Author: Dinah Kolka

Sat on the edge of the cliff, looking down at the green slopes unravelling before me, I knew I was to make a choice. Years of fighting were still ahead of me, and I felt the need for glory and blood. This yearning I could not reject; it was the calling I was bound to heed. But something else has stirred in my soul, something further, a destination yet unknown. Such an unfairness of life – that one must choose a single path. I sat there, intending to try them all and dip my toes in everything, but even then, I doubt I would ever be satisfied. Years had passed me by as I lingered here, on the edge of the cliff. All this time, I could have been going forward, yet I felt unable to move. My beard grew longer, and the battles and fights continued. Spears became swords, and swords became guns. My rusting sword was telling its own story, though. Suddenly, I saw a homeless man, a beggar. He was walking towards me. He sat himself next to me. ‘Where are you going?’ he asked. ‘I was given this sword. I think I should fight.’ I replied. The homeless man looked at me curiously and said, ‘I wasn’t given a thing. What do you reckon that means?’. I responded, ‘Well, what you’re given in life does not define you. You forge your own path.’ The homeless man responded with a divulging smile – ‘Why can’t you then?’

Dinah is the founder of Decadent Serpent and a graduate of Edinburgh Napier University with a BA(Hons) in English Literature. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Salisbury Review and The Mallard. She was also published in the Scottish Book Trust’s 2018 anthology Rebel. In 2023, Dinah self-published her own collection of short stories, The Search and Other Stories.