Long time ago, there was a childless queen living in a big castle. One day, the King brought her a clockwork doll, with a clockwork heart, with skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as Raven wings.

 

 

 

 

Her name was Raven. The Queen loved her so dearly, gave her all of affection as a mother to a child. Yet she was appalled learning that Raven was unfinished.

She has no heart, no sadness, so joy, no anger, no emotion, and no love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then the King passed away, leaving the Queen with her heartless daughter.

 

 

 

 

"What with you Raven? I've never seen such a listless being. Your King promised me a clockwork doll, with a heart. You have none. What need do I have of a child who can't not love me?"

"I don't know. I do have a heart, a clockwork one. It's beating in my chest, but I don't feel anything."

There was a clockwork heart that made Raven alive like a normal human being, except...there is a hole in her heart, a very little hole.

Being frustrated with the heartless child, the Queen decided not to keep her in the castle anymore.

And Raven,abandoned by the Queen,kept wandering in the world which made no sense to her.

Faraway, in the country side, there was a young clockmaker, Erik, dwelling in a cottage, isolated from the rest of mandkind.

He was Raven's creator, the intelligent man who had no interest in anything else except devoting for his clockwork craftmanship.

In his solidude, he created Raven with the hope that she could live happily as a human being, but the King took her unfinished away from him.

A little clockwork bird appeared at his window, carrying news about Raven. He was always looking for a chance to bring her back and complete her. "How she could live without emotion," he thought. That could be the most cruel thing being alive without heart.

Following the detective bird, the man went to a journey looking for Raven, carrying with him a liquid that he made for so many years. It was the key to open her heart.

Meanwhile, Raven was wandering around. Being abandoned by her mother, yet she felt nothing, no sadness, no fear, and no anger.

She saw human. All of their actions looked strange to her. She could't understand why they were happy. She was used to be endeared by her mother and father, yet she was not happy.

She could not understand why people got angry either. What's that feeling like?All people in the town expressed some kinds of emotion. Yet she has none."What is it like to have feelings?" she wondered.

For so long she had been trying to find feelings, for mother, for her royal dog, for the kind servant who helped her bath. Yet all of them were moving like clockwork dolls around her.

Suddenly, a strange bird landed on her shoulder. And a male voice whispered through the wind, "I finally found you."

The gentleman walked to her. He was the man with the finest features she had never seen, and somewhat he was so dearly to her, as if she knew him for long times ago.

"I' m your creator, Raven. I has been looking for you for a long time"

"Why did you make me?"

"I planned to love you"

"And do you?"

"With all my soul, Raven. But the King took you from me when I had not finished you. If you wish to have feelings, drink this bottle."

The man gave her a bottle filled with red liquid. Raven had no idea of what it was. Yet she had no fear. Somehow the gentlemen reminded her of a memory she had forgot." It's better to try that rather than keep walking in the path which makes no sense," she thought. And deep inside her heart, she had wished for feelings.

The moment she drank that bottle, a surge of strange liquid flew through her body, though each mechanical cell, until it reached her heart. Her all body felt as if it set in fire.

The liquid had filled the hole in her heart with a little key. She began to remember everything about her maker and the days of passion the young man had put on each mechanical cells. And feelings flew all over her body like that surge of liquid. She was trembling with sadness and fear. Yet the gentlemen brought her relief and hope.

At the end, Raven chose to follow Erik. She couldn't go back to the castle, neither wander alone. She knew where she belong now. Only the man who held the key to her heart could bring her happiness.

About me

The Raven project took inspiration from my love for being an animator and a production artist, also I have so much interests in multi-media design. The artworks were made in Photoshop using a combination of photos and digital drawing technique. But I am not so confident with my writting. I wish I could write better to make story line sound profound.

Raven was a mechanical doll and she was supposed to have no feelings until her maker brought the key to her heart. That's fantasy. However, in the real world, there're some kinds of reverse as we sometime find ourselves stucked in a situation that we just merely act like a doll, doing the work we are supposed to do and force ourselves to interact with others, but devoid of honestness. It is always better to find the job that you love and the passion within to avoid turning into a mechanical doll.

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