Story of the Girl that Lived in a House Made of Glass

By Βασιλική Τσολάκη

One night, in the Realm of the Moon, in the middle of the central plaza came and stood a house entirely made from transparent frozen glass. Behind its glass walls that are completely transparent and yet solid, lives a girl. She is a beautiful girl, and more beautiful inside. Many blink at her and call her to come outside to talk to her, to help her, even to take her with them if she wants, but she seems not to listen. She continues her life in an invisible universe where everything is transparent, almost unreal – unreal for those who believe only what they can see with their eyes. But how did she end up here? Many have said they love her and it is probably true as they stood behind her wall for days, even months trying to find the way to enter. Knights and princes, a poet and a painter, a wizard and an astronomer, the twin firewalkers, all make a try. Will there finally be someone to succeed in saving the girl?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: May 24, 2024
• ISBN: 9781398420007

Βασιλική Τσολάκη

Βασιλική Τσολάκη was born in Athens in December 1980. She has been painting and writing since she was a little child. Βασιλική studied architecture at NTUA and after graduating, she worked at several architectural offices in Athens. Today, she is the mother of three little children that fill her life with joy, blessings, and inspiration. Βασιλική has travelled widely in Europe, where she has gathered beautiful pictures and experiences that are also the inspiration for her writings and paintings. Though architecture is her great love, Βασιλική still loves and continues writing and painting the heroines of her stories.

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About the Author

Βασιλική Τσολάκη was born in Athens in December 1980. She has been painting and writing since she was a little child. Βασιλική studied architecture at NTUA and after graduating, she worked at several architectural offices in Athens. Today, she is the mother of three little children that fill her life with joy, blessings, and inspiration. Βασιλική has travelled widely in Europe, where she has gathered beautiful pictures and experiences that are also the inspiration for her writings and paintings. Though architecture is her great love, Βασιλική still loves and continues writing and painting the heroines of her stories.

Dedication

To Mother, to the girl and her hero – the one and only real superhero of love.

Copyright Information ©

Βασιλική Τσολάκη 2024

The right of Βασιλική Τσολάκη to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398419995 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398420007 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2024

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

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E14 5AA

In a land far, far away, lived the Girl who had no parents or friends. She lived alone in a small house; all made of cold, transparent glass—so cold, that if one would only touch it for a moment, their hands would become blue from the pain. And so transparent that one could see anything that happened inside. You could see the Girl walking, and it was as if she was walking on air, as there was no floor, or more correct to say, that the floor was transparent. She cooked; all the cookware was transparent, the table transparent as well. Her bed was also transparent and when she fell asleep at night, she looked like she was floating gently above the ground.

People that passed by and looked at her, were thinking: All this that is transparent for us, can be seen by the Girl? Because they exist, it is impossible not to exist. If they didn’t exist, the Girl would be walking on air and she would really be floating if there was no bed.

But the Girl didn’t speak. She lived alone in her house made of glass and she never walked outside,; apart from some nights, when everybody was asleep. It was said that she walked to the forest to gather fruits or to wash herself in the crystal clear water of the small lake.

She was a beautiful Girl. Many blinked at her and called her to come outside to talk to her; to help her, even to take her with them if she wanted. But she seemed not to listen. She continued her life in an invisible universe where everything was transparent, almost unreal—unreal for those who believe what they can see with their eyes only. No one knew if she heard, but she pretended not to hear, or the walls of her Glass House where so compact that neither the slightest sound nor the slightest voice of love and compassion could reach her ears. Everybody wondered: Why does she live alone? and came close. Sometimes, they forgot the existence of the glass wall, and stretched out their arms to touch her, but they would get hit by the cold, harsh surface and got hurt. Some searched for the doorbell, but how could they find it as everything was invisible? Some lied in wait for her, to come out at night and speak to her. But they swore, that each time she walked out from a different point in the wall; that she just touched the cold glass and wherever she touched, the warmth of her body—or maybe her heart—made an opening. She would be visible for just moments, or as long as she needed to come out, and then, she became invisible! It seemed like when she walked out from the house, she became transparent as well!

The Girl never laughed. Everyone thought she was unhappy and this should be true because, who can stand such loneliness? There were rumours that when she was still a little Girl, an evil witch envied her beauty and the gentleness of her soul and imprisoned her in this prison made of glass so everyone could see her, but she would not be able to see anyone outside. That is what some people claimed. That in the interior of the house, everything was opaque, dark and shady; that she could not see anything behind the walls, nor could she see people, neither could she hear the voices offering help. The spells that had bound her with the house of glass made her invisible any time she attempted to walk over the limit that separated her from the rest of the world. Then she got invisible; she lost her substance. Then she could see nothing and none could see her. It was assumed then that she may have tried to approach people and talk to them, but none could listen to her.

But there was one, just one, that no one listened to, that said that she didn’t get close to anyone because she didn’t feel the need. That even if she was locked inside a prison, the things that she kept in her heart could not be taken away by anyone. He said that the Girl didn’t feel alone. Her initial loneliness and isolation were only an illusion that dissolved in time, leaving a feeling of absolute freedom. She realized that in the company she kept, hearing meaningless words, empty stories, bad jokes, she felt even more alone. Beside her ‘friends’ who didn’t let her speak, who never tried to understand what