By Kaitlyn Goldberg – News Editor 

Senior Sophie Maselli, a student in Mr. Healy’s Advanced Creative Writing class, has written a short story called “The Dyads of Despair.” The story is about a bladesmith and his wife who are living in poverty and are going to a witch in their village to make a deal in return to magic for them to have money appear, more supplies and more food, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. Advocate News Editor Kaitlyn Goldberg interviewed her about her story.  

Kaitlyn Goldberg: What was the writing process like for you?

Sophie Maselli: There were two works that inspired me to write this story. The first was “Into the Woods,” the musical by Stephen Sondheim, and the second was the Greek and Roman legend of King Midas. As for “Into the Woods,” I’ve always loved to write in a nature setting because it allows me to be creative with descriptions and literary devices. And Sondheim’s use of the witch’s “quest” in the musical really inspired me to create a “quest” of my own for the characters to follow. As for retelling the King Midas legend, I was driving home from school one day, doing my homework to come up with a short story idea, and on the radio was a song with lyrics that went something along the lines of “everything I touch turns into gold.” This was thought provoking, as I knew a cursed touch would create conflict with my characters. And thus, my short story, “Dyads of Despair,” was born.

KG: What was your target audience?

SM: Honestly speaking, my target audience while writing was myself. I wanted to write a short story that I liked, and that I enjoyed reading. I wanted to be proud of what I had written. Having now finished writing the short story, my target audience is anyone who enjoys reading the fantasy genre, and doesn’t think there should always be a happy ending. 

KG: Why did you want to write under the genre of fantasy?

SM: The fantasy genre is my favorite to read, so naturally I wanted to write under that genre as well. I believe that fantasy offers the biggest escape, and wanted to provide this to my readers. 

KG: What was your favorite part of writing the story?

SM: While it’s hard to choose my favorite part of writing the story, I think it would have to be writing all of the witch’s dialogue. It was so hard to write her rhyming sentences, but was extremely rewarding when I found a rhyme that worked.