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Café Confictura and Applewood: An Introduction & Bird’s-eye View

Café Confictura and Applewood: An Introduction & Bird’s-eye View

A guide to the people and places of Applewood, and a catalogue of all Sketches so far, with links updated every other week.
Go to the profile of Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Clarissa J. Markiewicz
The Ongoing Story of Confictura
Sketch № 30: Broken Cup

Sketch № 30: Broken Cup

I’d like to start this post with an apology and explanation.  This blog is meant to be a record, and I a mere recordkeeper. The mysterious…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 29: Reflections in the Café Window

Sketch № 29: Reflections in the Café Window

A Recap of Sketches 10–28 . . . and a Revelation
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 28: Flatlands and the Storms Beyond

Sketch № 28: Flatlands and the Storms Beyond

For nearly two weeks, Mrs. Creaverton barricaded herself in her apartment over the Café Confictura, her encounter in the passageways…
Go to the profile of Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 27: The Wall of Silver Blood

Sketch № 27: The Wall of Silver Blood

There are times you look back on a choice you’ve made in life, and you realize that irony, that little imp, has struck to turn your noble…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 26: Blossom in the Frost

Sketch № 26: Blossom in the Frost

The snowfall in Applewood, Connecticut, is as persistent as a lingering cough after a virus has come and gone. It sputters in starts and…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 25 (Bonus Sketch): On the Night the Dead Speak

Sketch № 25 (Bonus Sketch): On the Night the Dead Speak

I write this in the final minutes of Halloween, just before the stroke of midnight, just before tomorrow comes, just before each tick of…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 24: The Abstention

Sketch № 24: The Abstention

At this past Wednesday’s literary salon meeting, not once did Portia fling a critique at Brandon’s writing. Not once did she remind…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 23: The Moon Face Hovers

Sketch № 23: The Moon Face Hovers

An hour after Edna Mary O’Connor, who had disappeared without a trace over the summer, tottered back into Applewood and in front of Café…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 22: A Shot of Suspicion

Sketch № 22: A Shot of Suspicion

The October sky over Applewood has turned gray with charcoal clouds, and falling leaves shiver in an ominous breeze. Halloween approaches…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 21: In the Basement of Paradise

Sketch № 21: In the Basement of Paradise

Jorge Luis Borges is quoted as saying, “I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library.” Applewood’s paradise, then, is…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 20: The Half-Turned Trees

Sketch № 20: The Half-Turned Trees

With the flickers of red and gold peeking out from fading green foliage, summer in Applewood, Connecticut, retreats into the wings, and…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 19: Watching the Train from the Tracks

Sketch № 19: Watching the Train from the Tracks

The quaint town of Applewood, Connecticut, is as restless as the Housatonic River that rushes through it. Since the mysterious Quake…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 18: The Lightning Underfoot

Sketch № 18: The Lightning Underfoot

When I first came to Applewood back in April in the wake of the mysterious 7.2 Quake, rumors of dark mysticism swirled like the dust…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 17: Mending Fences

Sketch № 17: Mending Fences

Technically, “criminal trespassing” is the charge Clarke, Samantha, and Brandon got slapped with when they were caught breaking into the…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 16: Crickets on a Summer Night

Sketch № 16: Crickets on a Summer Night

Overlapping conversations in a public place sound to me like a field of chirping crickets on a summer evening. Voices rise and fall, they…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 15: What They Found Behind the Wardrobe

Sketch № 15: What They Found Behind the Wardrobe

Two weeks ago, the flame began wavering on one of the few hopeful candles still lit in Applewood. A cold, cruel breath threatened to…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 14: Shadows on the Horizon

Sketch № 14: Shadows on the Horizon

The O’Connor house, practically the oldest structure still standing in little Applewood, Connecticut, has been through enough renovation…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 13: Fresh Paint and Bandaged Bones

Sketch № 13: Fresh Paint and Bandaged Bones

Just about two weeks had gone by since Mrs. Creaverton was visited by the ghost of her late husband when we all finally got…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 12: A Ghostly Visit

Sketch № 12: A Ghostly Visit

Reading or watching a good ghost story, I’ve found, allows us a safe way to occasionally open that creaky, warped door to the crawlspace…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 11: The Flickering Lamps

Sketch № 11: The Flickering Lamps

Last Tuesday — one day after Mrs. C, Roscoe, Violet, and I vowed to call on the citizens of Applewood to come together and save a gasping…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 10: A Cold Café’s Call to Action

Sketch № 10: A Cold Café’s Call to Action

When there are too few customers inside the Café Confictura, the air changes. What were cool breezes of relief rolling off the Housatonic…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 9: Catching Up Over Coffee (A Recap of Sketches 1–8)

Sketch № 9: Catching Up Over Coffee (A Recap of Sketches 1–8)

A recap of the strange happenings in Applewood and Café Confictura so far, along with links to the first eight Sketches of the story.
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 8: The Eyes of Applewood

Sketch № 8: The Eyes of Applewood

For anyone in Applewood who may be following this blog, please know that rumors of Mrs. Creaverton’s arrest have been greatly exaggerated…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 7: The Spiral Rocks

Sketch № 7: The Spiral Rocks

One minute before the mainshock of a mysterious 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Applewood, Connecticut, seven weeks ago, family SUVs and…
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Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Sketch № 6: Cheesecake and Thunder

Sketch № 6: Cheesecake and Thunder

Given that Pastor Sweeney blamed the Quake on certain people who frequent Café Confictura, and blamed the place itself for offering them…
Go to the profile of Clarissa J. Markiewicz
Clarissa J. Markiewicz
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