Once upon a time…

Once upon a time, there was a mysterious wooden domain in which animals, plants and other wild creature were speaking.

The mystery, however, was less in the domain itself nor its inhabitants gifted with speech. It resided in the fact that at certain times and places of the day, often in the morning and near the ponds, it was possible to hear them clearly.

It began inexplicably on a fine September day and ended when half of the characters almost simultaneously left the domain. The exchanges then became once again incomprehensible and returned to their state of natural noises.

The following dialogues and the pages Aphorisms and Why? are thus the transcription of 16 months of eavesdropping. They offer a rare glimpse of what animals, plants and other wild creatures sometimes say…

Existential dialogue 7: what relation between guilt and power?
Existential dialogue 7: what relation between guilt and power?
Socrates the stick and the deer Charmide and Mickael discuss the occult power of Niccolò the serpent.
Read More "Existential dialogue 7: what relation between guilt and power?"
Existential Dialogue 6: how to keep the peace?
Existential Dialogue 6: how to keep the peace?
Socrates the stick and Niccolò the serpent agree that peace is necessary for the common good but don't agree on how to keep it.
Read More "Existential Dialogue 6: how to keep the peace?"
Existential Dialogue 5: should we believe in fate?
Existential Dialogue 5: should we believe in fate?
Socrates the stick and Gautami the woman-tree share their experience on the matter.
Read More "Existential Dialogue 5: should we believe in fate?"

About these existential dialogues

There are 56 of them, actually posted in a very simplified version on https://lecomtedominique.com/lesespacesdiscrets/index.php/en/. They will all be rewritten to be progressively posted here.

There are also some dialogues between the eagles and the child on the Why? page. They stand by themselves, with no link to the other dialogues. The eagles and the child are only in the Outer reaches and don’t mix with the other creatures.

As for the Aphorisms page, it presents what the owl says. She speaks only at night and with her mate.

Map of the domain

once upon a time

The 16 speakers of the existential dialogues + the owl, the eagles and the child

existential dialogues
Around the ponds

Around the ponds:

  • Baruch the heron (often on the shores of the small pond).
  • Irina the dead leaves (on the medium pond).
  • Emmanuelle the turtles (often on the shore of the medium pond).
  • Davina the goose (often on the big pond).

Somewhere else in the domain:

  • Gautami the woman-tree (at the crossroad of two trails).
  • Luce the squirrel (everywhere).
  • Jean-Paul the rabbit (next to the outer reaches).
  • Gottfried the bird (often next to the ponds).
  • Simone the green berries (on the heights)
  • Emily the blue berries (on the heights, then at the stick’s).
  • Peter the hawk (often next to the rest of the world).
  • Friedrich the owl (everywhere, but she never participated in any dialogues; she only speaks with aphorisms)

In the outer reaches:

  • Aurelius the angel (when he is sleeping).
  • Jacques Adam and René Georg the eagles (sometimes)
  • Bertie the child (when the eagles are there).

Beyond the outer reaches:

  • Niccolò the snake.
  • Charmide and Mickael the deer.

In the rest of the world:

  • Socrates the stick (when he is not walking in the domain).

Reading options

You’ll have 3 choices to read these existential dialogues once they are all published:

  • read them in chronological order to follow the story from the beginning. Start by Existential Dialogue 1 then follow the arrows.
  • read them randomly as each dialogue stands by itself (see Archives once you have opened a dialogue).
  • read them by choosing the characters talking, or the themes discussed (see below).

Lastly, don’t forget the pages Aphorisms and Why? to read what the owl, the eagles and the child say.