was once comfortable and confront the new world. Inaction is no longer an option; tales do not concern themselves with inactive players, for it is their fate to fade into obscurity. Instead the unknown must be faced, and things become clear.

Respect for the path ahead

Preparations for the quest require solemnity and resolve despite the vastness of the unknown ahead. The action is just around the corner, and a collective and meaningful breath must be taken by all before those fateful steps are taken. It is a moment to be savored by the listener, that sense of the hopelessness of the quest and its bittersweet harmonies formed by urgency and the gathering of elusive courage.

The quest in earnest

With the commitment to motion comes the adventure. The tale presents surprises, twists, setbacks, dead ends, traps and temptations. All encounters are accompanied by the fears of failure and the faint promise of a new peaceful world.

Conflict and consequence

Inevitably all of the threads are untangled and lead to the center of the web. There is too much momentum to stop and reflect; the tale brings all of itself into the center – weariness, fear, desperation, courage, fatalism, hope, and relief that the final task is revealed. The conflict begins and the tale abandons everything except for the moment, as though the listener has taken in a breath and must hold it to prevent tragedy.

The search for resolution

Though some would have you believe otherwise, what once was lost will never return, for the journey and travail permanently alters the characters. Some new order must settle from the consequences, but in the world of tales, that which is good and peaceful always returns when evil has been vanquished, as though the characters know the rule that tales end happily, and they work towards that peace with unquestioning dedication.

Denouement

Resolution is the end result of the tale, and is made sweet by the price paid to achieve it. It lasts beyond the Happily ever after, and lingers into the dreams of children, and into the serenity of their parents as they shut the book and turn out the lights. It even echoes inside the pages of the story, as the characters rest, satisfied, protected from danger while the covers remain closed around them.