Weekly Quote & Illustration: THE DINING HALL at the Orphanage of Castaway Children

"The dining hall was magnificent. Light from at least ten crystal ball chandeliers gleamed off the curving icy walls of the great white hall. Ice sculptures of fairies fluttered between the pearly lights, their frozen wings actually moving, and their crystal lips blowing iridescent bubbles that rained down on the hall like many, many more crystal balls.

"As in the garden, fountains splashed here too, though not in straight lines but in arches of blue water that shot across the ceiling from fountain to fountain, creating a liquid sky. Will had seen it all yesterday, but the Orphanage dining hall was just as enchanting on second sight.

"The three curving tables stretching before Will still amazed him by looking longer than any tables he had ever seen. And, like his uniform and so many other things in this strange Echo world, the tables glistened in perfect imitation of ice in sunlight. By the middle table, no one sat. But on the right, Sounds were jostling in a thick throng of white, cold breath spilling from their mouths, enveloping their faces in mist. While on the left, Echoes lounged so comfortably spread apart that they had to shout to have a conversation.

From "The Sound and the Echoes" by Dew Pellucid.

Read the first 50 pages on Amazon

See more illustrations on The Sound and the Echoes Site.