The Narrative Approach (Japanese Kanji Radicals) by Sergio Moreno

The Narrative Approach
The Multi-Keyword Book for the Japanese Kanji Radicals

The Multi-Keyword Book for the Japanese Kanji Radicals
Sergio Moreno
Copyright 2015 by Sergio Moreno

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be
reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express
written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief
quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.
First Printing: 2015
The Narrative Approach: The Multi-Keyword Book for
the Japanese Kanji Radicals / Sergio Moreno
ISBN 978-1-329-57620-9
Please feel free to contact me if you have any comments
or suggestions.
thenarrativeapproach@yahoo.com
Sergio Moreno
Kobe, Japan
Dedication
To my wonderful wife Mika,

my marvelous daughter Misaki
and my lovely mother Mara Victoria.
Contents
Preface ............................................................................ 7
Introduction ... 8
How to use this book ...................................................... 9
Radical keywords ......................................................... 11
Radicals not included ................................................. 185
Radical stroke count index ......................................... 187
Radical meaning index ............................................... 191
Alphabetical keyword indexes:
Activity.......................................................................195
Animal........................................................................197
Place.......................................................................... 200
Preface
First of all, let me thank you for spending your valuable time reading
these lines. When I moved to Japan, with almost no prior knowledge
of the language, it didnt take me long to realize that in order to
communicate and integrate myself into Japanese society, the mastery
of the Japanese language would need to be a top priority. During my
first months in Japan I took different language courses in Kobe, the
city I moved to. I quickly picked up the impression that the Japanese
language could be divided into two separate units. One part
containing the Japanese grammar and the other containing the
Japanese kanji. As if they were two different roads, with different
speed limits and rules, they will eventually converge but in order to
advance more effectively in the acquisition of the language, each road
is better off traveled separately.
If you ever live in Japan you will soon realize that it is much more
useful in everyday life to understand the meaning of all kanji than to
know half of them perfectly (by the way, the latter task will take you
several years to master!). This is why I decided to start learning the
meaning of all the kanji at once. It seemed like a Titanic endeavor but
with time, consistency and determination I succeeded within my first
year in Japan. One interesting thing happened to me while learning to
recognize and remember the kanji; I also learned how to write them
with almost no effort.
Needless to say, I used my imaginative memory in order to memorize
the meaning of the kanji. Initially I tried to learn from the classical
book about remembering the kanji by James W. Heisig, which I
would recommend to you in case you arent aware of its existence.
I felt, however, that in order to make my stories more interesting and
memorable I needed to create a way in which I could expand the
given keywords.
This little book is the result of that necessity.
8 Sergio Moreno
Introduction
Learning to read and write Japanese kanji has always presented a
number of problems, mainly due to them numbering in their
thousands and having no connection with western languages. The
entire process can be daunting and new students might feel
overwhelmed by the sheer volume of kanji they need to learn.
Radicals play a big role in the kanji learning process, in fact, in my
humble opinion, radicals are ESSENTIAL.
Not only can radicals help you better understand the complexity of the
kanji or hint at a kanjis meaning, pronunciation, or origin. They can
also allow you to find a kanji you've never seen before, by using one
of the free multi-radical kanji search engines available on the net.
Simply put, radicals can be considered to be similar to English letters
and like them, radicals build up the kanji as much as letters form
English words. Instead of learning the kanji stroke by stroke which
forces you to try and remember an insurmountable amount of
information. It is highly advisable that you first learn the radicals
before even trying to learn any other of the jy kanji.
You might want to compare learning and remembering the kanji to
assembling a jigsaw. Although there are different strategies to solve a
jigsaw, one of the most common methods is to begin with the outside,
edge, pieces. Radicals can be thought of as these 'edge' pieces and
give you a clearer view of the task you are about to face. Once you
have learned the radicals, it is time to solve the 'easiest part' of the
puzzle. In this case it would be learning the meaning and writing of
the kanji and it is only after this part is complete that we should
consider the 'other pieces' of kanji.
How to use this book

We are proceeding under the assumption that you have learned the
radicals and their original meanings. If you are unsure of the radicals
and their meanings, this book can also help. The meaning of each
radical is shown at the bottom of each page, enabling you to check
whether your guess as to its meaning is correct.
Each radical has been given three keywords; an activity, an animal
and a place. The reason for this is simple; in order to make your
stories memorable you need to have a clear and easily associational
keyword. As the mnemonic method requires you to invent your own
stories to associate the keyword's meaning with the written form, it is
by having a choice of three keywords for every radical that offers you
almost endless possibilities for your imaginative memory and makes
the combinations between different radicals much more insightful.
Wherever possible, I have tried to keep the generic meaning of the
radical closely related to the keywords and story, although there are
cases in which I have based the keywords on how a particular radical
looks, or I have used my own creative association.
Out of the 214 historical radicals derived from the 18th century
Kangxi dictionary, I have selected 176 that qualify to be included in
this book. The rest of them either appear in so few kanji or are not in
use in current Japanese that you are better off learning them
separately.
The radicals in this book appear in descending order of frequency
based on the results when doing a multi-radical Kanji search.
While using this book, dont just read the text, visualize it, use
sensory images like the sounds, physical sensations, smells, touch,
and emotions described in the story to help you picture the story.
Engaging actively with the text will draw you deeper in the world of
the writing and you will be able to trigger memories and strong
connections with the keywords. As you will notice, every text has
been written as if it is a paragraph taken from a 'fictional book'.
10
Sergio Moreno
A title has been given to each one, dont underestimate these titles as
they help you to get more involved in the story and let your
imagination go beyond the text.
As your brain already has these keywords (for the most part at least),
in its semantic memory, stored as common knowledge, the transition
of your new 'thought stories' to the long term memory happens faster
and are more easy to recall when needed.
Even if you are familiar with the keywords, make the effort to learn
more about them, do a search on the web, watch some videos or look
at images. It will help you to establish stronger connections with the
keywords in your mind. Human brains are better at recalling things
through associations and interlinking concepts so a stimulus such as a
radical will call up the associated keywords.
Another way to look at it is to think about a famous actor, although
you know their actual name (like the meaning of a radical) when you
watch them in a movie, you start to think of them as their character,
the same thing will happen with the keywords and your stories.
I would be really impressed if you find all the keywords in this book
consistent and appropriate. Every person sees the world from a
different perspective, depending on so many factors that it would take
too long to list them all here, thats why if you think that changing
any of my keywords for your own will help to remember the kanji
better or fit more easily in your stories, do so!
Sergio Moreno
Kobe, Japan 2015
OPERA
SINGER
GIBBON
11
MOSCOU
The Kremlin Betrayal

as the lights dimmed and the curtains rose, Alexei appeared short
but stout, with wide shoulders from which his expanded chest
extended. He was the best opera singer in Moscow, renowned for his
range, tone, and unmatchable volume. However, that night at the
Bolshoi in Moscow, was not Alexeis best performance, plagued with
a sudden cold, his nose blocked and chest heaving, the opera singers
voice was mixed with growls, roars, and squeaks that were almost
unbearable to witness. Even in that great venue, the acoustic nuances
of such a beautiful theater were not enough to keep the opera singer
from sounding like a stray gibbon calling frantically to his mate that
night. Bravely he continued, even as his head ached and back
complained, to try and sing but the audience was having none of it.
Booing and heckling started to float above the orchestra, coming from
the auditorium and eventually he had to admit defeat, walking off
stage with his head down low.
radical 30 / mouth, opening
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Sergio Moreno
ASTRONOMER
CRANE
JAPAN
A Place in the Sun

as he hung up the phone, the astronomer pondered his lovers
question. How many stars were there in the sky, he wondered? None,
tonight, he thought, peering through the tiny glass hole attached to the
end of the massive telescope facing the clouds. He picked up a blue
origami crane from the table, one corner showing the letterhead,
National Observatory of Japan. He sighed as he made another mark,
number 644. Only a few hundred more to go, he thought as he began
folding another crane.
This I know for sure. He sighed aloud to himself, You and I will
have the best luck on our wedding day when I finally drive back down
the mountain to Tokyo. He picked up one of the wedding invitations,
looking at the beautiful hand-crafted paper with the intricate brush
strokes. Cant fold that one, he scolded himself, as the rising sun
began to emerge from behind the clouds.
radical 72 / sun, day
FORESTER
CHIPMUNK
13
CANADA
The Crying Tree

...he'd always thought of spring as his favorite season but as William
Morris made his way through the massive Ontario woodlands, he
reconsidered. It felt as if he were walking through a rainbow with the
leaves turning from various shades of green to the brilliant reds,
oranges, yellows, ambers and russet browns he walked through now.
It was Morris' job to decide and mark out which areas of the forest
would be cut down for logging and which, if any, would be saved. He
approached a massive red oak, probably more than a hundred years
old and was about to spray the bright red cross on the trunk, when a
movement caught his eye. The small chipmunk was golden colored
with a dark brown stripe running head to tail, it had small, black eyes
and little ears which flapped as it ran vertically down the oak to
disappear into a burrow at the base of the tree. As a forester he knew
that these little creatures contributed massively to the ecosystem of
the forests in Canada, helping to promote symbiotic fungus growth
which benefited all the trees. This year that Oak would remain
untouched.
radical 75 / tree
14
Sergio Moreno
PIONEER
DINGO
AUSTRALIA
Without Trace
...his family had finally been allowed a plot of land by the provisional
government and they had set out for the new farm the following day.
After a week's travel they managed to find the place, a simple plot
number matching the map he had bought. He stood watching the sun
dip over the low hills to the west and he heard something howling in
the distance. His wife, Anna, asked him what it was, her face pale, the
long trip by ship and then weeks of travel across rough roads had
treated her badly, the pioneer life was not one she liked.
Sounds to me like one of the types of wild animal we will get here in
Australia. he told her, They won't come here. Why don't you try and
get some sleep? His wife nodded and climbed up into the covered
wagon. Building up the fire and setting a pot of water to boil for some
tea, he was shocked to hear a deep snarling growl coming from close
behind him. Where is Tommy? Anna cried as she jumped from bed
and out into the night. A pack of hungry dingos had surrounded the
little boy and was growling madly, getting ready to attack.
radical 32 / earth
ARISTOCRAT
PEACOK
15
ASCOT
The Top Hat Killer

...from the top of the willow tree, he surveyed the finely dressed,
bejeweled ranks of the aristocrat classes. Men in Saville Row suits,
complete with top hats, and women dressed in Stella McCartney
jostled for position as the thunder of hooves grew in the background.
He'd done this kind of job many times before, but in this instance, the
repercussions were going to be huge. The Duchess of Cambridge was
wearing a very feminine, soft blue dress. It was her hat that made her
an easy target. A black derby hat festooned with long, brightly
colored peacock feathers. He spotted her in the Royal enclosure,
surrounded by glittering gentry drinking champagne and enjoying
hors d'oeuvres. He began adjusting the focus and zooming in on his
target when he noticed an elegantly dressed lady passing nearby the
Duchess. His attention was drawn to the newcomer and he thought, as
he watched her sashay into the crowd, how only women of her caliber
seemed to be found at The Gold Cup in Ascot, England. He turned his
attention back to acquiring his target.
radical 8 / lid
16
Sergio Moreno
TERRACOTTA
WARRIOR
PANDA
CHINA
The Warriors of Bamboo

the musty smell of the dusty pit managed to mingle with the muted
glare coming off of the worn armor of the Terracotta Warriors lined
up in rows. From the ledge, she stared into the steely glint of their
eyes as they reflected respect and ancient resolve from the lamps
lowered down among their ranks. What would they think, such
hardened men always ready for battle, she pondered? How would they
feel to be left here, waiting for eternity? Their life must have been as
rough as the ruler they served so long ago in feudal China. Her mind
conjured images of a time when survival meant vast stores of rice
won through wars. Her imagination painted the army before her,
dressed in traditional bamboo armor, charging headlong towards a
second, similar, army as a jolly, well-fed panda munched on bamboo
of its own and watched the stupidity of man. She scanned the soldiers
standing up close, looking for any clue of solace in their solitude.
Solid silence whispered its goodbye to her.
radical 9 (variants) (- ) / human
( / see page 173)
MISSIONARY
RED
CRAB
17
CHRISTMAS
ISLAND
Hidden Sanctuary
...he'd heard the tide lapping against the shore first. It pulled at the
hood of his black robe as he'd opened his eyes, blinking against the
harsh sun. The missionary was confused, where was he and how had
he got here? Where were his brethren and why was he laying on a
beach with his head almost in the sea. As soon as he rolled over, his
confusion grew. He had turned to face a bright red crab, its jointed
legs twitched and slanted eyes moved as it stared back at him. Father
Brown clutched at his string of rosary beads and looked around. The
beach he had woken up on was covered in millions of the red crabs
and every step he took more of the creatures crunched under his feet.
He had eventually made his way off the beach and headed towards a
mangrove thicket and rocky hillside. Father Brown almost jumped
from his skin when he heard the voice.
Welcome to Christmas Island.
radical 24 / ten, complete
18
Sergio Moreno
HAIR
STYLIST
LOBSTER
MAINE
A Deeper Cut
...on the third day of the lobster festival in Rockland, Maine, Jenna
was entertaining the crowds of people who came to celebrate the
lobsters which this place was famous for. Jenna was surrounded by
lobster pots, sections of wooden boats, brass sextants, woven nets and
all manner of other lobster fishing items. For the sake of the festival
she had agreed, as a hair stylist, to offer hair advice and treatments.
Along with this, Jenna also had a sign which said she offered a free
hair cut to anyone brave enough, as long as she decided on the cut.
One, larger, lady had happily taken Jenna up on her offer and was
nervously sitting in the chair waiting for her cut. A crowd had
gathered to see what Jenna was about to do and passed whispers back
and forth between them in expectation. Jenna came up behind the
woman and began snipping gently at her hair, charming the woman as
she did so. Some of the crowd started giggling as they saw what the
hair stylist was doing. Unknown by the woman, Jenna had grabbed
with her right hand a lobster and was cutting her hair with its massive
claw.
radical 29 / again, right hand
EYE
DOCTOR
FALCON
19
QATAR
Footprints in the Sand

...heat rose in waves from the parched, bleached earth as he made his
slow way out into the desert. Little puffs of dust rose from his mount's
feet, to be taken by the breeze, as the great beast plodded onward.
Khalid was an eye doctor back in the city but he had come out here
for the express purpose of training the fastest animal on Earth in
readiness for the upcoming tournament. Khalid slid to the floor and
surveyed his surroundings, an ageing fort crumbled to one side of him
and pipes stretched out across the sand of Qatar carrying oil or gas.
Khalid looked at the sleek form of the falcon on his wrist and took the
blinders off the bird watching as it scanned the empty landscape. He
had always been fascinated with the eyesight of these birds, which
could see the smallest prey animals from hundreds of feet in the air.
When he was two hundred meters away from his car, he signaled with
his hand to his friend who was waiting next to the car, preparing the
pigeon for release as the falcon's training prey.
radical 109 / eye
20
Sergio Moreno
(COMBAT)
ENGINEER
WATER
BUFFALO
CAMBODIA
The Day I Met Chanlina

leading a small band of combat engineers, Sergeant Rhys Philmore
stared down at the detailed map in his dust-smeared hands. Hundreds
of red dots swam before his eyes, showing the locations of the antipersonnel mines laid down during the Civil War in the 1970s. In the
heat of Cambodia, it is he and his team who were responsible for
defusing the lethal devices in the Pailin province. A single bead of
sweat rolled down the side of his face as he realized the map was
wrong. His worst fears were confirmed by a quick glance at the
coordinates. A minefield stretched out in front of him and he had no
real idea where all the mines were. Don't move Steve, crack out
the metal detectors! Philmore ordered, Weve got to find these
things ourselves! In the heat-hazed distance, a local farmer, in the
supposed safe zone, steered a wooden plough behind an aging water
buffalo in the wet rice paddy . Philmore wondered if he was going to
hit one of the mines missed by the survey team.
radical 102 / field
ASTRONAUT
ALIEN
21
SPACE
STATION
The Last Contact

Therese backed against the cold, metal wall of the military space
stations docking bay. Something from a nightmare crawled towards
her, all wet tentacles and gray skin. These aliens had attacked the
station two days earlier, knocking out the main reactor and cutting
nearly all power. Now the enemy had gotten inside the docking bay
and Therese presumed it was all over. In spite of the ice cold fright
which gripped the inside of her chest, the young astronaut raised the
small plasma weapon in her hand, and started to squeeze the trigger.
Help us! Therese looked around but couldn't see anyone else there,
Please, help us! It sounded as if it came from inside her head.
Therese looked back at the alien life form, which had stopped
crawling towards her and tucked all its tentacles underneath its body.
In its eyes she could see despair, and need for aid. Please! Help!
Therese glanced out of the viewing port to see the moon hanging in
space as if looking back at her with its big, round, pale face. Suddenly
she realized that these aliens were no threat to her now and so lowered
the pistol she had nearly shot it with.
radical 74 (variant ) () / moon, month; body, flesh
22
Sergio Moreno
ANTHROPOLOGIST
WOOLLY
MAMMOTH
SIBERIA
Against Nature
...ten thousand years encased in an ice block buried in the permafrost
of the snowy wilds of Siberia had not been kind to the creature. Sam
Sheriden, part of the retrieval team, was an anthropologist on the edge
of a new wave of genetic engineering. Sheriden gazed into the
massive refrigerated room at the eight tons ice cube and its rare
contents. Although woolly mammoths had been found frozen before,
the tissues had been too far degraded to even attempt cloning. The
female they had before them was much better preserved. And she was
pregnant. X-rays and scans of the carcass had proved it and the
genetic material contained in the fetus was what they were after.
Sheriden approached the frozen animal looking through the ice at its
shaggy coat and thick stumpy legs, the curved, three meter long tusks
and even the thick toenails which were so familiar. As an
anthropologist, Sheriden was fascinated by this creature, its relatives
and ancestors, tracing the fossil history had become almost an
obsession.
radical 37 / big, very
DANCER
FLAMINGO
23
BERLIN
The Cabaret at Potsdamer Platz

peeling off her tuxedo tailored for a woman, she kicked off her tap
shoes. Five minutes separated her solo, top-hat, tap-dance routine
from the next big number with the ladies. They already had their sheer
black stockings, high heels, and ruffs of curly pink feathers on, giving
them the appearance of a surreal flock of birds. Who went in for the
ridiculous masks, she wondered? She was a dancer, not a clown. At
least, thats what her boyfriend always said when they had time to see
each other away from the Cabaret. Her mind drifted, seeing his face
as she painted hers in the mirror under the bright lights. His image
swirled in the fog of smoke from the other pink birds puffing away in
the musty backstage area, before their next grueling performance.
Fraulein, get your tail feathers marching! shouted the Berliner
behind her. The reality of pretending to be a Flamingo flooded back,
twisting her face into a grimace of misery this was not the life she
had imagined she would have as a dancer.
radical 10 / legs
24
Sergio Moreno
SPARTAN
WARRIOR
GRIZZLY
BEAR
SPARTA
The Battle of Thermopylae

he marched ahead of his army, lofting his spear above his head as a
sign of defiance against the desert wind. He began his warrior training
wrestling at the academy as a young boy, days spent in the burning
sun struggling against other sweating, gritty boys and nights shivering
under a thin, rough blanket on a bed of sandstone. He had earned the
name Arktos meaning bear due to his boldness in taking down any
man with his huge hands. With his old name long since forgotten,
Arktos' mind flashed back to his childhood and a moment of
weakness when his mother had balanced a book on his head. You are
going into the theater. She had said. Show me your grace. Mocked
by the other children, he had thrown the volume as far as his twiggy
little arms would allow. I am a Spartan warrior! He'd shouted. As
his thoughts reeled back to the present, Arktos spun on his heels to
face his startled men, bellowing the same yell he'd used all those years
ago.
Sparta! they roared back.
radical 62 / spear, halberd
BIOLOGIST
BULLET
ANT
25
BRASIL
The Plague
...his team had studied the tiny insects in the laboratory but the venom
was much less potent in captive bred animals for some reason, so
Endurocorp had sent him to the wilds of Brazil to find them. Behnazir
and his assistant had set up camp well away from the bullet ant's nest,
well aware of the effects of the neurotoxin the little beasts could
inject. Well, Behnazir had thought to himself, not for much longer
when the antidote works. The biologist had been developing a cure
for the bullet ant's sting which was so painful it was said to be like
being shot. The sun had been shining down through the trees when
Behnazir had injected himself with his antidote. He had given the
chemical time to work and shoved his hand into the huge nest. Black
bodies had boiled out of the ground and across his skin as he lifted his
hand to look at them. His first scream had sent flocks of birds from
the trees and his shrieking had only got louder as he'd frantically
slapped the ants from his skin.
radical 42 (variants) ( , ) / small, insignificant
26
Sergio Moreno
GARDENER
HUMMINGBIRD
NEW
ZEALAND
Late for the Wedding

...it happened forty years ago, but still, Mary kept thinking of that
moment. That cold morning when her heart broke as steam from the
pistons billowed out, dragging her one and only love away. They
spoke words of love to each other, kissing in the Dunedin Botanic
Garden. It was like standing on top of a rainbow when you're
surrounded by the colorful flower beds, looking into the eyes of a boy
you can barely understand. He hardly understood English, Mary
spoke very little French, so they let their eyes, lips, and hands do the
talking. She went back to the famous New Zealand landscape, looked
for their favorite quite corner near the Peter Pan statue and sat on that
same bench, where they had first sat together. Mary watched a
gardener pulling weeds among the flowers. Dressed in green tweed
trousers, white shirt, and waistcoat, the gardener flitted between the
blossoms like a vividly hummingbird. He reminded her of Pierre; an
older version of him, and her heart skipped a beat as she realized
Pierre might be the same age as him. She wondered about what kind
of life he would have lived.
radical 140 (variants) (, ) / grass, vegetation
PEARL
FARMER
OYSTER
27
TAHITI
The Transparent Pearl

his ears stopped popping long ago, far below the twenty foot mark.
He'd left the tourists, with their sunburned faces and big floppy hats,
behind with a flutter of graceful kicks. He was forced to feel his way
along the ropes as the blue lagoon turned black in the depths. He
sorted the shells by touch, sensing the ones he knew would promise
perfection. Lured to Tahiti by the taste for adventure, most of his
chubby customers were not satisfied by merely filling their bellies
with oysters. They wanted to see one brought up, to look inside it as
he used his glinting knife to open the shell, to watch the muscles
contract as the thing inside died and hopefully find a creamy, silvery
pearl there too. So, the dutiful pearl diver obliged, and he rarely
disappointed. Popping up next to the boat, he pried open his catch
with his knife. He held it out to a pudgy, middle aged woman with
skin like mahogany. Her jowls fell forward as she stared inside the
dying creature anxiously. The sound she made when she pulled out
the peacock colored jewel was all that he lived for.
radical 154 / shell
28
Sergio Moreno
VIKING
(BLACKSMITH)
WALRUS
NORWAY
The Viking Sword

a shadow darkened the doorway, blotting out what was left of the
natural light. A vast figure, clad in thick furs painted orange from the
blacksmiths forge, stood, his back reflecting the icy gray of the
Norway evening. Ohthere of Halogland, needing no introduction, his
silence as steely as anything made within these walls, raised one
bushy eyebrow to inquire as to the production of his sword. The man
with the anvil had sworn that the present for King Alfred the Great of
Wessex would be tempered and out of the glowing coals before dusk.
With weathered leather gloves and a trembling hand, the barrel
chested blacksmith hefted the weapon from its place on the wall and
knelt, offering the blade. Ohthere wrapped his thick fingers around
the walrus hide handle and lifted the weapon, noticing the filigree
work and walrus-tusk crosspiece. His feral grin told the blacksmith he
had done well.
radical 18 (variant) (,) / knife, sword
PRINCE
DRAGON
29
COPENHAGEN
A Bride for Lindorm

...her wedding day had been the most wonderful of her life but now as
she faced her new husband, knowing what he was, she was afraid.
Before she had married prince Lindorm, the young maiden had taken
the advice of an old and sage witch who lived deep in the dark forests
outside Copenhagen and it was this ageing hag who had given her his
cure. Prepared for him, she stood with nine nightshirts on, trembling
in the moonlight.
Wife, Lindorm said, Remove your nightshirt, and she did so,
telling him,
Husband remove thy skin. Lindorm, in turn obeyed. With every
skin he removed, his form changed until, as he tore the last skin from
him and blood pooled about his feet, his true form was revealed. The
dragon stood, before her, completely enthralled at being exposed and
it lay on top of the pooled skin and slippery blood, waiting to see what
she would do. Naked now, she beat the dragon in lye-soaked branches
until they had worn to nothing. When the morning came, she woke in
the arms of her handsome prince Lindorm.
radical 40 / roof
30
Sergio Moreno
OIL RIG
WORKER
ARMADILLO
TEXAS
Stained Promises
...theres the mother ship, thought Chet Rockwell, as he gazed up at
the blinking red lights of the oil rig on the dark horizon.
Ain't nothing but a glorified oil pump, if you ask me. He shouted,
whipping his head toward the empty passenger seat. He laughed and
coughed hoarsely, flicking his ash out the window of his old car
before swigging another mouthful of beer. The wind was still hot
from the day, radiating up off the Texas desert like waves of magic.
As he reached for the radio knob, an armadillo darted into the road.
Chet jerked the wheel savagely, flipping the beater up onto its roof,
and slowly spinning as it ground to a halt. Dazed, Chet looked around
surveying the damage. His fist slammed angrily against the roof of the
car as he yelled profanity out into the night. Spying the little critter
curled in a ball on the side of the road Chet smiled,
Well at least we both made it. He said as the pounding feet of the
oil rig workers came to see if he was all right.
radical 28 / private
ANIMAL
TRAINER
DOLPHIN
31
FLORIDA
Swimming Lessons
...the third prosthetic tail had to work, just had to, thought Jeanna as
she slipped the plastic cup over the stub of the dolphin's tail. It had
been almost a year since a fisherman found the young dolphin with
her tail mangled in a crab trap. Jeanna's job as animal trainer had
brought her together with Flippy. She loved her job at the Florida
Marine Aquarium but had come to love the dolphin more. She
brushed her hand over the animal's skin, feeling the iron hard muscles
flex and twitch underneath her flesh. Remembering how the
disappointment of their earlier trials had made her heart ache, Jeanna
made sure Flippy understood she must move her tail up and down and
burst with pride when the animal did so. Go Flippy, Go Jeanna said.
Flippy gave her artificial tail a flap, then another and then shot off
round the pool as if she were whole, Jeanna cried with joy, tears
falling into the water as the rest of the staff cheered and clapped.
radical 149 (variant) ( ) / speech
32
Sergio Moreno
PSYCHOLOGIST
PARROT
PARIS
(FRANCE)
The Paris Wife

she could smell the leather as she reclined into its comforting
embrace. Dark green paint covered the walls, and there were a few
choice ornaments artfully placed around the room. The essence of the
psychologists office is calming, homely, and she actually felt her
anxiety waned as she settled down. Dr. Augustin sat across from her
in a matching leather chair, legs crossed and round, wire-frame
glasses perched on his nose. He looked at her with his usual benign
half-smile and asked, So, how have the dreams been this week,
Michelle? she glanced out at the cloudless skyline of Paris,
dominated by the Eiffel Tower, and replied, My parrot is red this
time. His eyebrows rose slightly, Red is the color of passionate
feelings but red is a bold color that might indicate danger he told her,
The parrot is, of course, your need to leave, to fly away. It serves too
as a sort of escape from the pressures of the real world He paused,
The question is: Who is it you want to fly towards or away so
desperately? She fiddled with her wedding ring, spinning in loosely
around her ring finger with her thumb. A silent tear slid down his
freckled cheek as she realized the answer.
radical 61 (variants) (, ) / heart
KING
PHEASANT
33
ENGLAND
The Game of Kings

hooves pounded into the mud as a group of men on horseback
raced to the forest. The King of England, Henry VIII, was riding at
the head of his hunting party. That morning he wished to test his new
hunting device; a Venetian crossbow. It was a gift from his friend,
Charles Brandon, first Duke of Suffolk. His two dogs, Ball and Cut,
ran behind Henrys galloping black horse, tireless as always. Beaters
in a nearby forest scared up a flock of magnificent pheasants and their
wingbeats flicked the air as they tried to get away. Henry pulled the
crossbow rapidly, and aimed at the last one which was having
difficulty lifting off the ground. The bolt flew, passing inches away
from the pheasant's neck. Ball and Cut immediately ran off behind the
pheasant, disappearing from sight. Not again, Henry sighed. I'll
pay five crowns to the man who finds them and brings them back to
court, Henry shouted to the group of beaters. And Ill pay double to
the person who catches that accursed pheasant. Henry looked back at
Charles. Both men smiled as the beaters ran desperately up the hill.
radical 96 (variants) ( , , ) / king, ball, jade
34
Sergio Moreno
MERCHANT
SILKWORM
XANADU
Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu

...Will we continue with your stories today, Marco? Rustichello de
Pisa asked of his cell mate, Marco Polo. The stone walls which
surrounded them were bleak and dull with a few names scratched into
them, so Polo's recounting of his tales seen from his merchant
perspective brightened an otherwise dull life for the men.
We shall, my friend, we shall, Polo answered in his usual happy way.
The physical hardships and lack of decent food never seemed to bother
him, Pisa noted. So you recall I was traveling through China, along the
Silk Road, looking at the strange buildings and even stranger temples. At
the summer court of the emperor Kublai Khan in Xanadu I was later
introduced by the emperor himself to the source of the fine silks these
Chinese produce and I do not think, my friend, you will believe the
source. They collect the cocoons from creatures they call silkworms. Big,
fat things they are, green and yellow and silver, with little horns and big
jaws. They only eat mulberry bush leaves and when they make their
cocoons the Chinese unravel them and use the thread to spin silk.
radical 120 (variant) () / thread, string
PACKER
PYTHON
35
ABIDJAN
(IVORY COAST)
The Cacao Watchers

...sacks, hundreds upon hundreds of identical cocoa sacks jammed on
the back of the lorry and all of them had to be unloaded, by hand, at
night. Shia bunched his muscles, the sweat running down his back in
the humid atmosphere of the warehouse, ready for another sack to be
dropped on his shoulder. Then he started the forty-seven step journey
to the stack of sacks where he would dump his sack and trudge back
to the lorry. As he walked, the young man looked around at all the
people doing the same boring, depressing job he was and wondered
why none of the money which must be flowing into this port of
Abidjan on the Ivory Coast was ever seen by the local people.
Massive companies and local government were the only ones who
made any profits and all from the hard work of the local people.
Distracted by his thoughts, Shia didn't see the python until it had
wrapped itself around his chest and throat, squeezing the breath from
his lungs.
radical 20 / wrap, embrace
36
Sergio Moreno
UNDERCOVER
AGENT
STINGRAY
BAHAMAS
Hidden in the Bahamas

...as Sanjay stood up swiftly in the cool night air of the Bahamas, the
black clad mans hand reached behind his back, but Daniel soon
realized he wasnt in any immediate danger and brought it slowly
around again. The kingpins henchmen backed down at a wave of his
hand. In one swift motion Sanjay closed the gap between them,
grabbing him by the collar of his Armani suit, and shoving him
backwards over the yachts rail.
Tell me why you came here today, Sanjay demanded, looking deep
into the other man's eyes with a cold, dead stare. Sanjay wondered if
this had all been a set up, if this target was an undercover agent here
to weed out the weaker agents. As Daniels life literally hung in the
balance, he looked over his shoulder to see the plate-like, grayskinned stingray swimming lazily in the water below. Even in the pale
moonlight its menacing sway and viciously barbed tail told Daniel of
the trouble he'd be in if he did not choose his next words very
carefully.
radical 14 / cover
LIBRARIAN
TOUCAN
37
NATIONAL
LIBRARY
Relic: The Quest for the Golden Toucan

...Janice made her way down the winding, stone staircase towards the
underground gallery which housed tens of thousands of rare and
priceless books. She had been down here cataloging and arranging the
tomes into some semblance of order after the last man to take care of
them, Perrin Braithwaite, retired. The young librarian flicked a bank of
switches illuminating the space and made her way across to her latest
interesting find. She took a deep breath in, reveling in the smell of old
books, musty paper and leather bindings. Deep in the bowels of the
National Library Janice had found a book written in an almost forgotten
language which listed plants, animals and species which had been written
five hundred years before any other book in history. She carefully turned
to the gold illuminated illustration of a toucan. Janice was more
interested in the tower of gold in the background, however, and the notes
which said it was a real place in the middle of Asia. Janice had been
making a detailed copy of the image and was about to carry on with it
when she realized it was gone. She made her way through to the end of
the aisle and screamed when she saw a pair of feet, attached to a dead
body, in the main corridor. Hearing a pounding of feet, Janice looked up
to see the fleeing figure of a man running up a spiral staircase in the
middle of the room.
radical 44 / corpse
38
Sergio Moreno
SAFARI
GUIDE
GAZELLE
KENYA
Surviving in Africa
...skittering across the surface of the Savannah, great plumes of dust
flying out behind the back of the vehicle. He had made this trip a
hundred times in the past, driving the Land Rover along the dusty
trails through the Serengeti National Park in Kenya. He had been a
safari guide for ten years now thanks to his command of the English
language and the knowledge of history and regional fauna. Today,
the were going to watch the frantic herds of wildebeest crossing the
Mara River. It would be spectacular, and he knew almost exactly
where they will be. They are migrating north, seeking fresh grazing
and better quality water. I have three Americans and a British couple
sitting in the raised compartment, clutching their big cameras. He
could feel their excitement when a herd of gazelles came racing
towards them, followed by a menacing silhouette. But something was
wrong. One of the gazelles was running straight towards them, and
before he could get his rifle ready, she smashed through the
windscreen, slashing her neck open on the glass fragments. All the
tourists gasped for a moment before a rain of shutter sounds invaded
the off-road vehicle.
radical 162 (variants) (, ) / walk
SOMMELIER
BUTTERFLY
39
BORDEAUX
The Wine Cellar No. 7

in the cool, stone bowels of the vineyards winery, sommelier JeanPaul had been sampling numerous burgundy wines for the restaurant
he advised. Of all the wine he had tasted so far, the next one had his
anticipation growing. It was one of memorable vintages in recent
times in the French region; a 2005 Chateau Richebourg , Henri
Margaux. The manager of the restaurant Jean-Paul worked for just
couldn't see the possibilities the diners that having that wine
would bring. Franois, the winerys manager, uncorked a bottle and
poured a small sample into a glass for Jean-Paul. It was exquisite and
he decided to make a deal with Franois, who suggested they went
and enjoyed a drink while enjoining the Bordeaux sunset. Outside,
Jean-Paul looked out over the acres of grapevines stretching off into
the distance. As he tilted the crystal glass back, a single Red Admiral
butterfly gracefully perched upon the stem and the sommelier smiled.
Surely that was a good omen?
radical 21 / spoon
40
Sergio Moreno
CLIFF
DIVER
PELICAN
ACAPULCO
The World Beneath

the breeze fluttered his salt and pepper hair, his sleek bronze figure,
encased in blue Speedo swimming trunks, was muscular and had not
an ounce of fat. Up here, it was either a southerly or a westerly wind
blowing inland toward Acapulco. Always smooth and mellow, like
him, was the ocean air; because the Pacific hurricanes never made it
down here. It was time for this old cliff diver to take his final bow, go
out on a high note and finish at the top of his game. He never won any
medals, but all the tourists who stood at the bottom of the cliff in
deathly silence knew him as a champion. Deep in meditation, he
opened one eye. Across the narrow rocks nested a magnificent
pelican, staring straight at him, its huge beak and fleshy, fish-catching
throat a stark contrast to the brown rocks they both stood on. Ricardo
tried not to let the gravel digging into his feet or the fly buzzing round
his ear put him off as he thrust his arms out sideways in a crucifixion
position and leaned forward over the abyss below. He turned and
caught the pelican's eye once more,
Thank you, teacher. he whispered, as he took his final flight.
radical 27 / cliff
PALEONTOLOGIST
DINOSAUR
41
ETHIOPIA
(TYRANNOSAURUS)
The Dinosaur Hunter

Dr James McMasters, lead paleontologist at Addis Ababa
University, scrambled over the parched soil and dusty rock which
made up most of the dig site in that part of Ethiopia. With the
grunting whine of Jeep engines getting louder by the second,
McMasters started shouting orders at the men and women brushing,
scraping, and digging around the skeleton of the massive
tyrannosaurus rex they had found. Roughly dressed men wielding
AK-47 rifles jumped out of the Jeeps, shouting and waving madly.
What are you doing?
Why are you digging here?
Get out of the pit!
McMasters threw his hands up as the leader of the rebel group
controlling that area approached him.
What is it you are digging here? he demanded, pointing his gun at
the skeleton.
A perfect example of tyrannosaurus rex, a-a-a dinosaur, the
professor stammered.
A dinosaur? The rebel leader laughed, showing perfect white teeth
the teeth of a predator.
radical 41 / sun (unit of measurement)
42
Sergio Moreno
CASTAWAY
BOAR
DESERT
ISLAND
The Mysterious Island

everyone had gathered around the big fire, with its leaping flames
and glowing ember heart, to talk about the wild boar which had come
close to camp. It had been a nasty looking thing with two big tusks
jutting from its jaw at two different angles and evil little eyes. Poddy
was the oldest of us all so he became leader, even though he was only
fifteen. Our ship had crashed in high seas making us all castaway on
this deserted island. Of the ten of us who had survived, we had made
what we could of the wrecked ship and the supplies which had
washed ashore, creating a kind of camp where we all slept under
broken boards or whatever we could find.
We've got to kill the pig! Poddy shouted at us in an inspiring
voice. He had a smear of dirt on his cheek from where a dirty stick
had hit him in the face. If we don't he'll surely gore or kill one of us.
We need to make some spears and then pick two of the fastest runners
here to bring it towards us.
radical 58 (variant) () / pig's head
LAWYER
KILLER
WHALE
43
ALASKA
Blood and Justice

...the courtroom was brightly lit, stained walnut wainscot clad the walls
and an oil-on-canvas mural titled Anchorage Landscape adorned the
wall. Men in suits sat waiting for the judge who was presiding to enter.
"All rise, the honorable Judge Jefferson presiding". Said the bailiff,
everyone stood. Wearing a red cloak and robes of office, the judge
entered the court and took his seat.
Please be seated. He said to the room, If the lawyers for the
prosecution and defense could present their cases, we can begin the
proceedings. His voice was bored, the judge thought the case was a civil
matter, not one for the court. The lawyer for the prosecution stood and
addressed the room,
Your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, it is my intent to show the
Arrowya Tour Company, based in Alaska, showed a blatant disregard for
and the neglect of, their own rules of safety during the whale watching
tour during which my client lost his arm to a killer whale.
I will demonstrate, Said the defense lawyer, Through written and
video evidence, it was the willful ignorance of the safety advice which
caused this accident and my learned colleague's client is entirely to
blame.
radical 34 + 35 + / winter
44
Sergio Moreno
BALLERINA
SWAM
DANCE
SCHOOL
Audition For Murder

...there were twelve dancers going for the part as Cherine warmed up,
stretching her leg muscles and crouching down. Twelve! It was
unbelievable to the young ballerina so many had come. In the past
there had been a few people at an audition, never this many! She
looked around at the other girls, here to audition for the part of the
swan in yet another production of Swan Lake, checking to see if there
was any real competition. There was a red-headed girl who looked
like she'd been spotted doing something criminal, she'd never get the
part, not with hair like that! Another willowy girl had long, perfectly
straight, blonde hair and was taking up most of the room in the dance
school's main hall, spinning and turning, jumping impossibly high and
showing off her excellent training. Cherine had been trained better
and she'd had experience too so blonde girl was out of the picture too.
Continuing her examination in the floor to ceiling mirrors, Cherine's
jaw fell as she spotted Sarah Hayden coming in late. A spear of fright
chilled her chest as she saw the real competition enter the room.
radical 38 / woman, female
BASEBALL
PLAYER
MOOSE
45
NEW
YORK
Luck Has Its Price

...loved the crisp morning air and the smell of damp earth beneath his
feet. Will could hear the river trickling and bubbling as it flowed
down from the hills surrounding the area. As the boy screwed the red
cap on the bottle and hauled it up, he turned to see a massive creature
bearing down on him. The moose towered above the boy, its massive
rack of antlers waving threateningly as it eyed him up to charge. Will
knew there was no way he was going to get away from this beast and
bravely shouted in its face, trying to scare it off. The moose lowered
its head and prepared to charge when a streak of white smashed into
the side of its head, bringing it around. Will looked over to the right
bank of the river, an athletic man in trekking clothes was reaching out
for another white pebble, his face looked familiar to Will. It was only
when he saw the man throwing the second stone at the Moose, he
recognized the man, as he'd seen him on his baseball card collection
so many times. He was the great Spud Chandler from the New York
Mets.
radical 66 (variant) () / strike, whip
46
Sergio Moreno
ADVENTURER
CASSOWARY
NEW
GUINEA
The Prophecy of the Kuk Temple

how had he ended up in this mad situation? Matt had been
searching the ruins of the lost temple of Malachi, built five thousand
years ago in the New Guinea rainforest, as a place of worship for the
sun goddess, Awha. Although what remained was little more than a
few shaped blocks jutting from the earth, this entire place was
forbidden to enter, being a holy site according to local law. Matt had
blatantly ignored this, angering a tribe of pygmies who screamed for
his death. Now, the adventurer found himself trying to ride a bird in a
desperate attempt to get away. The cassowary had nearly spilled
Matts guts with a powerful kick but he had managed to jump onto its
back, trying to steer it with his knees. The black bird was running well
now, and Matt risked a look over his shoulder, nearly screaming as he
felt himself falling. He hit the chilly water in the fast flowing river,
gasping as it took his breath away.
radical 115 / two-branch tree
CORONER
VULTURE
47
WICHITA
Easy Meat
...Bob was a veteran coroner, but something about that nights air
made him pull his trench coat tighter around him. The light mist could
barely be called a rain, but on the eve of a new moon it made the night
truly pitch black. He looked up at the massive lone oak that
overshadowed most of the crime scene, a spot the local teenagers
came to hang out and do what teens do. Scruffy, bald-headed vultures
filled its branches, barely visible, anxious scavengers seeking their
prey. Bob turned his eyes away and just shook his head. He moved
over to the corpse of the victim, pulled a pair of latex gloves from his
pocket, and put them on with an audible snap. Crouching down, he
began his work. Her body had been roughly butchered, with slashes
and lumps hacked off her. Bob's preliminary examination produced an
ID badge which he handed over to the waiting police detectives. The
name on the badge had been Sarah Macal, she had worked for Cargill
Meat Solutions here in Wichita. Bob instructed the blood spatter
pattern analyst to make sure the blood stains he found were not from
the animal products she worked with.
radical 130 (variants) (,) / meat
48
Sergio Moreno
FAKIR
PORCUPINE
NEW
ORLEANS
Carnival of Fear
...brightly colored costumes and women with strings of beads around
their necks thronged through the streets of New Orleans as the Mardi
Gras reached full swing. A group of people gathered around a small
man dressed in loose fitting trousers. The fakir had a live porcupine
next to him on the floor and all eyes were on him to see what he
might do. Stripped to the waist, the fakir began dancing to the beat of
the music which came from all around him, his bare feet getting
closer to the needle sharp quills of the porcupine which sat quietly on
the floor. He arched over, planting his hands on the other side of the
sharp creature, the skin on his chest millimeters from the spikes
coming from the animal. The little fakir leaped and twirled and span
around the porcupine to the cheers of the audience, never once getting
stabbed. Finally he reached down and removed one of the creature's
long quills, pressing it to the skin of his cheek before piercing the
flesh and shoving it through his other cheek too.
radical 50 / turban, scarf
PARK
RANGER
COUGAR
49
YELLOWSTONE
PARK
Run for Your Life

Larry made his way back up the trail towards his Ford pick-up, he
had been looking into reports some kids had been setting fires and
drinking in Yellowstone National Park where he worked as a park
Ranger. Larry was carrying a sack full of beer cans he'd picked up,
back to where he had parked, when a massive male cougar dropped
onto the path in front of him. Larry froze, feeling around his back for
the rifle he should be carrying as the cougar looked at him, growling
in rage. He knew they lived throughout the park in summer, but had
never expected one to come down here, where all the scents of
humans were. Looking closer, Larry could see an angry red scratch
running down one of the animal's front leg. Probably it got into a fight
with other adult male he thought. He did the only thing he could think
of, shaking the sack he held to try and scare her off.
radical 46 / mountain
50
Sergio Moreno
MAGICIAN
WHITE
PIGEON
CRUISE
SHIP
Cruise to Nowhere
...this was Marcus' first trip on the cruise ship, Scent of the Orient. He
was part of the vast ship's entertainment crew and was preparing to
put on another show in the Club Lounge. Peering through the curtain,
Marcus took note of the rows of drunken passengers impatiently
waiting for some form of show. His eyes grazed over the velvet walls,
plastic plants and mirrored surfaces which made up the gaudy interior
and shuddered, this hadn't been his first choice of career a magician
on a cruise ship. He'd always dreamed of having his own show,
maybe even on TV, or one of those massive productions in a purpose
built theatre. Something wriggled gently against his chest, bringing
him back to earth, one of the fat pigeons he used in his act was getting
restless. Marcus heard the tinny sound of the announcer introducing
him,
Marcus the Magnificent, sorcerer without compare. Marcus took
the stage to a round of weak applause until he made it look as if the
white pigeons were flying out of his mouth.
radical 106 / white
SPELEOLOGIST
BAT
51
MALAYSIA
Last Light
...under the surface of the Sarawaks Gunung Mulu National Park in
Malaysia lies a parallel world, a world of great beauty and mystery
formed over thousands of years by the passage of water through rock.
Jenna Speaks had been exploring the Clearwater Cave System for
weeks now, charting every twist, turn and outcropping of rock the
stalagmites and stalactites, the different strata. The young speleologist
and her team had taken photos, video and 3D sonic scans of the entire
system to map and chart every aspect of it. So how had she become
lost? Had something changed inside the cave? Or had they somehow
missed a tunnel system? It seemed impossible but the unfamiliar rock
formations her torch revealed told her she was definitely in an area of
the system she didn't recognize. Jenna's foot squished down into
something soft, the smell of guano reaching up to drill into her nose.
A shivering, fluttering noise reached her ears and as she shone her
torch up, she saw hundreds of thousands of little black creatures
clinging from the roof. Bats.
radical 53 / dotted cliff
52
Sergio Moreno
STRONGMAN
ELEPHANT
CIRCUS
The Elephant Girl

...gaily dressed men and women paraded round the circle in the
middle of the massive tent. Some blew fire while others performed
acrobatics alongside clowns and animal acts. The finale of the circus
was a parade with all the performers bowing to the applause from the
audience. Hercules the strongman was last, carrying three women
balanced on a metal bar across his shoulders. As he walked out into
the ring he heard the frightened trumpeting of an elephant and people
screaming. Rinrin, a big bull elephant, had begun to walk among
some members of the audience, obviously confused about what was
happening. Hercules dropped the women he carried and raced over,
jumping over the small barrier to place himself in front of the young
girl who was just about to be crushed. Turning his back, Hercules
braced his shoulders against the massive creature's backside and
pushed, holding it up for long enough for someone to grab the child.
radical 19 / power, force
DUCK
HUNTER
DUCK
53
ARKANSAS
Hunting Shadows
Jeff and Dean had paid top dollar for this particular hide. The small
shed, covered in camouflage and half buried in the ground had been
billed as a guaranteed spot to shoot duck. Sitting in a tin box, in the
grand prairie of Arkansas, in summer was like the duck hunter's idea
of Hell and they were both sick and tired of the complete lack of
ducks. Some birds had taunted the hunters, circling above but staying
out of the shotguns' 45m range. Jeff blew his duck call again to see if
any of the birds would call back. Nothing. Not a sight or sound for
five hours. Unless you counted the buzz of mosquitoes, but they were
difficult to shoot.
I might go back and punch the agent who took our money. Dean
complained , wiping sweat from his brow. Jeff could only nod.
A beer? Dean asked Sure, at least let's have a drink Jeff replied.
Suddenly a flock of ducks flew over the hunters only twenty meters
away, an easy shot but they were caught off-guard holding the beer
cans in their hands and the shotguns laid on the floor. I can't believe
it! Dean shouted as he saw the ducks fly away.
radical 172 / old bird
54
Sergio Moreno
ICE ROAD
TRUCKER
ARCTIC
HARE
YUKON
A Wicked Snow
...but conditions from the blizzard were making the challenging trip
an increasingly uncertain one. Darryl had been driving the big rig out
over the ice to and from the mining facility for eight years and never
had a problem like this one. Being an ice road trucker in the westcentral reaches of Yukon territory was dangerous job but one he could
do well. Until that day when, in the heart of the storm, he decided to
take on a new road. It wasn't a good idea he thought as he hit a fault in
the ice and nearly lost his entire rig in the Yukon river. Darryl had no
choice but to wait for a passing trucker to find him. With little food,
Darryl had to leave the warmth of his cab and try to hunt something to
eat. As soon as he got out he saw, in the middle of the road, stock
still, an Arctic hare. Almost as if it wanted to become prey to Darryl's
shotgun, the Arctic hare just looked at him with a serene look in its
eye. Luckily for the animal, snow blew in Darryl's eyes making him
miss the whitest Arctic hare he had ever seen which watched him
stumble past as if amused.
radical 15 / ice
WAITER
OCTOPUS
55
RESTAURANT
Octopus on My Head
William had been working at Threano's Seafood Restaurant for just
over a year when he decided it was time for a change. A new manager
had just introduced several big tanks full of seawater to display a
range of the creatures customers could buy. One had some large crab,
another was filled with lobsters and yet another, the one which
William walked past most often, held an octopus. In his job a waiter,
he watched these creatures go from tank to pot to table and while he
understood this was how life was, had grown fond of the octopus. It
would follow him from one end of the tank to the other when he
walked past but he'd seen it go to the back of the tank when another of
the waiting staff walked past. William already had a plan to rescue
Oscar and had bought a tank which he had set up at home. He waited
at the end of his shift, until everyone had gone home and went into the
main dining area. Dipping a clear bag into the water, he was really
happy to see Oscar making his own way into it as if he knew William
was trying to rescue him.
radical 16 / desk, table
56
Sergio Moreno
PAPARAZZI
COYOTE
BEVERLY
HILLS
The Hollywood Detective

Chrystal peeped out of the curtains at the crowds of paparazzi
gathered outside her large home in Beverly Hills. Some of them were
even standing at the top of the nearby hill as to get a more panoramic
shot. She could see the massive lenses of the photographers attached
to tripods, all pointed in her direction. The California sunshine
pounded down on their gathered heads as men in cheap clothes
fiddled with cameras and microphones hoping to get a scoop. Chrystal
hoped they all got bad sunburn. As she waited for her police escort,
Chrystal looked around the marble and oak her home was built from.
Those same paparazzi who waited outside, like coyotes waiting for
prey, had the audacity to call her The Black widow. When it was them
who waited to rip her apart looking for all the details of her romantic
relationships. She could see the white and blue cars pulling up to her
gate and she moved to press the button of her intercom letting them
in. Now she thought about it, were they here to escort her or were
they here to arrest her? With a trembling hand she pressed the button
letting them through.
radical 170 -left- (variant) ( ) / mound, dam
FORTUNE-TELLER
UNICORN
57
AMUSEMENT
PARK
The Haunted Carousel

...screams of laughter, shouts of joy, the smell of candy floss and fried
foods all mingled around her, overlaid by the pumping beat of music
and the strobe of flashing lights. She had been on the big wheel,
waltzers, ghost train and spinning cage but Mia dragged her friend
across to a small tent half hidden at the back of the amusement park.
Odd drawings and mystical creatures decorated the tent, many of
them being unicorns. Mia had always liked the idea of unicorns and
for that reason alone she went in. A cheap glittering sign proclaimed
they were in the presence of Mother Rhea, fortune teller to the rich
and famous, Mia tried not to grin, there was no one rich and famous
in this little town.
Come in, come in, allow me to see the future. A voice said,
then a bony hand grabbed Mia's hand making her squeal.
radical 25 (variant) () / divination
58
Sergio Moreno
JEWELER
GOLDEN
RETRIEVER
BIRMINGHAM
The Man with the Golden Dog

...he couldn't wonder where the man had gotten to any longer. The
middle aged jeweler had work to do, he couldn't spend his day waiting
on the old sot to arrive outside his place in the heart of Birmingham's
jeweler-quarter, there was work to do. He looked around his
workshop, looking at the minute tools, forge, blocks of wax and
numerous unfinished pieces he had scattered around him. He could
not have concentrated this day if he tried to, he was waiting for Baron
Tweedmouth to arrive by carriage with an entirely new breed of dog.
A working gun dog, but one which was also perfect for him as a
jeweler a golden retriever. He ever wanted a dog who could retrieve
shot waterfowl as well as upland game birds during the hunting
season. Hearing a clatter of hooves on the cobbles outside, he dashed
to the window to see the Baron climbing from his carriage. The old
man turned and he saw the puppy for the first time. A chubby little
face with brown eyes looked through the glass at him and his heart
melted.
radical 167 (variant) ( ) / metal, gold
WOODCUTTER
OX
59
FINLAND
The Extraordinary Journey of Tahvo

gigantically muscled Tahvo carried two massive axes, his lunch
and a single flower. Whistling a merry tune, the woodcutter paced
along the cobblestones of the road which led from his house towards
the forest where he worked, his massive stride eating up the distance.
Early spring in Finland could be beautiful and today was no exception
with blue skies and a warm breeze, little flowers dotted the green
grass, making a fresh tapestry across the landscape. He was coming to
the point where he would see the girls from the village going to wash
clothes in the river. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach as he caught
sight of Hell and Tahvo almost lost his nerve when he looked at her
wide hips, blonde hair and curvaceous body. He held out the small
violet-blue harebell flower, with the exact same color as her eyes, to
Hell who took it, putting it in her hair with a blush. She reached up
to squeeze the muscles in his arm and giggled, it was no wonder
everyone said he was as strong as an ox. Curling her lips into a smile,
she winked at the large man and carried on towards the river.
radical 69 / axe
60
Sergio Moreno
FASHION
DESIGNER
ALLIGATOR
MILAN
No Good Choices
...models and photographers, make-up artists and hair stylists milled
around just out of the reach of the camera. They had all been
assembled for the shooting of the latest clothing range by the fashion
designer Filippo Moschella at the Sfrozesco Castle. Controversy
surrounded this particular photo shoot as Moschella was one of the
few designers left willing to use real fur and animal skins, a heavy
proportion of this particular shoot was based around alligator skin
clothes and accessories. Responsible for selecting the location and
props for the shoot setting, Stella Nespola had ordered a pair of large,
male alligators to be set up in cages at the back of the set background.
The Milan based shoot had broken for a short lunch during which
time the alligators were fed. Once they resumed, a stick thin model in
a blood-red, alligator-skin dress with matching bag strutted onto the
set. Posing and pouting for the camera, she jumped sideways,
screaming as one of the alligators jumped free of the cage which had
not been closed properly. Chaos followed as the angry creature
snapped its jaws closed on the expensive handbag, tugging the model
to the floor.
radical 145 (variant) () / clothes
LIGHTHOUSE
KEEPER
STORK
61
SCOTLAND
Mystery at the Lismore Lighthouse

Jimmy McDarmid climbed the two hundred and forty three stone
steps to the top of the Lismore lighthouse so he could stare out at the
surrounding landscape of his beloved Scotland. Rolling hills stretched
away from granite cliffs at his back while the slate grey sea with its
rolling, white topped waves was to his front. A lighthouse keeper for
some thirty years, McDarmid had watched the seasons change from
the top of this tower. Recalling the winter when the glass had
shattered in the light chamber at the top and the time he had fallen
down the stairs, breaking his leg in two places. Now he watched for
the storks that came back north from warmer climates in the south,
returning here to lay eggs and raise their young like they always had.
It was bitter-sweet, however, as when they did come back he was
going to retire and the lighthouse would be made automatic.
radical 55 / two hands, twenty
62
Sergio Moreno
(FREESTYLE)
SKIER
PENGUIN
ASPEN
Where Dead Penguins Go

...as his strong arms propelled him around the facility, wheeling him past
the massive animals and the small, he thought he would have to oil the
wheel on his chair to get rid of the incessant squeal. Far off in the
distance mountains of Aspen loomed, gray and white, in which nestled
the Howelsen Ski Resort where he used to practice. His rubber tires
brought him to the penguin enclosure where smaller gray and white
mountains had been built from concrete and cobbles then painted to look
like the native habitat of the creatures in the enclosure. Lined up like
business suit wearing men, the penguins stared glumly back at the man in
the wheelchair as if realizing neither of them would ever fly. Carl sat,
staring back, recalling the time he used to fly. He recalled the snow
leaping away from beneath his skis as he soared into the sky. In the air
time seemed to stop, he could feel the wind on his cheeks, hear it
whistling across his helmet but felt as if he was floating. Eventually
gravity would come back and pull him back down to a perfect landing
every time. He had been a successful freestyle skier at the World Cup
skiing circuit before the accident came. Now, like the birds before him,
Carl had been grounded.
radical 60 / step + radical 144 / go, do
SAMURAI
MACAQUE
MONKEY
63
KYOTO
The Bridge Over the Katsura River

Maeda Keiji rode through the ancient Arashiyama Bamboo forest
outside Kyoto, surveying his fiefdom, when he came across a small
band of armed men camping close to where some of his workers
lived.
What goes on here? Keiji demanded of the men.
What business is it of yours? A chunky man with a rusty sword
asked back. Keiji stared at him with a cool stare as he calmly counted
the men. There were five and none of them moved like men who had
been trained as well as he.
I am the samurai charged with caring for this fiefdom and you will
leave now. The burly man swore and waved his sword in what he
thought was a threatening way. In one fluid motion, Keiji drew his
sword and slashed the other man's weapon in two. Most would have
left then, but these men were desperate or careless and decided to
attack. It was a bad decision they did not live to regret. Keiji looked
up once he had cleaned the blood off his sword to discover a stump
tailed macaque monkey watching him attentively. He saluted the
creature and rode away.
radical 33 / scholar, bachelor
64
Sergio Moreno
SEAL
HUNTER
SEAL
GREENLAND
Beneath the Ice

seal hunting season was upon the indigenous people who lived
along the northern coast of Greenland. Taliriktug (in Inuit meaning
"strong arm") the seal hunter stood with the members of his family
and the families of his neighbors as they prepared themselves for the
hunt. Offering a prayer for a good hunt the men and women readied
their spears and knives, checked the barrels they packed the meat into
and made sure they had plenty of salt to preserve it. Wrapped in furs
they set out, Taliriktug and his fellow hunters in the lead followed by
the skinning crew and the butchers. Those who carried the meat came
last. Spotting his first seal, Taliriktug took aim with his spear and fell
straight through a weak section in the ice. Pain gripped every inch of
his skin as the below zero water grabbed him, pulling him under.
There would be much less seal meat this winter without the help of
Taliriktug.
radical 26 (variant) () / seal
CIGAR
ROLLER
ROOSTER
65
CUBA
The Beautiful Cigar Girl

the sweetness of the tobacco crept up her nose as Juanita rolled the
fine ground leaves up into a cigar with her long-nailed fingers. She
had to make thousands of these things, wrapping each one with a gold
band, just to scrape together a few coins making a poor living. Deep
in the heart of Cuba, the cigar roller tossed her long, black hair back
from her eyes, revealing her unearthly beauty. Looking out the
window Juanita saw her boyfriend and smiled to herself, until she saw
him getting into a pick-up truck loaded with wire cages full of birds.
She knew he was about to go and bet on the cock-fights which took
place. He had a few birds himself and quite often took his rooster,
Mani, to fight as well. Juanita knew there were dangerous men who
went to the fights, men who wanted nothing but money and would
stop at nothing, including beating people, to get what they wanted.
Juanita raced outside, ignoring the shout from her overseer who
wanted her to carry on rolling the cigars, calling for her boyfriend.
Mario! Mario, wait! She screamed, Don't go. She knew he was in
trouble, could feel it inside her heart and tears rolled down her face as
he smiled at her. It was the last smile .
radical 87 (variants) (,,) / claw, nail, talon
66
Sergio Moreno
WINDSURFER
HUMPBACK
WHALE
HAWAII
The Perfect Wave

always the daredevil, Paulo had ventured out into the channel
despite the white topped, frothing waves. It was no worry for a
seasoned surfer like himself. Plus, he had to try out his new wetsuit
before next weeks competition. As the winds whipped the emerald
waves into cool blue froth, he wished hed told his Hawaiian honey
back home that he loved her and longed for the feel of her silky black
hair, desperately wished to stare into her nut brown eyes. That was
about the time he struck the humpback whale. A blur and a splash
were followed by a sudden breath of salt water. He went limp. Paulo's
life flashed before his eyes, a string of surfing competitions, parties
and women, as he sank slowly past the eye of the huge creature. He
saw what looked like sympathy from the massive creature as he
swirled into darkness, thinking that this was the big sleep. Something
huge lifted him and gallons of seawater, launching it all towards shore
and he found himself sputtering into sand. Lifting his head, he
rejoiced as he recognized Hookipa Beach. Looking out to sea Paulo
saw the huge black shadow of the tail which had saved his life just
sinking into the depths.
radical 85 (variants) (, ) / water
SHEPHERD
SHEEP
67
SWITZERLAND
(VALAIS BLACKNOSE)
Black Sheep
...waves of sadness washed over him as the train chugged its way
through the green, white and purple mountains of Switzerland. Rufus
had been a shepherd his whole life, from his earliest memories to
those most recent he had lived and worked with the sheep. In his
mind's eye he could see the hopeful little black faces of the sheep he
used to look after. What was life going to be like in his new country?
Would the sheep in Down Under be as easy to work with as the ones
he left behind? Were the mountains as beautiful and green as the ones
he was traveling through now? Only time would tell. Rufus sighed as
he saw through the window the familiar sight of a large flock of black
faced sheep on a hillside with a lone figure watching over them all.
Life would never be the same for him.
radical 123 (variants) ( , ) / sheep
68
Sergio Moreno
POLICE
OFFICER
K9 DOG
TASMANIA
A Ticket to Hobart
passing through customs to get on the ferry had been easy. Now the
little yellow van had driven off the ferry and firmly on Tasmania
however, he was starting to panic. Many of the other vehicles coming off
the ferry were being diverted at random for searching. As he pulled the
van forward, a man in a bright yellow vest waved him over into a side
way. Wilmer's stomach fell, they were definitely going to find the drugs,
especially as they had a K9 Police Officer sniffing its way over every
car, van and truck he could see. He stepped out of the van when told to
and walked away from it watching as the German Shepherd was led over
to his vehicle. Trying not to let the fright show on his face, Wilmer
watched as the dog ran its nose over the front wheel and up into the front
seat. No sooner had it got into the back then the dog began yelping and
creating a mad scene, digging at the carpet behind his seat. Officers
flooded over to the van and began pulling, cutting and ripping at the
carpet as a pair of customs men moved over to stand beside him. The
German Shepherd carried on yipping and yelping as one of the officers
dragged a brown leather bag out of Wilmer's van, ripping the zip open,
the officer reached in and grabbed a handful of plastic bags full of white
powder, holding them up to the camera which recorded the entire thing.
radical 77 / stop
RACING
PILOT
CHEETAH
69
MONACO
The Speed Queen

...the screaming roar of the engine which stretched off in front of her
said she should change gear and the young woman listened to it. Tall,
blond and beautiful Hammond was loved by men and admired by
women for her rise to fame as a professional racing pilot. Changing
down a gear, Hammond turned the Chevrolet Cheetah hard into the
corner, easing on the power once she had completed the maneuver.
Monaco's racing circuit was notoriously hard to drive but she handled
the powerful racing car as if it were a toy. Thunderous noise coming
from the crowd, outside the windscreen everything was a blur as she
streaked along past the marina towards the finish line. The car became
louder and louder as the speed increased, but by this point all noise
was drowned out, and all she could hear was the rhythm of her
heartbeat. It would be a close finish, the car behind her was so close
she could see the helmet of the man in her rear view mirror, trying
desperately to overtake her and win the race. Screaming around the
Fairmont Hotel hairpin bend, she stamped on the accelerator,
speeding away from the competition behind her.
radical 159 / cart, car
70
Sergio Moreno
MARTIAL ART
MASTER
CRICKET
HONG KONG
The Concubines Cricket

the boy had never been much of a student, the martial arts master
thought. Always letting his mind wander rather than thinking about
his training. One moment it was his study of the ripples in the pond,
circles within circles. The next he would be trying to follow the path
of a leaf on the breeze, his eyes focusing on nothing else as the thing
twisted and dipped as it fell to the ground. As he walked along the
torch lit streets of Hong Kong island, surrounded by the scents of food
vendors and the sounds of street performers, the master considered the
boy's fascination at the moment crickets. He shuddered at the
thought of their angular, brown bodies and jointed legs vile
creatures. How could a simple insect like a cricket hold the lad's
attention for longer than his kung-fu training? It made no sense
whatsoever but the boy would sit and listen to the little bugs chirping
inside their little cage made of bamboo as if he could understand their
song. He knew people kept crickets as pets along with all manner of
other creepy crawlies but would never understand it himself.
radical 118 (variant) () / bamboo
ANTIQUES
DEALER
CAMEL
71
SAHARA
Curse of the Lamp

the lightly wind whipped across the dunes, blowing bits of sand and
dust on Samuel Sotheby's tanned face. The sand dunes looked like the
folds of a perfectly smooth silk cloth that wrapped the area around the
caravan. He swayed in the saddle as the heat baked into every inch of
his body. A short stocky man with a thick black beard, he was part of
a camel train working its way round the Sahara desert looking for
general trading opportunities in the tiny villages and settlements. He
couldn't escape the strong smell of animal that assaulted his nose. The
camels looked tired and dehydrated after a long day in the scorching
desert without shade or water. Sotheby hoped the master of the
caravan knew where he was heading as he could only hardly see an
endless expense of sand and blue sky. Unknown to his traveling
companions, he had joined this group in the hopes of finding a rare
lamp, believed to be the original lamp on which the tales of Aladdin
were based. He reached his sweaty hand to his right vest pocket to
make sure the old map was still secured.
radical 117 / stand, erect
72
Sergio Moreno
US
PRESIDENT
BALD
EAGLE
USA
Secret Oath
cheering, screaming crowds lined the route as George Washington
made his way towards Federal Hall, the seat of power in America.
Resplendently dressed in his dark brown suit, wearing smooth, cream
stockings and carrying the sword which had seen him win so many
battles, Washington brushed his hand down the dark red overcoat he
wore and looked down at the buckles on his shoes, the silver polished
until it shone like a mirror. On the balcony, with the American flag
folded and draped around the railing, sat the bald eagle. Crafted from
gold, the ornament had its wings spread as if it was about to take
flight. Grasped in the powerful, taloned feet of the bald eagle are the
two arrows which represent war. Each feather is carved so its division
from the others was clearly visible as Robert Livingston listened to
the oath of office and Washington became the first American
president.
radical 119 / rice
BANKER
WOLF
73
WALL
STREET
Run for the Money

growing up roughly in the slums of the city, surrounded by rubbish,
violence and dereliction, had taught Mike Thompson to appreciate
what he had when he had it. He wore the best Armani suits, had a
Rolex watch, one of four he owned, on his wrist, diamond cuff-links
and patent leather shoes. Thompson tore through the city streets in a
Lamborghini Diablo and dined in the most expensive restaurants. He
was dressed for power, to impress and influence, like the office he
had rented in Wall Street, a corner office with views over the city.
The banker greeted the meek little man and his mousey wife and
began his well-rehearsed speech about how a simple investment could
return forty percent of their money in just three months. He had an
answer for every question. He always finished the negotiation by
saying in the most convincing way possible Believe me, sir, you will
not be sorry. The couple went home, leaving behind a check for most
of their life savings. Thompson had smiled at them as they left, giving
them his wolf like grin.
radical 138 / stopping
74
Sergio Moreno
COLLECTOR
CONCH
SEYCHELLES
Fatal Bid
hunched over his keyboard, ready to bid at a seconds notice, his
eyes were glued to the countdown timer on the internet auction site.
This was the most important purchase to the collector, a one rupee
coin depicting a conch shell in vivid detail. It was the only coin he
needed to complete his Seychelles collection. The last ten seconds
began to tick away and he was the highest bidder, a fortune for such a
small coin but worth it for the collection. Five seconds, his heart
started to beat faster. Four seconds, his eyes blurred with tears from
staring at the screen. Three seconds, his gaze crept over the outline of
the conch shell magnified on the screen, looking at the feathery leaves
and feelers which had been carved in high detail before being stamped
on the coin. Two seconds, his palms started to sweat. One second to
go and someone else jumped in with a higher bid. Frantically he
hammered on the bid button, trying to add that tiny little bit more of
his hard earned cash. Had he won? Was it his? His fingers smashed
into the keyboard as he willed his computer to go faster trying to get a
look at his purchase history.
radical 181 / big shell
NURSERY
TEACHER
HAMSTER
75
NURSERY
SCHOOL
Hamster of the Nine Lives

...all the children had settled cross legged, on the carpet ready for her
to read the story. She opened the book, called The Adventures of Jack
the Hamster, and took a deep breath.
Jack the Hamster gathered his sack of tools, The nursery teacher
read, And set off in search of fools. The children were caught up
already and she smiled at the ease with which the book held their
attention. For two long days and three long nights, Jack the Hamster
followed the fool's lights.
Greyham's escaped! came the shrill scream from the back of the
class. Two children shot up and ran off, trying to hide. Another couple
started laughing uncontrollably. Miss Harnigan stood up to see what
the problem was as another pair of children shot up and the nursery
school turned into a madhouse of running, screaming and laughing
children. Harnigan felt cold crawl up her chest as she saw the class
hamster's cage had been left open. She jumped up on the chair she had
been sitting on and screamed at the top of her lungs, more scared than
all the children put together.
radical 39 / child, seed
76
Sergio Moreno
GLADIATOR
CROCODILE
ROME
A Fight For Freedom

four thousand people had paid to enter the Coliseum to see men
fight to the death. But before that, they were enjoying the Venatio, a
form of entertainment in Roman amphitheaters involving the hunting
and slaying of wild animals. Champion gladiator Revius Maximus
walked calmly across the baked sand ignoring the blood stains
seeping into it. He carried a net which had weights woven into the
edges and a long wooden javelin with a trident point on top. At the
arena, under the bleachers, the crowd can be heard roaring and
cheering. Today he was to fight and kill a crocodile which had been
transported from lands he would never be allowed to see. The people
of Rome screamed, jeered and called at him as he reached the middle
of the massive arena and stood ready. He raised his right hand and
pumped it in the air, summoning a frenzied stamping from the crowd.
A pit was opened in the floor and a cage rose out into the sun.
Handlers below would have starved and tormented the creature to the
point of madness and Maximus closed off the crowds as the monster
was revealed. He knew he could kill this animal easily but also knew
the people paid for a show and he would provide it.
radical 122 (variants) ( , ,) / net
SECURITY
GUARD
FOX
77
THE
HAMPTONS
The Broken Window

...he swallowed hard as he got nervously out of the patrol car with its
coffee and doughnut smells. The alarm from the house had been ringing
for only a few minutes and he knew the local police would also be on
their way but Ray hadn't had this sort of problem since he'd taken the job
in the Hamptons. Working as a security guard for a national firm, Ray
thought he had hit the jackpot when he was assigned here, massive,
mansion-like homes owned by billionaires and movie-stars and a gated
community as well. Most of his job involved making sure only the
authorized got through the gate.
He'd parked outside the massive, white walled house which had a pale
blue roof and two tower turrets looking out to sea and was now making
his way past scented oleander bushes and beautifully blooming
bougainvillea shrubs checking the entrances for signs of break in. At the
rear, the bright halogen lights created a spooky scene of the green tennis
courts while making the swimming pool look black. Something darted
from the shadows under one of the shrubs, racing directly at Ray. His
heart gave a lurch. Then he began to laugh. As he could see the head of a
young red fox gazing curiously at him under the shrubs. It had just been
a fox setting off the alarm.
radical 36 / evening, sunset
78
Sergio Moreno
EMBALMER
BALD
IBIS
EGYPT
The Pharaoh's Secret

...standing inside a room that no one would enter in over four
thousand years. Ahmose had been left alone for the final part of the
embalming ritual. It was his job to remove the Pharaoh's brain, storing
it in one of the jars for use in the afterlife. He readied the hook which
he would push up the dead man's nose to begin the process of drawing
the brain out. The Pharaoh had ruled over all of Egypt since he was
six and lived a long life for one of the royal family. The embalmer
tilted the corpse's head to one side and plunged the hook as far as it
would go, feeling the end hit the inside of his skull. Ahmose glanced
at the hieroglyphics on the walls and his eyes stopped on one
particularly, it depicted a northern bald ibis, according to ancient
Egyptians the bird represented the divinity Akh accompanying the
souls of the dead to the Afterworld. Ahmose also believed that if the
living cared and maintained the deceased, the deceased would care
and protect the living, with a quick jolt he broke through to the
braincase.
radical 51 / dry
THIEF
RED
UAKARI
79
AMSTERDAM
The Last Heist

...pretending to be an art fanatic, as he glanced around the Van Gogh
Art Museum, Danny made sure he was not being watched. While he
pretended to be looking at the paintings, he was actually making a
careful map of the building in his mind. Noting the positions of
entrances and exits, security cameras and the motion sensors. Leaving
the upper floor, he made his way down to the main gallery where the
target was. The exhibition Van Gogh at Work," was on show at the
museum. Presenting for the first time the recently discovered painting
by the Dutch master, a masterpiece titled "Red uakari with
sunflower." Here the art thief made a careful study of the artwork.
Danny's eyes were less interested in the monkey on the canvas,
however, and focused more on how it was attached to the wall how
big it was and gauging how heavy it might have been. The ventilation
duct situated on the opposite wall particularly caught his attention.
radical 70 / way, square, raft
80
Sergio Moreno
ARCHITECT
BEAVER
BOSTON
Five Days in Boston

...walking, to clear his head, had revealed he was more worried than
he had been in years, the men he worked for had demanded he deliver
the plans for the high-rise the following week. All the architect had so
far was a few scribbled drawings and a lot of blank paper. Supposedly
the greatest building in Boston's recent history, Sullivan was finished
as an architect if he didn't come up with some kind of blueprints soon.
The route he was on took him alongside a river and he paused for a
while, watching the beaver as it built its watery nest in the middle of
the river. As he looked at the complex patterns the beaver had made
with sticks and mud, his brain began formulating ideas, constructing
the building he wanted to design and he raced back to his desk before
he forgot anything. By assembling a framework of steel girders, one
could create tall, slender buildings with a strong and relatively
lightweight steel skeleton he thought, the "father of skyscrapers".
radical 48 / work
SCULPTOR
RHINOCEROS
81
FLORENCE
The Sculptor
...torch and candle light flickered over the red veined marble and
priceless artworks which decorated the Medici palace as
Michelangelo followed his friend and benefactor into his study.
Lorenzo de Medici's face split into a smile as he regarded the younger
man in the flickering firelight cast from the hearth. Michelangelo
looked around at the mahogany shelves with their treasure trove of
leather bound books and smiled himself. The young sculptor had been
working on the Medici family chapel, producing carvings and
paintings, some of which he had fashioned from inspirations in this
very room. The chapel in the heart of Firenze was nearing completion
and Medici had asked the sculptor to come and update him on its
progress.
Michelangelo my friend, Medici said once the younger man had
made his report, I have something for you. Medici handed a sheet
of thick paper over for the sculptor to look at, This fantastic creature
is called a 'rhino'. Michelangelo looked at the woodcut, the big
animal looked to have armor covering it, with rivets holding them
together, there was a twisted horn on its back, it had scaled legs and
what looked to be saw blades on its backside.
radical 112 / stone
82
Sergio Moreno
PRIMATOLOGIST
GORILLA
CONGO
Beyond the Mist

...watching her gorillas at play was the most relaxing, calming,
peaceful way Dian knew of to wind down after getting bad news.
After eighteen years of studying these groups she thought of as hers,
she was leaving the Congo to go back home. Back to the bustling city
life she had forgotten about, back to the push and pull of human
society with its lies, deception and depressions. The primatologist
watched as two of the youngest gorillas frolicked and rolled, wrestling
only a few yards away from her. So used to her presence the gorillas
barely took any notice any more, Dian felt sadness pull at her heart
and a lump form in her throat as she looked around at all she would
lose when she left. The lush, bountiful greenery, the company of these
magnificent creatures. Life could be harsh in the Congo but it could
be good too as her years of studying these animals showed. Dian
began packing up her tools and equipment, the funding for this project
had just run out after years of her battling to get the money, to stay
with her gorillas in their natural habitat and carry on watching them.
radical 76 / yawn, lack
MAYAN
PRIEST
QUETZAL
83
GUATEMALA
The Jade Dagger

...under the burning sun thousands had gathered, packed together, to
witness the sacrifice to the sun god. At the apex of the tallest pyramid, at
the top of the thousand steps, the sacrifice was stretched backwards over
the altar, held at wrist and ankle, his eyes bulging with fear. The Mayan
priest muttered and mumbled prayers to the sun god as he slowly
approached the sacrifice and raised the obsidian knife which would hack
out the sacrifice's heart. Wearing a mask of quetzal feathers in blue,
green and red, along with the carved mask and face painting, made the
priest look like the paintings of the sun god which decorated the
pyramids. On this day in Guatemala, the ceremony and sacrifice would
be taking place at all the holy sites, thousands of slaves and captured
warriors dragged screaming to the top of the pyramids to have their still
beating hearts ripped from their chests to appease the sun god. As the
solar eclipse began, the crowd moaned in despair, wondering if this time
the sacrifices wouldn't work. The priest screamed and bellowed prayers
to the sun god as he brought the obsidian dagger down hard, plunging it
into the sacrifice's chest. As deftly as if he did this every day, the priest
severed and cut, grunting as he pulled the heart free. He held it up for the
sun god to see before throwing it into the nearby fire. The sacrifice's
body was tossed down the thousand stairs and another was stretched out
over the altar.
radical 113 (variant) () / altar, display
84
Sergio Moreno
FIREFIGHTER
FIREFLY
LAS
VEGAS
The Arsonist
sometimes he wondered how stupid people were when gambling
for money. He stared at the gamblers, shuffling along like zombies, to
the next casino. Jed scoffed at the ones who didnt even notice the
blaring siren and red flashing lights. Just another diversion from
losing, he thought, just another set of lights and sounds to get addicted
to. Being a firefighter had sounded like a glamorous job to him,
growing up in the suburbs, knowing that the distant lights of the Las
Vegas strip held nothing but the promise of pain for dealers and
derelicts alike. Once, he had been honorable but that was before two
kids, a mortgage, and marriage to a wife who wed him only for a
stable income. Past the city limits, the fireflies mingled with the
sparks flying from an address he had to leave. Tonight, he had sped
away from it late for work, gas can and matches in tow.
radical 86 (variant) () / fire
PRISONER
GECKO
85
SAN
QUENTIN
Escape Route
he didnt know much about geckos but he was determined to learn.
San Quentin library didnt have many reference books, except for
tourist brochures for the city across the bay. Johnny was more a
prisoner of ignorance than this north cell block hell but he was bent
on breaking out of both. He looked at the little green and red lizard in
wonder, paying specially attention to its adhesive feet. How had that
lizard got into his cell? He wondered, as he watched the others play
basketball for their one hour of daily leisure. Must have been
someones pet that escaped, but if so how did they manage to have a
pet in here. If it had broken into this prison, now, there was a strange
creature, he thought. As he scanned the perimeter walls, he suddenly
realized that some of the players sneakers did not squeak when they
pulled up and jumped. Bang! Like an explosion the idea came to him,
sticking in his head like rubber cement.
radical 31 / enclosure
86
Sergio Moreno
NATURALIST
IGUANA
GALAPAGOS
Evolution
...Charles Darwin had arrived in the Galapagos Islands after a difficult
time at sea, sick with something he ate, the naturalist had only just
recovered when the Beagle dropped anchor. Aboard the tiny longboat,
rowing him to shore with creaks and moans, Darwin had made a few
notes concerning the black, volcanic rocks and bright green
hummocks of vegetation. Once ashore, Darwin had come across an
ugly and vicious creature, as black as the rocks they crawled across.
He watched the marine iguanas for about half an hour, noticing how
they had adapted to their environment well. He noticed that the noses
of marine iguanas are also much shorter than those of land-lizards.
Why? He wondered. He had watched as the black lizards had dived
deep into the cold water to eat the seaweed at the bottom of the sea
and then climb out to bask in the sun where they sneezed the excess
salt from their bodies, even as they attacked each other at random.
Darwin wrote a quick note in his journal these creatures are imps of
darkness.
radical 125 (variant) () / old
SNAKE
CHARMER
COBRA
87
INDIA
The Sense of Wonder

she didnt know how her queen could call this place the jewel in the
crown, with its throngs of peasants in sarongs milling around barefoot
and sifting sharp spices all day. She couldnt imagine how they could
ever govern themselves, let alone take a proper bath. Suddenly, the
saffron dust from a nearby market cart made her sneeze. Ah, India,
she thought, you slay me with your earthly delights. Her head
throbbing from her allergies to the herbs, she was assaulted by a high
pitch whine which froze her feet to the ground. Looking around for
the source of it, she saw the snake charmer crouched next to his
basket, playing his tune. The lid of the basket lifted, and the head of
the cobra emerged, weaving left and right to the jarring, ear-cracking
sound. Both she and the snake were mesmerized for some reason,
unable to see or hear anything but the man and his flute. Power comes
from strange places, she realized.
radical 49 (variants) ( , ) / oneself
88
Sergio Moreno
SPECIAL
AGENT
JAGUAR
LONDON
Until We Meet Again

...bounded into the driver's seat and started the engine. The headlights
went on. MI6 special agent William Burke sped along the North
Circular road, it was three in the morning and he was sweating. The
powerful black Jaguar XJ220 handled so well on the London streets it
was as if it had been glued to the tarmac. He was in pursuit of an
international diamond thief, Trami Vorshan, who had ties with a
vicious and violent terrorist group. Burke swerved to avoid a massive
lorry which had turned onto the road before him. Switching lanes, he
accelerated hard trying to catch up with the thief's car. He could just
see the unique layout of the other car's brake lights as they flared like
a beacon in the night. It had turned off somewhere in the distance.
Burke looked down at the console and his hand opened it to reveal the
attack mechanism controls. With a quick move his index finger
flipped the night vision switch. Burke smiled lightly as he hit the gas
pedal.
radical 79 / weapon, lance
DOCTOR
POISON
DART FROG
89
COSTA
RICA
Honeymoon for Three

...it would never have come to this if the man had not tried to steal his
wife. This had been the thought of Kevin Nires as he trekked through the
deep jungles and forests of Costa Rica. In his training as a doctor, Nires
had come across hundreds of ways to kill someone and easily make it
look like an accident. His shaking hands parted the thick bladed, dark
green foliage of the native plants and his eyes had come to settle on the
man mountain who was Kosabei. Easily six feet tall with vast, iron-hard
muscles, covering his perfect frame, Kosabei was the epitome of
manliness in a chocolate brown colour. Nires lifted the hollow tube of
the blow gun he had bought from a tribesman and raised it to his lips.
The dart inside was a quill from a local and very spiky creature but this
one had been vigorously rubbed across the skin of a poisonous dart frog
by Nires himself, making sure there was enough poison on it to kill at
least three men if not more. The tiny light blue frog had had black spots
and shapes all over its back and Nires had needed to be extremely careful
when handling it. With Kosabei in his sight, Nires took a deep breath and
blew as hard as he could, the little dart flew true and Kosabe jumped as
the dart hit him in the lower leg, just at the same height as the animal the
quill came from would have been.
radical 111 / arrow
90
Sergio Moreno
GHOST
HUNTER
OWL
HAUNTED
HOUSE
The Sound of a Scream

...creeping through the house like a thief, he was becoming more and
more convinced there was nothing paranormal here. An experienced
ghost hunter, Greg thrust his hands in the pockets of his jeans and
sighed. It had been years since he'd seen the shape of the little girl in
the woods, snapping a picture of the spirit with an old camera. This
single photograph had turned his life around, setting him firmly on the
road to ghost hunting. Since then he had traveled all over the country
from haunted house to haunted house, always on the lookout for
something out of the normal but the vast majority of the cases he has
investigated have had perfectly natural explanations. He felt a chill
and rubbed his arms even though there was a fire burning in the
hearth. Greg turned and came face to face with the ghost of a tall man
wearing an old cloak, made of sack cloth dotted with holes near the
bottom. But it was the white Owl perched on the ghost right shoulder
what really scared Greg the most. He could clearly see through the
bird which had fixed him with its large forward-facing eyes. Greg
couldn't drag his eyes away from that stare and found himself
becoming faint.
radical 180 / sound
BEE
KEEPER
BEE
91
TUSCANY
A Swarming of Bees
...local hobbyists and enthusiasts had come to his little shop located a
few miles outside the walled city of Montepulciano, surrounded by
sun-drenched lavender fields in the heart of Tuscany. For years as he
was known as the bee-keeper king. If he didn't stock it, it wasn't
needed for anyone to keep bees. The day he had found the dead
engineer, shot outside his little shop, had been the turning point for
Gianmarco, however. Finding the murder weapon to be his own gun
was even worse. Getting rid of the body and cleaning the crime scene
had been the first part, uncovering what had happened and who had
done it was the next. Discovering the man had worked for Bioflora,
he had visited the factory knowing the locals all believe they are
polluting the whole region and killing native bee species. Outside the
gates were hundreds of faces he knew well, his customers, protesting
against Bioflora and their bad practices. Had it been one of them who
killed the engineer?
radical 142 / insect
92
Sergio Moreno
CHEESE
MAKER
COW
COW
FARM
Red Milk
...looking over the edge of the high platform, detective Wilson felt a
twinge of vertigo. Surrounded by immaculately clean chrome vats,
pipes and equipment and having the powerful smell of milk in his
nostrils, the body he saw was almost too horrible for words. Cheese
maker Dale Johnson lay ten feet below, his neck canted at an
unnatural angle and his hat thrown across the white floor from the
impact. Wilson could not believe what his eyes told him. Mud and
two toed cow footprints smothered the floor leading inside the clean
building and Wilson was forming a strange idea in his mind. He
believed Johnson had come to his cow farm to milk his herd as usual,
then come across to this cheese making building where one of his
cows had followed him. Running towards Johnson, the cow had
tipped him over the railing causing him to fall to his death. This was
obviously an accident. Wilson wrote a few notes and turned to leave
when he saw the cow running towards him down the corridor.
radical 93 (variants) (, ) / cow
SMUGGLER
PANGOLIN
93
HARBOR
When Day Breaks

...customs officials darted from place to place in their bright orange
and yellow vests. The cargo ship, Diswin, had been clamped shut
tighter than a bank vault as the horrific discovery was revealed in full.
Captain and crew had been immediately rushed away for questioning
and the large cargo container sat in the harbor, surrounded by armed
guards as people entered and left the large red box. Earlier the same
day, in a random inspection, officers had opened this lorry-sized box
which was said to contain canned fruit juice only to find around two
tons of pangolin scales hidden inside some of the cans. With pangolin
meat being considered a delicacy and the roasted scales prized for
their medicinal properties, this haul had been one of the largest in
history. The next step for authorities was to try and identify the killers
and smugglers of these highly vulnerable and rare animals.
radical 22 / box
94
Sergio Moreno
ARCHER
FLYING
SNAKE
NOTTINGHAM
The Adventures of Robin Hood

...the outlaw Robin Hood had been discovered in his hideout, deep in
the woods. As dawn broke, deep in the heart of Sherwood Forest, with
the mornings first rays of sun flickering through the dense canopy of
lime-green leaves, hundreds of arrows came hurtling towards Robin
and his men. Each one came rattling, hissing, through the trees, like
flying snakes at their unsuspecting targets. Robin sensed the imminent
danger and woke up.
King's archers! Take cover! cried Robin, hurriedly seizing his bow
and a full quiver of arrows. One quick glance told Robin that they
were badly outnumbered and had no way of fighting their way past
the men who were intent on killing them all. Robin whistled loudly,
the retreat tune to his men sounding out through the heavy boughs and
tree trunks, while a new cloud of arrows rained down upon them.
With feet pounding on the soft, leaf strewn floor of the forest, Robin
Hood and his band of men raced for the city of Nottingham where he
hoped to be sheltered for a little while at least.
radical 57 / bow
STORM
CHASER
FROG
95
TORNADO
ALLEY
Chasing The Storm

...Greg and Ramon had been driving up and down country roads for
days now, with one eye on the computer feeds from the
meteorological institute and local TV channels. The radio crackled
and whined spouting the occasional report to the two storm chasers.
With Ramon behind the wheel, the pair turned down another road
where the tarmac stretched off into the distance as straight as an
arrow. They had received reports a massive storm was due to hit this
section of tornado alley and wanted to get some footage of it up close.
They pulled over to have a look around, watching the horizon for any
dark clouds. There was nothing. Greg sat back in his seat and sighed,
another day wasted, he thought, when a frog landed on the
windscreen. Followed by another, then another. Greg looked up to see
grey clouds above them. Massive, golf ball sized chunks of ice started
to pound down, thundering on the outside of the van like some mad
drummer. Next the wind hit, rocking the van from side to side,
spilling books and equipment all over the place.
radical 173
(variant) ( ) / rain
96
Sergio Moreno
WOOD
CARVER
SERVAL
MOZAMBIQUE
The Mystery of the Wooden Serval

...with the dome of the central marketplace towering above, hundreds
of people walked past the old man sitting on the floor. Among the
sellers of fish, cashew nuts and fruit, the ancient, stick thin man
picked endlessly at a block of wood with a thin piece of metal. Men
and women wearing brightly colored and patterned clothes passed by
him unseen as they made their way home in Maputo, the port city and
capital of Mozambique. He had an old sheet spread out with a few
figures for sale when I first saw him and he sat with legs crossed and
an odd mask of feathers which made him look like an Aztec chieftain.
His twig-like, brown fingers crawled over the wood he handles as if
they were part of it and it had been hard to see where wood finished
and wood carver began until I approached. He stopped, looking up
from the serval he was carving the feline was so realistic it looked
like it would run away and his eyes met mine with a kind of
recognition. I handed him some money and waited for hours until he
finished my carving.
radical 59 / hair, bristle, stubble, beard
NIGHTCLUB
DOORMAN
LEOPARD
97
NIGHTCLUB
The Girl with the Leopard Tattoo

...he was a muscular man, worked out at the gym, ate a good diet and
regularly threw the mindless and drunk out on the street. Boris
Natalof had a good job at a nightclub, supervising the door, keeping
the unwanted out and all the other duties which came with being a
bouncer. He had first seen the girl when she had been waiting in the
queue with her friend and something had made him look twice
something he didn't usually do at her. He watched as she danced, the
flashing lights and thumping beat of the music affecting his mood as
well, making him feel alive, aggressive. The sinuous way she moved
made the leopard on her neck and shoulder look as if it was alive and
Boris felt a challenge coming from the animal. She spun and their
eyes met, she gave a shy smile and carried on dancing but he was
more interested in the leopard, its mouth was open in a snarl,
Come and take me on, Boris. It said in his mind, If you can.
radical 169 / gate
98
Sergio Moreno
VIROLOGIST
RAT
LAB
Virus SR-56
...blazing white. Everything was bright white, from the machines and
computers to the walls, floors and ceiling. Eventually she had learned
to live with the headache it gave her. Claire Swanson was also dressed
in white, looking as if she was going to be shot into space, but
actually in the high-tech CDC lab where she had worked since
college. She had been set to identify the unknown virus a local farmer
had contracted and died from. His symptoms started with a headache,
fever, and a rash on the trunk, and progressed to multiple organ
failure and massive internal bleeding. They had ruled out anything
from the animals he worked with and even taken samples from all of
them to make sure it had not infected them. Claire had been growing
the virus in rats to see if they could identify what it was, or what it
had mutated from. The virologist looked into the microscope and
couldn't believe what she saw. She checked the computers which
confirmed the data was accurate. None of the DNA strands taken
from rat SR-56 matched anything found on earth before. This virus
was extraterrestrial.
radical 104 / sickness
POTTERY
MASTER
CICADA
99
ARITA
The Strength of His Hand

...she felt the overwhelming power of the fingers controlling her
hands, the flexibility and dexterity of them, the pottery master's
fingers were as hard as iron and as soft as silk at the same time. The
small workshop, situated just few miles from Arita, had a bench and
pair of chairs, a kiln radiated warmth in the corner, shelves lined the
walls, holding many dyed dishes, Tenmoku bowls, Kakiemon jars
crafted by Takedo who sat next to her.
Feel the essence of the clay, His voice was calm and serene and
very close to her ear, Feel the life flowing through you, into the clay.
Feel it transforming the pot into what you wish to create. Kumiko
looked down as his fingers guided hers, the clay responded to their
slightest movements. Slowly, almost unconsciously. Her ear caught
the song of the cicadas just outside as the summer drew to a close and,
along with the master's voice, it reminded her of the famous poem by
Matsuo Basho. Stillness seeping deep into the rocks cries of the
cicada, as Takedo's voice was sinking deep in her heart.
radical 108 / dish
100
Sergio Moreno
GANGSTER
HYENA
CHICAGO
The Chicago Way

bottles clinked inside their cardboard case as the trench-coat-clad
gangster clunked them down onto the coffee table. He tossed his
brown derby onto the green velour couch and plopped into a large
leather armchair with a hissing pop.
Are you laughing or crying? He growled through his twisted lips
from his scarred face. I dont want no trouble, Mr. Capone. Replied
the man meekly, as he choked on more of his whiny giggles behind
his canine grin. Try this one here, Mr. Capone, best in Chicago.
Said Steve, as he uncorked the bottle and the tiny bubbles flowed. The
gangster tipped the champagne glass back as the barkeeper giggled
like a hyena.
If you don't stop that laughing, I'm going to put a bullet through ya.
Capone warned. Steve laughed harder.
You're killing me, boss. He whined nasally. Capone flicked his
murderous eyes to the jumpy little man.
You got that right, said the First Man of Second City as he pulled
the luger from his pocket.
radical 164 / sake
PIRATE
SHARK
101
TREASURE
ISLAND
The Death Ship

...Drake sat amidships, a fat cigar clasped between his jaws as he
growled orders at his crew. The few he thought he could trust had guns
trained on the ones he could not. Hugo Fletch and his band of mates!
Thought Captain Drake, pirates stealing from a pirate captain!
No! Drake roared from his perch, 'Tis mutiny most foul, say I.
Hawsers creaked, rigging flapped and someone broke wind loudly as a
breeze rose from the nearby treasure island. Drake had done this before,
got a crew to bury his treasure and then let them go. Given them a boat
too, he had, and they'd survived, every man jack of them. Well, not this
time! Drake's addled, paranoid mind told him the only way to be rid of
these mutineers was to make them walk the plank. He stood, drawing the
long steel at his side and approached the first man.
Hugo Fletch, Drake spat the name, Ye have been sentenced to walk
the plank for the foul crime of mutiny and theft.
Now, Captain, Fletch reasoned, We never took a brass penny, not one
of us, and we all know you're captain here. Hugo Fletch looked over the
worn wood of the ship into the azure sea where the sleek, dark forms of
sharks waited with infinite patience.
radical 103 (variant) () / bolt of cloth
102
Sergio Moreno
POLITICIAN
DONKEY
WASHINGTON
The Blackmail Club

...the polished surface of his desk had been reflecting his miserable
face for the past half an hour. Politician, Michael Sturmen, was
known for taking a hard line against those who got involved with
drink, drugs or prostitution. It seemed ironic, therefore, and also the
source of Sturmen's misery that Vice President Vinciano Statiocci was
blackmailing him with information which would see him put out of
his Washington office. Shame burned through Sturmen as he recalled
the night. He had been much younger and not married then, had
picked up a girl in a bar, who he was unaware was a 'professional',
and had been, admittedly, a little bit drunk. Suzette had brought a
bottle of vodka with her and they had both been swilling the bitter
spirit when he had slammed the car straight into a lamp post. Coming
back to the present, Sturmen thought about all he would have to face
if the story ever came out. He took the democratic donkey pin badge
off his jacket and placed in his left hand. After a few seconds staring
fixedly at it he closed his hand tightly and with his right hand reached
to the 38cal snub nosed revolver which shone glumly on his desk.
radical 131 / minister, official
CONCIERGE
LION
103
HOTEL
The Door to Liktaba

Ahh, you are booked in the lion suite, the Concierge said, surprised,
An excellent choice sir, but be prepared for an intense experience, if
you would just follow me. Masterson felt odd walking behind the
swishing tail of the concierge but did so. The hotels elevator was in the
trunk of a tree, the bark opening to become doors. They slid open to
reveal a clinically white room with two chairs and another door, this time
with a brass lion's head door knocker attached.
To access your desired world, simply knock three times before entering,
sir. Don't enter without knocking or the spell won't work. The
concierge said as he backed up into the lift.
Masterson reached out and grabbed the ring which hung from the lion's
mouth, surprised when he felt it was oddly warm. Once he'd knocked
three times he opened the door. A blast of warm air tickled his face and
neck, smelling of dry grass and dust. Foot tall grass topped with ripened
seed heads waved in the breeze and he could see acacia trees in the
distance. For all intents, he stood in the grasslands of another continent
and the world stretched off into the distance for miles.
Some room. Masterson whispered.
You said it. Growled the talking lion from behind him.
radical 63 (variants) ( , ) / door, house
104
Sergio Moreno
MAYOR
CHIMPANZEE
TOWN
HALL
My Grandfathers' Attic
...the T.V. blared loudly, the madcap sound of cartoon characters hurting
each other as James sipped the dark coffee he enjoyed in moderation.
Julianna, come here and turn off that racket. He called to his
granddaughter who was captivated by the flashing images. The little girl
trotted in, What is it papa? She asked,
Let me tell you a story about when I was a boy. Back then we didn't
have many T.V.'s in town so guess what I used to do?
What, tell me, please. Miguel smiled.
I used to sneak into the mayor's house and watch his television set.
Julianna's face was a picture of surprise.
No! Her grandfather nodded. Did you ever get caught, papa?
Oh yes. I was watching a television show called Animal City, there
were these chimpanzees running around and screaming. I got so involved
in watching them I never heard the mayor come home from the town
hall.
What happened, did you get a whipping, papa?
No, Julianna, the mayor was very surprised but he said I could go and
watch his T.V. whenever I wanted, as long as I did some chores around
the town hall.
And now you're mayor, papa. His granddaughter said.
radical 166 / village, mile
SPY
JERBOA
105
CASABLANCA
The Spy Who Loved Me

...waiting tensely for his local contact, Edward Housenbury sat in the
shadows of the caf in the centre of Casablanca. The swirling overhead
fans did nothing but stir up the hot, moist air, blowing stale cigarette
smoke and the scent of coffee around the place. The British spy looked
around the place noting the customers who frequented the caf, few of
whom were locals. Most of the customers were foreign nationals, here
for any number of reasons from espionage to sabotage of the Nazi
regime. Housenbury looked at his watch as one of the female customers
brayed fake laughter at some comment her date had made. The door
opened and Housenbury studied the newcomer, smiling a little as he
knew this must be his contact because he looked exactly like his code
name jerboa. A small, rat-like man, the newcomer had light coloured
hair, long ears and held his hands out in front of him like the animal in
question. Housenbury got the impression he could not only run fast but
jump high too.
The jerboa runs through the desert. The nervous little man said to
Housenbury,
But never in full sunlight. The spy said his part of the message,
inviting the newcomer to take a seat opposite.
radical 128 / ear
106
Sergio Moreno
BUTCHER
PIG
SLAUGHTERHOUSE
The Butcher of Beaufort

...detective Sam Sherine was hot on the trail of the hedonistic killer
the papers had called Hatchet Hank. Hank Walters had been
kidnapping, torturing and killing young women in the city for more
than three months now and the public were baying for his blood. They
wanted Hank stopped, preferably killed, in a nasty way. Some of the
details the papers had released about his victims had caused
widespread panic with the public and they were scared. Hank was a
former butcher and knew plenty about anatomy, leaving his victims
neatly packaged as if for sale. Sherine had managed to track Hank to
an abandoned slaughterhouse on the east side near the river and was
making his way through the steel and tiled rooms. He came to one
where the carcass of a pig had been left to rot, the stench making him
sick. Sherine covered his nose and mouth with his handkerchief and
carried on checking the rooms, one by one. He came to an area which
had been used much more recently, the metal surfaces and tables
cleaner than some of the others. Sherine drew his service revolver and
crept through the room. Hearing a noise, he spun and saw Hank
coming towards him with a captive bolt pistol aimed for his head.
radical 152 / pig
ZOO
KEEPER
ORANGUTAN
107
SAN
DIEGO
Fifteen Days to Live

...Jeremy Wade was waiting in anticipation for the new arrival to the
San Diego Zoo, a baby Orangutan who had been rescued from the
illegal pet smuggling trade. It was the sole survivor of the group of
twenty three orangutans. All appeared to have being poisoned as a
revenge act between rivals smugglers. He walked across to the
transport crate and looked in to see a pair of gorgeous brown eyes
surrounded by fuzzy orange fur. The zoo keeper's heart melted as he
noticed how small and helpless the baby was and he could barely wait
to get the infant out and let it cuddle him. Back at the zoo he opened
the cage and offered some fruit to tempt the baby out. A tiny, brown
hand emerged, on one of the fingers it had a small cut, Wade took it in
his own, holding the monkey's little hand to comfort him. As soon as
the pair held hands, the lethal virus the orangutan had, spread to Wade
and no one would be able to predict how far it would spread.
radical 64 (variants) (, ) / hand
108
Sergio Moreno
CLIMBER
YAK
HIMALAYA
If I Survive the Night

...white flakes bit into his skin like knives cutting. The worsening
weather had caused difficulties for the descending team members.
The blizzard had diminished visibility, burying the fixed ropes and
obliterating the trail back to Base Camp. Steve, an experienced
climber, had gotten split from the rest of his group and now found
himself lost in the Himalaya. His toes and feet were starting to freeze.
Even though Steve had plenty of survival training, he did not have the
correct supplies or equipment with him to make it through the night.
He had dug himself into the snow underneath a single fir tree and
tried to keep himself as warm as possible but he was losing the fight
fast. Even though he knew people would be looking for him, he could
not feel his feet any longer, and could see in his mind's eye his toes
were going black. Abruptly he felt a presence next to him and looked
round to see the massive form of a black yak which was sheltering
under the same tree. Steve grabbed the knife in his cold hand and
prepared to make a killing strike.
radical 157 (variant) ( ) / foot
REAL ESTATE
AGENT
SEA
LION
109
SAN
FRANCISCO
Perfect Alibi
looking over the glittering keys which he kept polished to a bright
sheen, Louis Michell felt the usual anticipation squeeze his chest, halting
his breath for a second. He ran his fingers through the keys, listening to
the musical tinkle as they swung like a wind-chime. His job as a realestate agent allowed him to have access to hundreds of keys, all of which
he made copies of in the cellar of his home. On San Francisco's
waterfront a young family had moved in to a house near Pier 39 and
Michell had copied the key. Sea lions barked and hooted, signaling their
return as he pushed open the door, sniffing the scents of freshly baked
bread and brewed coffee hovering in the air. Mitchell helped himself to a
cup of coffee and ate a Danish pastry he found, taking his time over the
food. Upstairs in the master bedroom, Mitchell laid on the bed, arms
stretched out in a cross to make himself feel as if he was part of the
family. In the daughter's bedroom, alive with cartoon animals and
decorated in numerous shades of pink, he stole a single sock. He held the
keepsake to his nose and sniffed in deeply, smelling the fresh scent of the
washing detergent the girl's mother had used. He balled the sock up in
his pocket, smiling at the thought of their puzzlement over the missing
thing.
radical 163 right (variant) () / town
110
Sergio Moreno
CARPENTER
HORSE
TROY
The Wooden Gift

... Sinon had successfully convinced the Trojans that he has been left
behind and that the Greeks had fled to Tenedos. Sinon told the Trojans
that the Horse was an offering to the goddess Athena, meant to atone for
the previous desecration of her temple at Troy by the Greeks, and ensure
a safe journey home for the Greek fleet. The inside of the horse stank of
male sweat, hot metal, leather and the sweet cedar the horse was made
from. Epeius glanced nervously at Odysseus who grinned back at the
other man, twenty eight other Greek soldiers were crammed inside the
massive wooden horse which was now being dragged inside the gates of
Troy. As the head carpenter for this horse, Epeius had installed a catch
only he could open and as he heard the Trojans cheering and calling
outside he gripped it ready to open the hatch. Odysseus caught his hand
and shook his head as the pair of them hear the voice of their wives call
to them from the outside.
Foul trickery! Spat Odysseus, The witch, Helen of Troy seeks to
betray us.
Eventually, with silence pressing in on all sides, Odysseus allowed
Epeius to open the hatch. Inside the walls of Troy, thirty Greek soldiers
flowed from the horse's belly to open the gates.
radical 187 / horse
CAVE
DIVER
SEAHORSE
111
SARDINIA
The Cave of Desires

the powerful beam of light streamed from the cave diver's head as
she swam through the grotto of the underwater cave system. She had
been swimming through the caves for a while, following a little,
bright green seahorse as it bobbed up and down on its way
to...wherever a seahorse went. As the cave diver followed the little
creature, her lights failed abruptly, plunging her into total darkness.
Panic grabbed her chest as she realized she was trapped and lost
without any light. Before her eyes, a tiny green light appeared, getting
brighter by the second to reveal the little seahorse she had been
following before. It turned and swam away then turned back as if
waiting for her to follow, so she did. Eventually light came from the
rocks around her, revealing a beautiful coral encrusted world full of
pinks, reds and greens. It looked like the cave walls were made from
colored glass or gemstones and she thought, as she swam, there's no
way she is in Sardinia any more.
radical 116 / cave
112
Sergio Moreno
COFFEE
FARMER
MULE
COLOMBIA
The Payback
...suddenly the pick-up truck stopped. The evening sun warmed his
left cheek, waking him from a reluctant sleep, induced by exhaustion
and uncertainty. His right eye was completely covered by the
blindfold; his left eye was able to see through a small slit near his
pupil. The blindfold, smelling like old coffee beans, rubbed against
the bottom of his eyeball, making it sting when he looked from side to
side. He could make out some coffee farmers leading a group of
mules out, carrying the harvested coffee beans downhill and into the
warehouse. As much as he enjoyed Colombia's countryside, his fear
overwhelmed the beautiful view of rolling jungle covered hills
between two great mountain ranges with their rich volcanic soils
which unfolded before his blinkered eyes. Though everything was
going according to the plan, he was scared to death, his guts twisting
and chest cold with fear. If anyone suspected him, even one of the
local farmers, he'd be a dead man. No amount of money, no sense of
hid duty to his country was worth this hollow feeling. Someone took
hold of the musty sack and dragged it off his head and he blinked at
the sudden blinding light.
radical 151 / bean
TOURIST
MOUFLON
113
INNSBRUCK
White Shadow
...all he could see from his vantage point was the pale faces, eyes wide
with shock, mouths open in screams he couldn't hear pressed up
against the glass. Tears rolled down the faces of mothers who held
their children and prayed for their safe deliverance. White, savage
beauty framed the cable car, the multicolor hues of the Innsbruck
mountains like muted rainbows. Staring up at the bright red construct
with puzzlement, the mouflon licked his nose and snorted once before
rubbing the ribbed, curled horns jutting from his head against a
nearby rock. His head shot up as he heard a twang from above, one of
the long metal cables supporting the cable car snapping under the
massive tension. All the tourists aboard hit the floor of the cable car,
hoping they would survive the massive plunge to the valley over
which they were suspended. The mouflon watched as the large cable
car lurched over to one side, he tilted his head as the metal and glass
container full of people finally fell. Hitting the snow covered rocks of
the mountain with a massive explosion of sound shocked the mouflon
into bolting for any safety he could find.
radical 146 (variants) (,) / west
114
Sergio Moreno
COOK
TURKEY
TURKEY
There's No Such Thing As Coincidence

...Osman grinned to himself as he peeled the outer skin from an onion
before chopping it finely. He mixed it with sage and sausage meat in
preparation for stuffing the massive turkey which would be the City
of Turkey Hotel and Bar's center piece for this thanksgiving. He had
come here to work as a cook, not realizing the misleading name, City
of Turkey, meant a few houses and a U.S. Post Office in a rural area.
Being from the country of Turkey himself, he had felt an affection for
the name and come here to be a cook in this establishment.
Surrounded now with the glorious scents of roasting turkey, gravy and
vegetables, combined with the apple-wood smoke he used in the
woodstove, Osman smiled again. A Turkish immigrant cooking
turkey in the City of Turkey you could not make this up!
radical 184 (variant) ( ) / eat, food
CHICKEN
SEXER
CHICK
115
POULTRY
FARM
What Doreen Forgot

...Doreen sat in the same seat she did every day, next to the same
person she did every day doing the same job she did every day. A
mind numbingly boring, endlessly repetitive task as a chicken sexer.
Even though this building was fairly modern by some standards, it
reeked of chicks and their droppings, which got everywhere. Doreen
sighed and grabbed another little, yellow chick in her hand. It cheeped
once as if to ask why she was turning it over and squeezing it to see
where the excrement came out. The tiny chick's question was lost in
the deafening hum of the electric motors which drove the conveyor
belts and the cacophony of the other chicks chirping their distress.
Deciding this was a female, Doreen dropped it gently into one of the
troughs, where it was whisked away to be used for egg production on
a different poultry farm. What with the stench, noise, boredom and
nature of the job, Doreen couldn't work out why she even turned up in
the mornings.
radical 81 / compare, compete
116
Sergio Moreno
ADOPTIVE
MOTHER
CUCKOO
ORPHANAGE
The Unwelcomed Child

...life could be boring at the orphanage, thought Bobby as he gazed
out of the window. The ancient, gnarled oak in the garden was home
to a few birds and he had been watching them build their hat-like
nests to lay their eggs in for a while now. Today he watched as a new
bird came, with black and white stripes on its belly it looked like a
cuckoo. Billy knew these birds laid their eggs in other birds' nests and
often killed the other birds by taking all the food or growing so large
they forced the other birds out. Billy watched in horror as the cuckoo
laid its egg and flew off while the other bird was out. Sitting back he
thought of himself as a kind of cuckoo, today he would meet his
adoptive mother and father. Would he force their other children out of
the family nest too?
radical 80 (variant) ( ) / do not, mother
LAND
DIVER
JUMPING
SPIDER
117
VANUATU
The Brave Die Young

...a cool breeze kissed his face as he stood on the tallest tower almost
one hundred feet from the ground. The Liana vines had been secured
around his ankles and he had observed the rituals, anointing his skin
with coconut oil and sleeping away from his wife. The land diver
looked out over the verdant greens and browns of the forest which
surrounded him, the whole land of Vanuatu stretching away from his
vision. A tiny movement caught his eye and he looked down to where
his feet stood on the elevated platform to see a jumping spider with a
bright orange and blue abdomen crawling past his toes. He had no
fear of the spider, it couldn't hurt him, so just watched as the small
animal walked to the edge of the platform. The spider raised itself up
as if looking at him before plunging over the edge, as if showing him
how to perform the dive.
radical 52 / short thread
118
Sergio Moreno
SHIP
CAPTAIN
SEAGULL
CARIBBEAN
The Whispering of the Seagull

thirsty, so very thirsty. Sand and gravel in my throat. Tongue
swollen. Body aching. So thirsty. These few short sentences rolled
over endlessly in Jonah Mamouk's brain as he floated aimlessly out in
the waters of the Caribbean. As ship's captain of the trading vessel
'Libertine', Mamouk made sure the entire crew was aboard life rafts
before he got into one himself. Somehow the rocking, rolling waves
had separated them and he was alone, without food or water now and
only just conscious. His lips were cracked and bled if he moved them,
he was sunburned on his face and arms and his stomach cramped
painfully, making him curl up in the bottom of the boat. Mamouk
listened to the water slapping the side of his life raft, heard the
fluttering wings of a seagull as it landed and opened his eyes.
Disbelief hit him. A seagull? That meant land was nearby, Mamouk
sat up and scanned the horizon.
radical 137 / boat
NATIVE
AMERICAN
BISON
119
WYOMING
My Life on the Plains

tribal chief, Running Bull, looked on as his son read signs in the
long grass of the prairie. He sat on his sleek black stallion, clothed in
bison-skin trousers and jacket. He carried the tribe's sacred spear
which would be used to end the beast's life when they found it. His
group of Lakota warriors were following one of the few, tiny herds of
bison left on the Territory of Wyoming. They were hunted to near
extinction by the white explorers. Little Weasel had a reputation in
the tribe for being able to track a bird in flight, and Running Bull
knew that his son would find the animals the tribe needed to survive.
Little Weasel pointed towards the east and the group steered their
horses in that direction. Little Weasel reigned in sharply as his horse
trotted over the boundary marker of the Inyan Kara Mountain. It was
considered a sacred place to mothers giving birth and was often
visited, not only by the Lakota, but by many other tribes as well.
The young Indian tracker knew the bisons had passed this way but
tribal law forbade them from following. He turned to his father whose
grave face showed that he knew they couldnt hunt on sacred land.
radical 105 / footsteps
120
Sergio Moreno
TAXIDERMIST
TIGER
MUSEUM OF
NATURAL HISTORY
Murder At The Museum Of Natural History

alone in the crypt-like stone bowels of the Natural History
Museum, a thousand dead eyes stare at the figure in the middle of the
room. Herman Cricker had been working on the Bengal tiger for
weeks now. He had received the animal from a zoological garden in a
very poor state but assured his superiors he could restore the beast for
display. Cricker had performed his duties perfectly, he ran his hand
over the tiger's coat feeling the bristles of its fur caress his hand. He
had used the tiger's bones as a base and sculpted around the skeleton
for a realistic look, matching the color of its eyes perfectly. Pride
swelled his chest, as a beginner taxidermist he had made many
mistakes with the poses of the animals he worked with, but this tiger
was perfect. Mouth open in a snarl, it looked so real he felt it might
pounce at any moment.
radical 141 / tiger stripes
THAI BOXER
(MUAY THAI)
KANGAROO
121
THAILAND
The Winner
...sweat poured down his face as he danced around the ring, fleet
footed as usual. The Thai boxer watched as his opponent climbed
back to his feet, his face was pale and contorted with pain from the
kick he had just suffered. The dominant Thai boxer, who was called
the Kangaroo because of his deadly kicks, readied himself to
deliver his next kick, hopefully scoring a point against his opponent.
The Kangaroo bunched his muscles, the blood pumping through his
veins, and leaped up. His foot lashed out like a lightning strike,
catching his opponent in the jaw, but nowhere near hard enough to
cause the man unconsciousness. He looked down in astonishment, as
he was awarded the win, to see the other boxer smile and wink up at
him. In puzzlement the Kangaroo looked out at the screaming
audience, most of them cheering for him, some calling out it was a
fixed match. As his eyes landed on his trainer, he saw the shame on
his face and knew the truth.
radical 90 (variant) () / split wood
122
Sergio Moreno
LITERATURE
PROFESSOR
GOOSE
STRATFORD
The Case of the Poison Letter

...my mind had wandered as his voice droned on reciting endless facts
about the bard. Gordon Tennent, the literature professor from the
university, was a respected figure but boring as hell. The museum
here in Stratford was set out similarly to how Shakespeare would have
had it. A mannequin of the great man himself sat behind a wooden
desk with a sheaf of parchment on top, there was a glass inkwell a
candle in a pewter holder and a small knife. Shakespeare himself
wore a brown suit with white, ruffled shirt and spare quill. The quill
pen he held in his hand was feathery and curled back over his hand.
For instance, this is incorrect, Tennent was saying, Goose feather
quills would have had the feathery parts cut off... My attention
drifted again and it was as if I could see Shakespeare sitting in the
flickering candlelight with a stick-like quill pen, scribbling furiously
away at a play or sonnet he was working on.
radical 67 / script, literature
KILLER
MANTIS
123
MOTEL
Dead End Motel

...Selena Marroway had her latest victim tied around the neck and
waist, rough fibers from the rope scratching the soft flesh of his throat
and drawing blood. The cheap motel room stank of damp, sweat and
fear as Marroway approached the wide eyed man. Dubbed the Preying
Mantis by the press, she had a large number of supporters even
though she was the country's most prolific serial killer. His eyes
followed her as she moved around behind him silently until she
disappeared from his vision. His eyes crawled over the cheap
wallpaper, peeling like sunburned skin, the threadbare carpet and
faded curtains. A single tear rolled down his cheek as the thought of
this place being the last he ever saw crawled across his brain. The
Mantis spoke from behind,
You're here because you got away with assaulting that little girl
seven years ago. His breath increased. He heard the click of a knife.
radical 133 / arrive
124
Sergio Moreno
MORTICIAN
POSSUM
MORGUE
A Corpse's Nightmare
...long used to the macabre noises and twitching muscles of the
deceased, Bill Cromwell pulled the gurney out of the large fridge and
snapped a pair of latex gloves onto his hands like a second skin. Bill
had been working in the small morgue at Barnet General Hospital for
the past twenty-three years. His pale fingers grabbed the zip of the
black body bag, drawing it down with a plastic buzzing to reveal Mrs
Thompson. Her flabby arm twitched when he was slipping the dress
over her head, just electrical discharge, Bill thought. He heard a growl
from her stomach as he put her feet in her best shoes, just the build up
of bacteria beginning their work, he mused. It was when Mrs
Thompson rose from the gurney and tried to bite him Bill realized she
had been playing possum all along, feigning death until the authorities
released her.
radical 23 (variant) ( ) / dead, gone
GRAVEDIGGER
RAVEN
125
GRAVEYARD
The Haunted Graveyard

...inside his warm little cottage with its fading wallpaper and layer of
dust, Reginald Pointer lay sleeping in his bed. In the trees surrounding
the graveyard where he worked the wind was blowing up a cacophony
of sounds, creaks and moans along with the occasional snap of a
branch. What woke him was the scream. High pitched and cut off
abruptly, it had sounded like a woman. Pointer got up, dressed,
grabbed a torch and ventured out into the chilly embrace of the
midnight cemetery. His job as gravedigger included being on site
security for the place as kids liked to smash headstones and take
drugs. Peeking through a yew tree hedge, his eyes came across six
ravens blocking the path before him. All watched him with their bead
like eyes as he approached them. With soul chilling volume, they all
screeched at the same time, making the sound he had heard before.
radical 78 (variant) ( ) / death, decay
126
Sergio Moreno
VET
(WILD)
DOG
ANIMAL
SHELTER
Let Loose the Dogs

...excitement rolled through her stomach as she sat in the back of the car,
staring at the back of her parent's heads as they navigated through the
twisting roads leading towards the dog shelter. Gravel crunched under
the tires as they pulled into the large driveway. A cacophony of barks,
yelps and howls greeted them as they entered and Jenny smelled the
overpowering scent of so many dogs kept together. They were
approached by a middle aged woman in green scrubs and an off white
coat and announced herself as the head vet. As the family walked
through the center she told the family how the dog shelter took in
unwanted pets, abused animals and any wild dogs which were brought in
despite their condition. She explained how the dogs would be treated for
any injuries or diseases, fed, walked and looked after until new owners
could be found. Jenny's attention drifted as the vet droned on, looking
around at all the different dogs. There were big, lanky dogs and tiny fat
ones. Black with pointy ears and brown with floppy ears, some were
white and fluffy while others were gray and had wiry coats. Some of
them barked at the family while others cowered in the corner of their
cages. Jenny's eyes halted as they came to a small, round black and white
dog with a squashed up face, this was the dog for her.
radical 94 (variant) ( ) / dog
WELDER
CORMORANT
127
SOUTH
KOREA
Invisible Boundaries
...sparks dripped from the bright blue light of his welding torch as
Chin-Hae knitted the sections of the ships hull together almost
seamlessly. He'd been doing this job for most of his adult life and was
one of the best welders the shipyard had. Wiping the sweat from his
brow, caused by the heat from his torch and the burning sun, the
young man was looking forward to a well-earned break and cool
drink. The welder and his team of men were almost finished on this
section of the huge ship so he had told them to go early while he
finished off. As he'd been packing his tools, he heard a loud flapping
sound and turned to see large black and white feathered bird with a
massive pair of wings, a cormorant, landing on the scaffolding nearby
where he stood with his mouth open. Looking at the vast wingspan,
Chin-Hae wished he could send his spirit off with the bird, to fly
northwards over the green trees and rice fields of South Korea to see
his family. He would soar over the cities and skyscrapers catching the
warm air flowing off the buildings towards his wife, his beautiful wife
and their three children, two girls and a boy.
radical 13 / upside down box
128
Sergio Moreno
TEMPLARS
KNIGHT
MARTEN
CROATIA
The Templar Vault

...his steel armor shone as if buffed to a mirror sheen, the metal plates
reflecting the colored light which flowed into the room through the
stained glass window. The Templar Knight, Marko had been charged
with keeping and hiding the money the Templars had gathered in this
region of Croatia. His gauntleted hand held a gold banovac coin, and
looked at the image minted onto it. The little, dark gray martens had
been highly prized for their pelts which had been used as currency in
Croatia before the banovac coin was brought into circulation. He flipped
the coin into a chest filled with them and closed the lid, lifting it as if it
weighed nothing before leaving the chapter house. Marko was about to
join a group of his brethren on a trip to the holy land to avoid the Pope's
Pastoralis Praeeminentiae, which told all monarchs to arrest Templar
Knights and seize their money. He made his way over to his horse and
secured the chest behind his saddle before swinging his leg up and over
the horse's back, settling himself in the saddle. Glancing around at the
few, crude buildings Marko had called home for the past few years with
a sigh, the Templar Knight clucked at his mount and tapped his heels
against the animal's sides, encouraging it to move.
radical 83 / clan
BOY
SCOUT
BADGER
129
LODGE
The Vanishing Game

...the end of a hard day had come for Laine. He had been working on
improvements to the camp and the tents for a few days now after
being accepted into the Order of the Arrow. Called to service during a
Boy Scout camporee weekend, Laine had been overjoyed to be
selected for this honor as it signaled his acceptance into a deeper
brotherhood of scouts. During this week he was only given a little
food, had to sleep separately from the other scouts and spent his days
in hard labor to serve the Order.
His eyes jerked open. What was that sound? A rustling in the bushes
outside the lodge window. Laine raised his shaking hand to pull back
the curtain, peering out into the blackness beyond. He could see the
bushes shaking in the pale moonlight and watched breathlessly as
someone pushed their way out. A long pointed face with black and
white stripes emerged and Laine chuckled as he watched the badger
snuffling about for food.
radical 56 / ceremony, shoot, arrow
130
Sergio Moreno
YOGA
INSTRUCTOR
SLOW
LORIS
YOGA
CENTER
Never Smile at Strangers

now in her late thirties and looking for a gentle way to start
exercising while meeting new people, Gwen had decided to enroll in a
yoga class. She had visited the yoga center earlier that week and was
about to attend her first class, nervously waiting in her loose fitting
clothes. The yoga instructor entered, a massive muscular man called
Gerald whose beard threatened to burst from his skin at any second,
followed by a gaggle of fawning women who were shamelessly
throwing themselves at him. They laid their mats out and Gerald ran
through some basic poses and how to breathe while Gwen easily
managed to do them. Gerald would often inject some wisdom or
thoughts while they were stretching their bodies. Gwen started to get
concerned, as she felt as sluggish as a slow loris and hadn't really
learned much so far. She was used to moving her body to loud,
fast-paced, mash-ups of pop and dance music so her first experience
with yoga was a little disappointing and uneventful. In her boredom,
she looked up and straight into the eyes of Gerald who was blatantly
staring at her.
radical 54 / long stride
FURRIER
CHINCHILLA
131
FUR
FARM
Cut to the Bone

the sound of the telephone brought him from the edge of the sleep he
was just about to slip into and he grabbed the receiver angrily only to
find detective Paulson was calling him. His fur farm had been attacked
the previous year and the police had managed to catch the two animal
rights activists they thought responsible. The couple had kicked in
doors, ripped out fences, broken windows and freed two thousand
chinchillas who all promptly ran off into the wild. The furrier recalled
thinking at the time, doesn't whoever did this realize they have just
condemned all those chinchillas to a bloody death as food for the local
wildlife or being roadkilled?.
Detective? He asked, Is there a problem? The officer sighed.
I'm afraid so, sir. It looks as if it's happened again. Rage burned
through the furrier's chest as he heard these words.
I'm on my way. He said.
Ten minutes later he pulled into the fur farm to see the place had been
wrecked again, glass glittered across the ground from the broken
windows, wood and metal fragments lay where the doors had been
destroyed and small gray forms darted from here to there chinchillas
running away.
radical 107 / skin
132
Sergio Moreno
MENTOR
SIREN
ITHACA
Return To Ithaca
...as the two friends passed the olive tree, nodding to it as they passed,
Mentor, possessed by the spirit of the goddess Athena, turned to
Telemachus and advised him,
Telemachus, my friend, if you are ever to discover what has become
of your father, Odysseus, and rid your mother Penelope of the hordes
which plague her palace, you must voyage across the great green to
speak with Nestor.
I shall, Mentor, but what of the dangers involved in such a journey?
Telemachus had asked his friend.
They are diverse and many, Replied Mentor, If you but put your
faith in the gods however, you will remain safe from all but the
Sirens.
I have heard of such, The other man replied as they boarded the tar
soaked ship, We will not be swayed by their beauty.
It is not the sirens beauty you need to ware of, prince of Ithaca, but
their melodious song. It creeps into the ears and brains of men,
causing them to wreck their ships upon the rocks, thereafter the Sirens
devour the hearts of sailors who are never seen again.
radical 88 / father
PHOTOGRAPHER
TASIER
133
THE
PHILIPPINES
The Manila Amulet

a fine mist of sweat had covered his forehead once he had finished
climbing the tree, wedging himself in the fork of a branch and the
main trunk. The photographer set his cameras and lenses up, hanging
some of his things from a hook-like branch before him. He'd settled
himself in the tree, feeling a little tremble starting in his body, and
was looking around in the branches for the small tarsiers he had been
contracted to photograph. He knew where to look for the tiny beasts,
clinging to the main stems of the trees, their fur the same color as the
bark. Eventually he spotted one of the huge eyed creatures, clinging
as if for dear life to a tree branch, but his eyes wouldn't focus on it,
even through his camera. He squeezed his eyes closed, trying to get
rid of the white hazy spots which had appeared. Thirty feet up a tree
in the depths of the Philippines jungle was not a good place to have a
hypoglycemic attack but Guy knew all the warning signs of low blood
sugar and reached into his pack for a sweet drink and biscuit. As the
trembling throughout his body got worse, Guy sipped his juice and
munched the biscuit, staring into the wide eyes of the tarsier which
had spotted him in the tree.
radical 147 / see
134
Sergio Moreno
GENETIC
ENGINEER
BELGIAN
BLUE BULL
BELGIUM
A Hard Decision
...Christophe sat in the brightly lit confines of the laboratory, staring
at test results with his sore eyes. His company had just appointed him
as Lab head and project leader at Novars pharma Institutes for
BioMedical Research in Brussels. It was thanks to his strong
experience in genetic research and analysis together with his
knowledge of biotechnological engineering to make him the best fit
for the project. Around him machines whirred, centrifuges span and
computers hummed. Beside his position sat her young assistant who
was methodically injecting DNA samples into various test tubes.
They were testing a new gene therapy which would take the natural
ability of the Belgian blue bull to produce extra muscle and put it into
the DNA sequence of a rat which was genetically modified with
muscular dystrophy. Here in Belgium, the Belgian blue bull was
highly prized for its lean meat, which grew heavily due to the exact
same mutated gene Christophe was trying to isolate. It would be a few
months yet until the rats hatched and he could tell if any of the
samples had had any effect on any of the creatures.
radical 100 / life
SEWAGE
WORKER
MOLE
135
BELFAST
The Lost Key

...life below ground was dirty, smelly, dark and dangerous but Francis
liked the isolation. There were a few men who worked down here,
creeping about like moles, keeping the sewers clear from the
blockages they were prone to. Most people would run from being a
sewage worker because of the smell alone but Francis had long ago
lost his sense of smell. His thick boots sloshed along through the
gallons of human waste and effluent which flowed out towards the
river Lagan running through the middle of Belfast. Francis was trying
to find his way out, making his own way towards the Harland and
Wolff shipyard where he was hoping to see the massive ship the RMS
Titanic get launched for its first crossing to Liverpool. He had already
heard the triple blast of the horn which signified they were just about
to launch her. Francis picked up his pace as he ran through the
network of sewerage pipes, tripping on something hidden in the
stinking muck and hitting his head, he never made the launch.
radical 114 / track
136
Sergio Moreno
MARIACHI
MOUSE
MEXICO
Too Scared to Sleep

and so I tell you, my son, the people from the little village in southern
Mexico were overrun with mice. Mice in their houses, mice in their
cupboards, mice in their food and even mice in their beds. Those
villagers searched far and wide for anyone who could rid them of this
pestilence and finally found a mariachi band who said they could lead
the mice away from the village with their traditional music. By this time,
my boy, the villagers were ready to pay any price to get the mice away
from their village and so they agreed to the massive sum the mariachi
band demanded. The band stood in the middle of the village and started
to play a song calling the mice from the village. So I tell you, my son, it
was like a gray river leaving the village with all the mice following the
band. They played their music and the mice followed them, the music
changed and the mice ran straight into the nearby river, never to curse
the village again. No sooner had all the mice left the village, but the
elders decided they wouldn't pay the vast sum the mariachi band were
demanding and told them to go away. Needless to say, my lad, the
mariachi band were sent into a rage and started playing another tune.
This time the children from the village followed the mariachi band
towards the river...
radical 156 (variant) () / run
FAST FOOD
WORKER
MARABOU
137
KENTUCKY
Home for the Holidays

...heat mirages, shimmering in the distance, made alien lines appear
on the horizon as Shania drove her two children to the fast food
shack. She pulled up and they entered the blessedly air conditioned
restaurant with its unique greasy smell. Cartoon characters invited
children to harass parents to buy the cheap toys being peddled and a
pair of smoky old men, definitely from this part of Kentucky, sat in
the corner. With their order filled by the fried chicken worker behind
the slimy counter, the family sat by the window. As she tucked in to
the first, large, piece of food, Shania thought the taste wasn't right and
looking at the meat, she saw it was a great deal darker than she was
used to. Her mind wandered back to the local news story telling of the
escape of a flock of marabou from a sanctuary down the road.
radical 124 / feather, wing
138
Sergio Moreno
MOUNTAIN
GUIDE
BOBCAT
DEATH
VALLEY
Valley of Ashes
...he had been a complete idiot from the beginning of the trip.
Showing off to impress the young girls and women on the hiking trip,
flirting with them and trying to be funny. It was obvious he was
knowledgeable about the area and the flora and fauna which lived
here in Death Valley, but all the survival stuff was over the top. We
were only supposed to have been out here for around six hours and
had plenty of bottled water with us so why had he felt the need to
show us where to find liquid in this hot, arid place? Mike, the
mountain guide led us up into the rocks before stopping in the middle
of the track, he had turned with a grin and pointed to the bobcat which
was crouched on a boulder just up the trail. He reached into his pack
and pulled a strip of jerky out, offering it to the wild cat in an
unbelievably stupid way. I was hardly surprised when the thing leaped
at his face, scratching and hissing.
radical 150 / valley
GEOLOGIST
PUFFIN
139
ICELAND
The Blue Lagoon

the water surrounded him like a warm hug as he dipped below the
surface. Smooth, grey rock surrounded the deep blue lagoon, the
action of centuries of lava and water acting together to make these
strangely flat, rounded rock formations. The geologist floated in the
steaming water, heated by the bowels of the earth, his gear and
examination forgotten as he just enjoyed floating in the wilds of
Iceland. His mind drifted as he floated in the mineral rich water, back
to a time when he had been studying his trade and some of the parties
he had been to. While he thought of the girl he'd fallen in love with
back then, he heard a hissing sound. Probably a geyser shooting water
into the air, he thought, until he heard the squawk. Surprised, Henry
slipped his head under the water, coming up spluttering to see a puffin
had landed by the water's edge. It looked at him and shook, preening
its feathers with its oddly triangular, yellow beak. It squawked again
as if asking permission to swim with him.
radical 174 (variant) () / green, blue
140
Sergio Moreno
PAINTER
OSTRICH
SPAIN
A Painter's Life
...he stepped back from the image he had just finished, he stepped
forward and added one last brush stroke to the picture.
It is complete, Dora. He whispered to the woman who was taking
photographs of him while he worked, It is finally finished.
"C'est Magnifique", Pablo, She replied in her strong French accent,
Vraiment! Truly so.
I am sure it is, my Dora, and will be seen as such by Phillipe Vollard,
the most famous publisher working in Paris who commissioned the
work. The ostrich he had just completed was the final piece in a set of
thirty one different animals and insects created to illustrate The Histoire
Naturelle (Natural History) written by the 18th-century French naturalist
Georges-Louis Leclerc. Pablo's illustrations were odd and humorous
and showed anthropomorphic tendencies, as in this somewhat vacantlooking ostrich. The painter had spread his arms wide as Dora snapped
monochrome images of him. Each image sat next to another in the
painter's studio and he relived the highs and lows of creating each piece
as he turned in a slow circle. She continued capturing the image of the
Spanish man she had fallen in love with.
radical 129 (variant) () / brush
ACUPUNCTURIST
SEA
URCHIN
141
ACUPUNCTURE
CENTER
Eyes Wide Open

...her eyes wandered across the light green walls of the acupuncture
center as she sat in the treatment chair. Needles hung from her right
ear, temple, the back of her neck and forehead. There hadn't been any
pain while they were inserted and it just felt a little odd when the
acupuncturist twiddled each needle in turn every so often. Sheila's
eyes wandered around the relaxing images on the walls, Chinese art
comprising of landscape scenes sat beside photographs of sunsets.
One of the pictures made her want to laugh, it was a sea urchin
creeping across the seabed. There were a pair of them in the picture,
one bristled with white spikes all over a pink shell, the other was a
dark purple in color with much thicker spines jutting from what
looked like a black shell. The mass of spines covering both creature's
shells made her think of what she must look like, with needles
sticking out of her skin. She had come in looking for treatment for her
sleeplessness and hoped this would work after attempting numerous
other treatments.
radical 175 / wrong
142
Sergio Moreno
SWINDLER
CHAMELEON
CASINO
Mistaken Identity
...her long, tanned legs took her from the blackjack table to the craps
table, the little black dress she wore made her blend in with the other
gamblers at the casino, a Louis Vuitton bag and pair of Jimmy Choos
completed her chameleon like outfit. Becoming invisible was what
she did. Stealing money in the form of gambling chips was her job.
Chanise placed a few legitimate bets, just small amounts while the
man beside her stacked his winnings on the inner rail of the table. As
she leaned across to place a bet with her right hand, she used her left
to lift a few of her neighbors chips, concealing the theft with her
body. She straightened, looking the older man in the eyes and tilting
her head so her blonde hair fell around her shoulders,
She wet her lips with her tongue making sure that his gaze was
following her action. I hope I'm as lucky as you. The swindler told
him in a flirty voice. He smiled, nodded and never realised she had
taken hundreds of his winnings. The following evening, she wore a
silver dress and visited a different casino.
radical 135 / tongue
STRIPPER
KOALA
143
STRIP
CLUB
One False Move

Maggie's eyes grazed across the dimly lit scene inside the
cavernous room where lights focused on the stage, leaving
everywhere else in darkness. Pumping music bashed rudely against
her eardrums and she glanced at some of the other strippers who were
dancing and writhing around in the pools of light.
Get up there Mags! Her boss growled and she had to tell herself she
was only doing this to pay for her education, once she graduated she
could forget any of this ever happened. Climbing the small set of
steps, Maggie leaned against a metal pole jutting from the floor and
looked out into the audience. What if there was someone she knew?
She froze as the music hammered, as still as a koala clinging to a
branch. What had ever made her believe she could cut it at a strip
club? She didn't even like her body so why would anyone else. Men
and even a couple of women, had begun to gather around the small
stage,
Come on darling, Someone shouted, Get your kit off!
radical 160 / spicy, bitter
144
Sergio Moreno
SNAKE OIL
SALESMAN
RATTLE
SNAKE
FAR
WEST
The Whole Lie

...Come one, come all, be the first to buy the latest medicinal product
made by yours truly, doctor Clarke Stanley. The well-dressed
gentleman cried from the wooden stage he had set up. His red wagon
had gold signs proclaiming his name and his product as young Wesley
saw as he tried to push his way through the crowd for a closer look.
Suited men in top hats and women in their summer dresses and
bonnets packed around the elegantly dressed doctor who was also a
snake oil salesman.
All the way from the mystical land of the orient, a cure for
rheumatism and skin problems! Never feel the pain of work again as
your body miraculously heals thanks to the awesome power of
rattlesnake oil. Stanley had never seen a rattlesnake in his life, the
stuff in the bottles was pretty much oil, pepper and anything he could
get his hands on when he made a batch. The amazed faces of the
simple folk out here in the far west had no idea this was complete
rubbish and all lies.
radical 92 / fang
DRUMMER
(IVORY-BILLED)
WOODPECKER
145
MALDIVES
The Jazz Bird

...his feet propped on the railing which surrounded the porch,
condensation running gently down the side of his ice cold glass and
his favorite book in his hands, life couldn't have been better for Jazzy
-B, drummer for the world famous band the Eastham Boys. Jazzy
stretched and felt his back click as he scanned the paradise of the
Maldives spread out around him. With the white-gold, sandy beaches
and endless rows of palm trees, this place gave him the peace he
craved when he had a little time to himself. Not that he didn't love the
feeling of being on stage with thousands of fans screaming and crying
as he thrashed his drum solo out, but here was where he felt truly at
peace with life. A rhythmic tapping brought Jazzy back from his
daydream, causing him to look up. High up in one of the trees, he
could see a black and white ivory-billed woodpecker perched on a
branch, hammering at the tree trunk. Jazzy's mind came back to earth
with a crash, the Eastham Boys world tour started in a week or so.
radical 65 / branch
146
Sergio Moreno
PYROTECHNICIAN
CHINESE
DRAGON
SHANGHAI
The Fireworks Start at Midnight

...even though his mind should have been on the lethal explosives he
was handling, Shan couldn't tear his mind away from his wife and the
news she was pregnant. As a pyrotechnician, it was his job to set off
the fireworks in the right order, responsible for the handling and
placement of the explosives and making sure everything was safe for
the thousands who were expected to turn out tonight. The spring
festival in Shanghai was to feature a number of Chinese dragons, each
one larger than the last until the greatest would dance to his firework
display. He imagined the bright colors and huge roses his display
would paint across the sky, hopefully adding to the sense of wonder
created by the dragon dancers, as he made his way towards the bright
temple. Shan took an incense stick, lighting it from another one and
placing it next to the forest of others there. Then he knelt and prayed
for his family's good fortune, peace and happiness. Shan remained
there for a long time, meditating, praying and enjoying the calm of the
temple.
radical 161 / morning
ORNITHOLOGIST
BLUE-EYED
COCKATOO
147
AVIARY
Caged
...leaning heavily against the skeleton like wreckage of a world war
two airplane, with its bent propellers and shattered windows.
Hennison Dandy took his hat off and wiped the sweat from his brow.
Dressed in khaki shorts, white shirt, and tropical pith helmet, he
looked like something from a vintage film. If only he could find one,
just one, blue-eyed cockatoo, he would be the guest of honor at the
annual ornithological society's annual dinner. The dense forest of
palm trees and mangled wreckage left over from history, combined
with the bird's natural tendency to hide and dwindling population was
making the task nearly impossible, however. As an ornithologist since
his teenage years, Dandy knew the watered down versions of the
blue-eyed cockatoo available in the pet trade were poor copies of the
wild species and it was one of these wild ones he wanted to complete
the collection in his aviary. A flash of white feathers caught his eye,
could this be the bird he was after? He grabbed his large net and
strode off into the dense green bushes which covered the island.
radical 171 / slave, capture
148
Sergio Moreno
TRAPPER
RACCOON
ROCKY
MOUNTAINS
The Last Shot

...life in the Rocky Mountains was harsh for any man, even one as
experienced and hardy as Benjamin who had spent his summers up here
for the past twenty years before the incident. His cabin was a poorly
looking excuse of a place for a man to live in and every spring he had a
couple of days worth of repairs to make to the place from damage done
over the winter. Resetting the shingles on the roof, fixing the window
shutters and making sure the walls were tightly sealed. Benjamin had
been a trapper for his whole life, but times were getting harder with the
big companies coming in and taking over, sending out teams of hunters
and trackers to catch as many animals for their pelts as they could. And
then there was the local people, tribes who didn't like the animals being
killed for money. He caught a noise coming from outside and opened the
door to see a raccoon sitting on the porch and a group of Apaches. Sitting
on horses or standing around the outside of his cabin, the Apaches were
dressed in bearskins and leather trousers. They had between two and five
feathers jutting up from the backs of their heads and wore twin bones in
their hair. Every one of them looked angry and hostile.
Brought some friends huh? Benjamin asked the surprised raccoon
before nudging it inside with his foot and slamming the door. He grabbed
his rifle and made sure it was loaded.
radical 17 / container, open mouth
SAPA
INCA
SLOTH
149
PERU
The Death of Atahualpa

his sham of a trial was over and he had been sentenced to death by
burning by the Spanish invaders. The last Sapa Inca, Atahualpa, sat in
abject misery and terror, believing his soul was at risk because of his
form of execution. In his capital city in the heart of Peru he was
chained like an animal, facing his death in the most horrific way. His
friend offered to make him a Catholic to get a better death and he
thought back to the baptism and the water which flowed across his
head. Two conquistadors entered his cell and grabbed him by the
arms, dragging him roughly out into the square where he was to be
killed. He felt his back hit the post he was being tied to and the
scratch of the rough rope across his skin as it was secured around his
throat. In the trees across the square Atahualpa could just make out
the slow form of a sloth hanging from a branch. His eyes met the
animals as the rope around his throat started to tighten.
radical 5 (variant) () / second, latter
150
Sergio Moreno
ODOR
TESTER
SKUNK
NEW
JERSEY
The Best Bad Luck

the train pulled up to the station and Jeff got off, looking forward to
his first day at his new job. The advert had said the company was
looking for an odor tester and was told he would be sniffing models
armpits to see if their new antiperspirant was effective. Models, that
one word had made Jeff's hear pound, as he thought about the women
on the TV in the adverts with their soft skin and smooth curves.
Whistling a happy tune as he walked through the streets of New
Jersey, Jeff got to the gates and presented his new ID card to the
guard.
Heh! Working in the skunk department eh? The guard asked. Jeff
could only nod in puzzlement. In the lab he looked at the
questionnaire he had to fill out for each sample and looked into the
smelling room. His heart sank as he saw a parade of sagging, old and
hairy armpits on display for him to sniff. No wonder this was called
the skunk department.
radical 132 / oneself
SHAMAN
TARANTULA
151
BORNEO
Footsteps in the Dark

...his small fire heated the copper pot as he incanted the ancient words
of the enchantment which would bind the spirit's essence into the
potion. Now all Haku-An needed was the small, fine hairs from the
legs of a tarantula for potency. As the tribe's shaman, he was
responsible for the health of and cures for any of the people of the
tribe who got ill. Currently he was brewing a potion to help with the
tribal chief's son, Eran-Ak who had been possessed by evil and
needed to be cleansed. He had spent the day before preparing the
herbs and chanting the prayers which would bind spirits to the potion
ready to drive the evil out when his patient drank it. One of the
hunters came to Haku-An's tent with a small bundle, the tarantula he
thought. Alone once more, the Borneo Shaman opened the small bag
and tipped the tarantula into his hand. Twin fangs sank into his flesh
from the spider.
radical 95 / dark, profound
152
Sergio Moreno
HEAD
WARDER
BLACKBIRD
DEVIL'S
ISLAND
Prisoner of the Devil

Dreyfus sat on the humid floor of his tiny stone hut. What
miserable belongings he had had just been confiscated by the head
warder again. He was being denied rations and food, again and he was
ill from something the mosquitoes had infected him with, again.
Sickness racked his body, making him tremble and shake, he
hallucinated and saw his family as prisoners alongside him. For three
days he was only allowed a few sips of water to keep him alive,
eventually he was fed a bit of stale bread and allowed to go outside
for a few minutes. Sitting with his back to the stone of his cottage, he
looked up into the trees which surrounded his little house, seeing a
blackbird catching butterflies to eat. This was another liberty he'd
been denied, some of the other prisoners caught butterflies to sell to
collectors for a few cents. Devil's island was an apt name for this
place, he thought, as this place was hell on earth.
radical 194 / ghost, demon
REGGAE
SINGER
DOCTOR
BIRD
153
JAMAICA
The Happiness Pill

...this cave had been his source of inspiration ever since he had come
here as a teenager to drink, smoke and womanize. Now Golding the
reggae singer took a deep lungful of the marijuana he was smoking
and held it in so his blood could absorb all the THC which allowed
his mind to open. Before him, the greenery and natural beauty of
Jamaica spread before him, trees and bushes, birds and animals all
coming together to bring him inspiration. As the chemical began to
take effect on his brain, Golding saw colors brighter, sounds came
more clearly and the perfumed fragrances of flowers drifted to his
nose. Words seemed to flow in his mind, swirling together to become
a song. His eyes focused on a tiny bird with extremely long tail
feathers, a doctor bird which was gently sipping nectar from one of
the tiny flowers which grew all over the island. As part of the
hummingbird family, the doctor bird could hover and even fly
backwards to harvest the sweet nectar it fed on, the rapid beat of its
wings making the signature sound.
radical 200 / hemp, flax
154
Sergio Moreno
PATRIOT
OSPREY
RHODE
ISLAND
What They Left Behind

...with the briny scent of the sea in his nose, Abraham Whipple,
dressed in his customary crimson waistcoat, crimson trimmed, black
overcoat, cream silk stockings and silver-buckled shoes, stood in the
rocking bow of the longboat as it stroke towards the HMS Gaspe.
The rising sun layered him with warmth and hope. He could feel
tension in the faces of his band of patriots. On the Gaspe he could
hear snatches of commands, orders being shouted frantically in an
attempt to get the ship off the rocks which pierce her hull like the
teeth of a monster. He looked up as the silhouette of an opulent dark
brown osprey hovered over the ship as if it wanted to show Whipple
where their prey was. After a short time it headed back into the
nearby hills. Just off the coast of Rhode Island, the British customs
schooner Gaspe sat like a beached whale waiting for the hunters to
come and slay it as Whipple primed the powder in his pistol. He
glanced back at the men aboard, he saw braveness and determination
coming out from their eyes, completely unaware that they were
making history.
radical 165 / divide, distinguish, choose
PASTRY
CHEF
GROUNDHOG
155
PUNXSUTAWNEY
Sweet Women Lie

his cash register had been ringing all morning, he was taking
money hand over fist at the bakery and had had to get a temporary
pastry chef to help him bake the cakes and pastries to sell to the
crowds. With today being Groundhog Day, the day when Philip the
groundhog made his prediction about winter, there were crowds of
people outside his little shop. At the cheaper end of Punxsutawney,
his pastry shop was not the most popular place to visit, apart from this
day. He could see hundreds of journalists and TV crews lined up to
see whether Philip would forecast the end of winter. Dean watched as
the groundhog was brought out from his burrow on Gobbler's Knob.
The gathered crowds held their collective breaths as the big rodent
Phil offered his prediction in 'groundhogese', a language only
understood by the current president of the Groundhog Club's Inner
Circle, who helpfully translated the proclamation.
Phil didnt see his shadow, we will have an early spring. announced
Jeff, the Fair Weatherman of the Inner Circle.
radical 99 / sweet
156
Sergio Moreno
LEATHER
TANNER
LAMB
MARRAKESH
The Tanner's Apprentice

...pedaling down the packed streets, full of cars, vans, trucks,
motorbikes, rickshaws and bicycles, Dar wondered at the sheer
amount of traffic. Even though this was a daily trip to where he
worked as a leather tanner, the crowded streets were always a surprise
to his eyes. Through the fog of poisonous exhaust fumes a massive,
wooden-sided lorry cut in front of his little bike, almost making him
fall off. Dar shook his fist at the driver and carried on towards the
deep soaking pits at the tanneries of Marrakesh where he worked,
scraping the fat and hair from the hides before soaking them in the
vats full of chemicals which would preserve the leather. Looking at
the back of the lorry, Dar saw it was packed full of lambs, their tiny
noses poking through the slats flaring in an attempt to breathe the
fume filled air. He could see their panicked, frightened eyes through
the wooden slats and a sadness washed over him as he realized these
creatures were going to the slaughterhouse. If he ever saw the lambs
again, they would have been reduced to nothing more than meat
products.
radical 178 / tanned leather
SWISS
GUARD
GRIFFIN
157
VATICAN
Burial Plot
...Paulon stood to attention in his bright yellow and blue-striped
uniform, his beret seated on his head at the correct angle, beside the
door he had been ordered to guard. As a member of the Swiss Guard
it was his duty to make sure no one entered the room beyond where
the cardinals were debating who they wanted to elect to be the next
pope. With his Partisan spear in his right hand, Paulon stood in the
Vatican, silent but watchful. Across the corridor his eyes wandered
over the engraved wall opposite him. It depicted a scene where a
griffin was fighting men with spears, the mythical creature's wings
were spread and its beak was snapping at the spears trying to bite
them. Paulon's mind wandered, bringing the fresco to life and making
the griffin the victor over the men. He couldn't help but think how the
cardinals were fighting just like the griffin had been.
radical 110 / spear, pike
158
Sergio Moreno
RED CROSS
AID WORKER
FRIGATEBIRD
HAITI
A Splash of Hope
...white blankets covered people, whose homes and lives had been
destroyed by the tragedy, under the dark green, canvas army tent.
Thick red poles supported the tent, under which hundreds of men,
women and children took refuge. Samantha made her way through the
weeping, depressed people, trying to keep a smile on her face as she
passed the injured and dying in the tent. As a Red Cross Aid worker,
Samantha had to try and keep the hopes of these people up, even
though they'd just lost everything. Samantha made her way outside,
gulping in a deep lungful of clean air washing out the dirty, stinking
air which the tent was filled with. Looking at the trees around her,
Samantha's eyes fell on the bulging red throat of a black feathered
frigatebird. The frigatebird spread its wings and took flight, soaring
into the sky. Samantha looked around her seeing hundreds of red
blotches among the lush greenery. The trees and brush in Haiti were
packed with these birds and as she watched them Samantha forgot
about the suffering in the tents around her.
radical 155 / red, bare
GEISHA
DRAGONFLY
159
RYTEI
The Art of Taming Dragonflies

...the hissing of silk against silk was all that could be heard as the
young geisha poured hot water into a glazed bowl. The tatami room
was bathed in a warm, creamy light through the paper screens which
were all around the ryteis room. She swirled the water around and
tipped it away. With a bamboo scoop she dipped out some green tea,
pouring it into the cleaned bowl. Her elegant movements seemed to
make the dragonflies on her kimono come alive, twisting and flitting
across the material. With slender fingers she poured boiling water
over the matcha green tea powder and stirred it with a small whisk.
The geisha smiled, red lips curving in her white painted face as she
presented the prepared tea bowl to one of the guests and they
exchanged bows. This first guest admired the bowl then rotated it
before taking a sip. They knelt around a low table in the center of the
room, sampling the freshly made tea while enjoying the view of the
peaceful Japanese traditional garden.
radical 68 / dipper, measuring scoop
160
Sergio Moreno
HANG GLIDER
PILOT
BIRD
FAROE
ISLANDS
The View from Here

...he took several deep breaths before grabbing the aluminum frame
and running headlong down the steep, grassy hill. He felt the weight
of the frame become lighter as he ran and the wind caught underneath
the fabric overhead. Then came the heady moment when he got
lighter, harness he was attached to lifting him from his feet as the
hang glider lifted him with ease. The hang glider pilot lifted his legs,
once airborne, and slipped them in the cocoon-like bag which would
keep him warm. He was one of the participants in the FIA World
Hang Gliding Championships, held this year in the Faroe Islands.
Sebastian soared like a bird as he caught a column of warm air,
tipping to one side to circle higher and higher. He checked his GPS
unit and set off towards his first way point, on his way to winning
he hoped.
radical 196 / bird
PROJECTIONIST
HIPPO
161
CINEMA
One Ticket for Tonight

they had sneaked upstairs quietly, stealing kisses on the way, her
chest clenched at the thought they might get found out, but it thrilled
her as well. Her lover was the projectionist at the Apollo cinema and
had persuaded her to come to work with him to see the blockbuster
new film, Tarzan, with sound. The small room smelled of warm
electric and his aftershave as she stared through the little hole far
above the audience. He had described this scene to her earlier and she
was mesmerized to watch the people as they whipped their guides to
take them into the jungle. The vicious crack of sound and the men's
cries made it all more real somehow. She heard the water as the
expedition rowed their hastily built rafts into the water and gasped as
she saw the humped backs of hippos in the water. Their roar was
enough to frighten her as they capsized one of the rafts, killing two
men in the process. She turned away in shock, only to hear the
ululating cry of Tarzan echoing across the jungle. Looking back at
the film, Sarah noticed the hippos had gone back to the river when she
heard the yell again.
radical 101 (variant) () / use
162
Sergio Moreno
PLOWMAN
DRAFT
HORSE
IRELAND
The Drowning Tide

blighted crops turned over in the furrows as Eion guided his faithful
but ancient draft horse across the potato field. The dead and rotten
plants disappeared under the soil as the old animal plodded on for
hours on end. The soil which Eion was turning over was dry and
lacking the nutrients needed to grow potato crops. As his horse
slowed to a stop, Eion looked over and saw the middleman and his
heavies coming across towards him. Here to try and collect the rent,
Eion thought, doesn't he know I can't even feed my children, let alone
pay the rent. Eion went to greet the hard faced man, arguing his point
that he had no money to pay the landlord, who relaxed in a different
country and never knew the hardships of life here in Ireland. As the
middleman growled out his threats, Eion heard a jangling thump from
behind him, turning he saw his faithful horse had just died. With no
horse, no food and no money Eion wondered if his only option now
was to emigrate to the new world.
radical 127 / plow
MILLER
OTTER
163
LAND
The Otter Rebellion

...white dust flew in clouds around the inside of the flour mill, making
Arngrdh sneeze three times in quick succession. The pounding
rumble of the immense millstones rubbing against one another filled
his ears as the water-mill worked on. He watched the enormous round
stone spinning against the stationary bottom one, turning wheat into
powder to be collected and bagged up. Taking a break, the millstone
miller moved outside for a smoke and watched as a sleek otter swam
in the millpond which fed the massive water-wheel which in turn
provided power for the mill. There were many otters on the Swedish
island of land and as Arngrdh watched, the lithe little creature
dragged a crab up the bank and out onto the grass next to the pond. In
fascination, Arngrdh watched as the otter gripped a rock in both of
its clever front paws and used it to hammer down on the crab,
cracking its shell to get at the meat inside. He smiled, clever little
beast, he thought.
radical 134 / mortar
164
Sergio Moreno
BARBER
BEARDED
TAMARIN
BARBER
SHOP
The Empty Chair

...the razor's sharp edge gleamed in the poor light as Sweeney Todd
ran it against the leather strop, honing it to perfection. He waited like
a predator for his next customer, a small smile on his face. Dressed in
black trousers and waistcoat, white shirt and polished shoes, he
appeared to be the epitome of the Victorian barber.
Good day to you, my man. He spoke with a high-born accent.
Greetings and welcome to my barber shop, Todd had said,
How my I be of assistance? The man sported a long moustache in
the shape of an upside down banana, this facial hair gave him the look
of a bearded Tamarin and was, Todd though, quite silly.
I require a shave, sir, a hot towel shave.
But of course, if you would like to take a seat in my special chair, I
will deal with you directly. Todd told him. Sweeney Todd took a
small bone comb from his pocket and groomed the man's moustache
while the towel heated. Then he got the razor out once more, and
began his work.
radical 126 / rake, beard
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER
GIANT
SQUID
165
LONG
BEACH
Sea Creatures
...he'd finally made it, this was his crowning glory, the final piece to
the puzzle, his completion as a successful man. After Roger Gilbert
had been promoted to chief executive officer of his technical
company, he had made so many necessary changes, some easy and
some hard. Gilbert considered the people he'd had to lay off as he sat
in the luxurious cabin of his half million pound yacht. He'd come
halfway round the world to Long Beach, a place he'd always wanted
to come, to enjoy the sailing craft and now he was here. As his eyes
were just closing, he'd heard the comforting swish of the waves
change to a hammering thump. Gilbert went out on deck and looked
over the side. Nothing. Nothing to see except the final rays of the sun
glinting from the dark sea. Until he saw the eye.
It was the size of a dinner plate and looking straight at him. Gilbert
had heard there were giant squid in the sea but never thought he'd see
one. Something long and wet wrapped around his ankle and he
squeaked like a child until the water took his last breath.
radical 168 (variant) () / long, grow; leader
166
Sergio Moreno
FISHER
FISH
BELIZE
The Will
blowing the dust off the old photo, Benjamin looked into the easy
smile and kind face of his dad. His mind flew back through the years
to when he was just a kid, the boat rocking gently on the reef in
Belize, the sunlight glinting off the water and a gentle breeze blowing
through his hair.
We'll get a big one today, Bennie. His dad, a skilled fisher, told
him.
Okay, dad.
Abruptly, Benjamin's line had gone tight and pulled him towards the
side of the boat. He fought with the fish he had hooked while his dad
shouted encouragement but never stepped in to help. Gradually, the
boy had brought the fish to the surface, looking down in awe at the
Nassau grouper he had caught. Brown and white strips and patches
rippled as the fish bunched its muscles trying to escape. Nearly a
meter long and weighing nineteen kilos the father and son took a
photo of it and let it go.
radical 195 / fish
WIG
MAKER
ANGORA
GOAT
167
CARDIFF
The Wig Maker

...reclining in a leather chair, Matthew Grains shook the pages of his
newspaper out. His grey eyes scanned the Cardiff Times as he read
the horrifying account of the butcher they had called Jack the Ripper.
His gorge rose as he took in all the details, how the man targeted
prostitutes and how he cut them into pieces, hacking at them for some
reason. Matthew folded the paper and went to one of his latest pieces,
as a wig maker it was his duty to follow the most fashionable trends
from the major cities. He brushed the fine hairs of the angora goat as
he remembered a man who had come in a week ago. He'd had a
London accent and been well dressed but looked as if he was about to
explode with uncontrolled rage. Grains clearly recalled him asking if
he knew of any working girls in the area, to which Grains had replied
he was happily married and never sought the companionship of such
women.
Good, The man had said, They're all disgusting and should be
exterminated.
radical 82 / hair
168
Sergio Moreno
TATTOO
ARTIST
QILIN
MACAO
The Tattoo
...beads of sweat rolled down his back in spite of the cooling air
conditioning which pumped through the massive hotel and casino
complex. The man who had ordered him to be here sat, shirtless, in
front of him with pictures covering almost every inch of his skin. The
sweating tattoo artist had sketched out a number of designs for the
Triad boss who wanted the image of a qilin inked on his body as an
omen of his taking over the business operations in Macao. The boss
had looked at the designs and eventually decided on a horned and
scaled dragon version of the mythical beast. The artist gulped as he
looked down on the glass like surface of the lake outside the hotel, if
he failed here would he end up at the bottom of the lake. Satisfied
with the positioning of the image, he selected some green, purple and
red ink, along with the black for outlining and paused, taking a deep
breath as his needle hovered over the Triad's skin.
radical 158 / body
OSTEOLOGIST
NEANDERTHAL
169
PORTUGAL
The Bone Box

she had been studying the bones for weeks, under microscope, with
her eyes and even in x-rays, and what the toddler's skeleton was
telling her defied all other theories as to the evolution of the human
race. Osteologist Suzette Watkins had come to Portugal to study the
little boy who had died nearly a quarter of a million years before she
was ever born. Before he had been uncovered, scientists had believed
modern humans had killed off their predecessors, the Neanderthals,
explaining why they had become extinct. The little boy who lay
before her, however, was said to have died four thousand years after
the last Neanderthal had roamed the earth, but if this were true, how
could Watkins explain the Neanderthal features which were plainly
evident on his skull? The only theory, which would turn the scientific
world on its head, was modern humans and Neanderthals had come
together and bred with each other. Watkins' shaking hand grabbed the
telephone.
radical 188 / bone
170
Sergio Moreno
ICE
SKATER
MEERKAT
NAMIBIA
The Dune of Dreams

the fifty-five-million year old sand slid underneath Ari's shoes as he
slid down one of the star-shaped, dune 45's sides. In his head, the
young man was not in the sun baked desert of Namibia. Ari had a
dream, a lame one, his mother kept telling him, he had longed to be an
ice skater ever since he had seen one twirling and dancing gracefully
across the ice on their battered old television set. He used every
opportunity he had to practice the new choreographed routines he had
dreamed of the night before. Ari could see his father now, working on
the over-lander truck while the group of tourists were braving the high
winds and sinking sands to climb up the dune to experience the sunset
over the red-orange desert landscape. Ari looked across from where
he was to see, amongst the bleached skeleton branches of a dead
Acacia, a group of meerkats peeking at what he was doing. A younger
meerkat particularly seemed mesmerized by Ari's figure skating skill,
at least that is what Ari thought as he bent from the waist and bowed
his head to the unexpected audience.
radical 43 (variants) ( , ) / lame
CHOREOGRAPHER
BLUE FOOT
BOBBY
171
ISABELA
ISLAND
Dancing On the Edge

a lifelong career in the arts had taught Michel to take inspiration
from any source. Beginning as a dancer and later in life as a
choreographer, he had used his extensive travelling to study the
behavior of animals to use as the basis of his dances. This time he had
come all the way to Isabella Island, off the Pacific Coast of San Blas,
to see a special kind of bird. The island had been created by six shield
volcanoes most of which were still active but there was little risk of
an eruption. Trees and greenery surrounded Michel, the pristine blue
sky over the equator beautiful in its own right. Michel settled into
position and looked on in wonder at the flock of blue footed booby
birds. One spread his wings, stamping his bright blue feet in display
to his chosen female. He carried on this odd dance as he spread his
wings and looked straight up into the sky. Michel smiled as he
watched the bird gather some nesting materials and come back to
stand opposite the larger female. He presented the twigs and straw,
then showed off his blue feet again. Michel's mind took the moves in
and almost immediately made a dance from them.
radical 136 / opposite
172
Sergio Moreno
RAFTING
INSTRUCTOR
SALMON
IDAHO
Against the Current

...with the grey rocks rising on both sides of them and the boiling,
foaming, white water of the River of No Return under their red
boat, the men and women fought to keep themselves afloat. Jasmine,
the young rafting instructor, had been through all the safety points
with this group before they left and they were an experienced group,
having been before. Jasmine struggled to keep the raft in the right
direction as they plunged down the turbulent river but the current was
too strong and they were spinning out of control. She could see a
rock, hidden under the water, which they were headed for and
watched in horror as a man was flipped out of the raft. He looked to
fly for a second before slamming down on another rock. Downstream
the white water turned red and the rafts pulled in. Something flew past
Jasmine as she looked for the man, a silver thing jumping from the
water. Stained red with the blood of the rafter, this was the first
Chinook salmon of the year to travel upstream to spawn.
radical 47 (variants) ( , ) / river
VIETNAMESE
FARMER
SAOLA
173
VIETNAM
Rising River
light green stretched off in all directions as he wiped a tear from his
eye. His family had grown rice here for generations and he looked out
over the lands he had earned a living from with a twist of pain in his
chest. In the distance he could see sails and people on boats which
looked as if they were floating like spirits. The river would flood this
valley soon, consuming all his crops, his home, his village. The
government in Vietnam was building a dam downriver providing
sustainable power to the bigger cities, all at the expense of the local
people. His heart leaped as he actually saw one of the rarest creatures
in this region, a saola, with its unusually long horns and characteristic
white markings on the face, creeping off into the trees at the edge of
his lands. Surely, the Vietnamese farmer thought, this had been a sign.
He was like the saola, he was soon to disappear from this land too.
radical 11 (variant) () / enter
174
Sergio Moreno
COAL
MINER
PONY
COAL
MINE
The Coal Hole

...it was Mike's first day down the pit as the locals called it. He was
walking along at the back of a group of men, some with picks and
some with shovels, towards the coal face he was about to start work
at. His chest swelled with pride, his first day as a coal miner proved to
be a good one. The other men chatted as they walked, their voices
echoing from the cracked, grey walls and roof of the tunnel. As Mike
made his way deeper into the bowels of the earth he wondered why
some sections of the roof had been left lower between the supports.
He asked one of the other men, Billy, who smiled and said,
That's where the roof's sagged down. Mike hadn't said anything
after that. His ears picked up a sound, a deep rumbling, which got
louder by the second.
What's that? Mike asked. Billy tilted his head and his eyes went
wide,
Into the holes! He shouted. Mike darted into a man sized hole cut
into the wall just in time to see a scared pony dragging a wagon load
of coal up the tunnel and out of the coal mine.
radical 203 (variant) () / black
CAMPER
WARTHOG
175
UGANDA
Path of the Warthog

...there was no denying this place was overwhelming. The raw,
untouched beauty of the Kibale National Park had surrounded Elise
all day and the sounds of it invaded her night. She could hear low
growls and grunts, high-pitched squeals and squeaks, the baying call
of something mournful and the endless buzzing of insects. The
camper rolled herself up in her thin sleeping bag, sprayed the air with
insect repellent and tried to sleep through the cacophony. The wildlife
of Uganda had other ideas, however. Although she hadn't been alone
on this trek, Elisa had set her tent on the outside of the circle of tents
for the most authentic experience she could get and the feeling of
isolation was weird. Something rustled right next to her head and she
held her breath wondering what it was. She heard a ripping sound and
looked over to see a seven inch long tusk poking through the fabric of
her tent. She couldn't scream as the hairy, pig nosed warthog pushed
its head inside her tent. Her heart hammered in her chest as the thing
snuffled and grunted.
radical 153 / cat, badger
176
Sergio Moreno
ARCHAEOLOGIST
MARE & FOAL
CARTHAGE
What Remains of Us
it was dirty, damp and hot in the ruins of the old city. This newly
discovered section, buried for centuries, had provided more clues to
everyday life and times in Carthage than any other source. Howard
Jamb had been carefully digging, cataloging and recording every
square centimeter of the buildings which had somehow survived
being destroyed by the Romans. As an archaeologist, Jamb was in his
element digging down here and was about to unearth a perfectly
preserved earthenware jug which was still sealed with wax.
Painstakingly, Jamb lifted the jug from its tomb and was delighted to
see a beautifully rendered picture of a mare with her foal feeding from
her. Jamb took the jug outside into the light and began the process of
photographing and describing the jug. As he turned the object, a
white, crystalline substance fell from it. Salt! Jamb looked at the salt
and wondered if the legends about conquered cities being cursed with
salt could actually be true.
radical 121 / can, earthenware jar
MONK
DEER
177
NARA
The Deer Park

the finest brushwork and steadiest hand was needed to restore the
screen in Kasuga Shrine in the city of Nara. His former life as an artist
had taught him the majority of his skills but it was his religious
learning when he decided to become a monk which brought him the
peace and tranquility needed to restore this piece. He had uncovered a
hanging wisteria so far and stretched his back before settling once
more to his task. Some may find the almost endless brushing of dirt
carefully from the screen a slow and maddening task, but the monk
knew it was essential for him to continue and was at peace. He heard
gentle footsteps from behind and turned to see one of the deer, which
roamed freely around the shrine, approaching. The deer were
messengers from the Shinto Gods and the monk bowed respectfully to
this doe.
radical 198 / deer
178
Sergio Moreno
POACHER
ARGALI
(MOUNTAIN SHEEP)
ALTAI
MOUNTAINS
Justice for None

...the shots rang out, echoing off the mountains where evil men
slaughtered the dwindling populations of native argali. Batsaikhan
grabbed his binoculars and left the yurt to see what was going on.
From behind the round yurt he scanned the light brown and white
mountains before finding one of the poachers. Such men were
renowned in Altai Mountains for killing the argali to sell as either
hunting trophies because of their horns or for medicinal purposes.
Argali meat was also prized as the animals were among the largest
native creatures in the area. Batsaikhan shook his head sadly, this was
why he never saw anywhere near as many of the brown and yellow
creatures as he had as a kid. He also knew other animals were
becoming extinct because their food source was being poached.
Batsaikhan was angry at the men, but what could he do? One lone
man with a wife and child, a few goats and not much more? His eyes
fell on his father's rifle as he went back inside.
radical 45 / sprout
PARAGLIDER
ALBATROSS
179
KERGUELEN
ISLANDS
Taken by the Wind

...running towards the edge of the brown stone cliff, Phil prepared
himself for the stomach turning drop which would send him crashing
down to the ground below. It never came. The wind caught in his
paraglider and the huge, sail-like wing dragged him up into the air. As
always, his stomach turned, vertigo made his vision swirl and
adrenaline flooded his system as the ground seemed to drop away
under his feet. Here in the Kerguelen Islands, Phil was trying to set a
world record and started circling, looking for the thermals which
would take him higher up into the atmosphere where he hoped to
catch the Roaring Forties winds to make his the longest recorded
paragliding flight. Climbing to the needed height, he adjusted the
controls and began his long flight. Hours passed as Phil flew with
nothing for company until an albatross glided alongside him. He
watched as the bird slid effortlessly through the air and tried hard to
make his paraglider do the same thing to extend his flight. Within
minutes his arms ached and he had to give up. Flying like an albatross
was harder than he thought.
radical 182 (variant) () / wind
180
Sergio Moreno
SHOE
MAKER
REINDEER
LAPLAND
A Fatal Winter
...his father's workshop smelled of cured leather and wood shavings,
glue and resin, a heady mix which always reminded him of his dad.
Today, as most days, he was trying to learn how to cut and assemble
shoes made from reindeer leather. The task was made harder by the
hair which remained on the leather to keep in the warmth. His dad had
been a cobbler all his adult life and he had learned his trade from his
father, it was vital to keep the traditions of his people alive. Especially
when ever more of Lapland was becoming modernized, bringing in
the technologies of the rest of the world or importing their cheaper
products. Anger, disappointment and self-doubt waged war inside him
as he cut the pieces the way his dad had showed him, punched the
holes which would join them together and then sewn them into a pair.
One was bigger than the other and much of the glue he had used had
leaked from the joints to leak over the fur. He sighed and began
another pair.
radical 177 / leather, rawhide
GRAFFITI
ARTIST
SALAMANDER
181
PRAGUE
The Salamander Girl

...creeping through the darkened streets of Prague, Pavlina made sure
her aerosol cans were quiet and not clinking together, giving her
away. At fifteen, she was about to commit a crime, spray painting a
picture on the side of a train. She slipped, lithely, through the barriers
and down the stopped escalator, her footsteps echoing off the tiled
walls to the subway station below. Pavlina knew the trains were still
running, but mostly empty, at this time of night and tucked herself
into a shadowy corner to wait for one. The tell tale hum of the rails
told her a train was coming and the young girl got ready. She couldn't
see anyone aboard the train and slipped through the doors just before
it pulled away. The young graffiti artist didn't wait but began spraying
the different colors: green, blue, red, yellow and purple as she made
the image of a multicolored salamander appear on the wall of the
train. She had chosen the image of the salamander as it was a sign of
rebirth, freedom and signified a new life which the young graffiti
artist wanted. This was why she'd run away, this was why she was on
a train headed towards a new life.
radical 139 / color, prettiness
182
Sergio Moreno
TIBETAN
MONK
TIBETAN
ANTELOPE
LHASA
The Haunting Wail

...the Dalai Lama, Buddhist religious leader to the Tibetan people,
steadied the brass telescope he was looking through. Putting his eye to
the eyepiece, he watched the antelope which frolicked, played ate and
mated outside the city of Lhasa. The males of the species were light
brown and blond, with a black stripe which ran down their front legs.
However, their most prominent features were the long pair of black
antlers which stuck almost straight up from their heads. The Dalai
Lama considered these long horns, seeing the similarities to the long
trumpets played by Tibetan monks during Buddhist ceremonies. As if
he had caused it to happen, the Dalai Lama heard the low moaning of
the trumpets, blasting their sounds out across the landscape. Making
his way through the temple, the Dalai Lama noticed the arrival of a
group of pilgrims approaching. Two of them had covered faces,
making the Dalai Lama wonder why they felt the need.
radical 148 / horn
PRINTER
JACKAL
183
MAINZ
The Gutenberg Revolution

...the inventor and businessman inhaled deeply, taking the scent of
paper, ink and wood, mixed with hot metal, down into his lungs. The
smell was like a memory, like a hug, like a lover. Gutenberg made his
way across to a stack of printed pages, ready for his perusal, his new
press, hand built by himself and his team of engineers stood in the
very middle of his workshop in the town of Mainz. His eyes caressed
the moveable type blocks which had been used to print the bible he
now looked down on. The printer's shaking hands took up a printed
page. Perfect, it was absolutely perfect. Every letter could be seen
more clearly than any scribe's hand and the entire page took only a
matter of minutes to copy, not hours like a scribe. This was his dream,
his passion, to bring knowledge to the masses, to give anyone the
chance to read the word of God. His eyes took in the Latin on the
page, The wild animals honor me, the jackals and in the desert
and streams in the wasteland... He nodded to the press operator who
began loading the press with ink again.
radical 91 / (a) slice
184
Sergio Moreno
ROOFER
SWALLOW
MODENA
One Swallow Doesn't Make a Summer

wiping sweat from his brow he approached the ladder which would
take him back down to the ground to have his lunch. Vittorio could
never quite get used to the heat in this northern region, even though
this city of Modena was nowhere near as warm as the south. Before
he climbed down, Vittorio took a look out over the city, the roofer
admired the cathedral and dukes palace. He sighed at the need to
climb ladders to repair the tiles and wished he could use the beautiful
Marazzi ceramic tiles to create beautiful interiors. Vittorio swung his
leg over the ladder and started down when he caught sight of a pulpy
nest stuck high in the eaves. Looking more closely he saw a black and
white swallow flick out to gather more nesting material. Smiling, he
carried on down when his eyes caught sight of something through a
window. Jutting from underneath a bed was a pair of legs, pale and
still.
radical 98 / tile
185
List of the remaining radicals not covered in this book.
No.
Meaning
1 ...one
2.line
3dot
4bend
6hook
7two
12 () .eight
71 () have not
73.....say
84.steam, breath
89mix, twine, cross
97...melon
143............................blood
176 ( ) ..face
179.leek
183fly
185...neck, head
186.....fragrant, incense
189 ( ).....tall, high
No.
Meaning
190......hair
191....fight
192.herbs, sacrificial wine
193..tripod, cauldron
197..salt
199 ( ).......wheat
201 ( )..yellow
202....millet
204..embroidery, needlework
205frog, amphibian
206..sacrificial tripod
207.....drum
208....rat, mouse
209..nose
210..even, uniformly
211 ( ) tooth, molar
212 ( ) .. d r a g o n
213 ( ) ..turtle, tortoise
214.....flute
RADICAL STROKE
COUNT INDEX
187
..185
() ..185
1 strokes
3 strokes
() 149
..185
..185
..185
185
..185
(,) 26
(,) .38
(,) 109
(,) ...56
() ..124
.11
.85
.14
.63
.43
.43
.77
.22
.44
.75
.29
....41
(, ).25
(,) .1 70
....37
.178
.49
(,) .172
.80
(,) .87
.48
.78
117
2 strokes
....15
(, ).16
...17
....18
....23
(,)....28
....30
....35
.. 36
....39
...40
....52
...54
....55
(,)...57
() ..64
....93
..127
..148
()..173
188
Sergio Moreno
.51
.130
.61
.129
.94
() .42
.96
.62
4 strokes
(,) .32
.24
(,) .103
(,) ..107
.145
() ...45
.122
.159
.59
.79
() .185
.12
.185
() .21
.13
....82
68
() .125
.88
(, ) .116
.115
.167
.128
185
(,) .66
() .84
(,, ) . 6 5
.132
.185
() ..121
.183
(, ).92
() .126
(, , ) . 3 3
(,) .86
5 strokes
.144
.151
.184
.155
.134
() .161
.20
( )....101
.98
.119
.50
.131
.99
.19
.157
.89
.81
() .83

.135
.46
.111
.71
(,, ,) .76
6 strokes
.185
() .70
.72
() .34
.176
(,).67
.137
.164
.162
.105
() .140
(,) 47
.150
.123
.163
.142
.118
.73
.181
.120
.91
.185
....62
() .60
(,) .113
189
7 strokes
.102
.171
.133
.182
( )...31
.138
.112
.106
.175
.27
.158
() .136
( )..108
.168
.69
.143
.146
.100
.154
.104
() .185
8 strokes
( ) .58
() ....165
....97
....147
....53
() ....95
() ....139
....141
190
Sergio Moreno
9 strokes
() ......185
......180
......185
......90
......74
......179
....185
() ..114
......185
......185
10 strokes
......156
......110
......169
() ......185
......185
......185
......185
......185
......152
() .....185
11 strokes
......166
......160
......185
......177
......153
() ....185
() ....174
() ......185
12 strokes
......185
......185
() ....185
13 strokes
......185
......185
......185
......185
14 strokes
......185
......185
17 strokes
......185
RADICAL MEANING
INDEX
again...18
altar83
amphibian.....185
arrive....123
arrow, ceremony..129
arrow..89
axe59
bachelor.63
badger...175
ball.33
bamboo70
bare..158
bean..112
beard, rake164
beard...96
bend..185
big shell..74
big...22
bird...160
bitter143
black.174
blood....185
blue...139
boat...........118
body....168
bolt of cloth.101
bone..169
bow.94
box.........93
branch.....145
breath.185
bristle...96
brush.....140
can....176
capture..147
191
car..69
cart.....69
cat..175
cauldron.......185
cave.111
ceremony129
child...75
choose..154
clan...128
claw, nail, talon..65
claw....65
cliff...40
clothes60
color......................181
compare115
compete115
complete..17
container148
corpse.....37
cover...36
cow....92
cross.185
dam...56
dark......151
dead..124
death.125
decay....125
deer.......177
demon..152
desk55
dipper..159
dish99
display83
distinguish154
divide...............................154
divination...57
do not...116
do62
192
Sergio Moreno
dog....126
door..103
dot....185
dotted cliff..51
dragon...185
drum.....185
dry......78
ear.105
earth..14
earthenware jar.176
eat.........................114
eight.....185
embrace.35
embroidery.185
enclosure...85
enter.....173
erect....71
even, uniformly185
evening.77
eye......19
face....185
fang..........144
father....132
feather..137
female...44
field20
fight....185
fire....84
fish........166
flax..153
flesh, moon.21
flute......185
fly.....185
food..114
foot..108
footsteps.119
force..52
fragrant.185
frog..185
fur, hair...167
gate97
ghost...152
go...62
gold58
gone..124
grass...26
green...139
grow.165
hair.......185
hair......167
hair.96
halberd...24
hand107
have not....185
head185
heart..32
hemp.153
herbs.................................185
high....185
hook.....185
horn.182
horse.110
house...103
human.16
ice.54
insect.....91
insignificant...25
jade...33
king....33
knife28
lack..82
lame....170
lance....88
leader........165
leather.............................180

leek...185
legs23
lid.15
life...134
line...185
literature..122
long stride..130
long......165
measuring scoop159
meat47
melon..185
metal...58
mile..104
millet....185
minister...102
mix.185
molar..185
month....21
moon....21
morning..146
mortar..163
mother.116
mound....56
mountain49
mouse...185
mouth....................11
nail.65
neck....185
needlework..185
net ..76
nose..185
official102
old bird...53
old86
one....185
oneself87
open mouth..148
193
opening...11
opposite....171
pig..106
pig's head......42
pike...157
plow.162
power.....52
prettiness.181
private....30
profound..151
raft.79
rain.....95
rake, beard164
rat.....................185
rawhide..180
red.......158
rice72
right hand...18
river ..172
roof29
run...136
sacrificial tripod...185
sacrificial wine.185
sake..100
salt....185
say....185
scarf....48
scholar..63
script...122
seal..64
second.....149
see..........133
seed....75
self..........150
sheep..67
shell..27
shoot..129
short thread.117
194
Sergio Moreno
sickness..98
skin....131
slave.....147
slice......183
small.....25
sound..90
spear....157
spear..24
speech..31
spicy....143
split wood....121
spoon....39
sprout..178
square...79
stand..71
steam.......185
step..62
stone.81
stop.68
stopping..73
strike...45
string..34
sun (unit of measurement) 41
sun..12
sunset.....77
sweet.155
sword..28
table....55
tall....185
tanned leather...156
ten.....17
thread..34
tiger stripes..120
tile....184
tongue....142
tooth.185
tortoise185
town.109
track.....135
tree....13
tripod......185
turban....48
turtle..................185
twenty.61
twine.185
two hand.61
two...185
two-branch tree......46
uniformly185
upside down box..127
use; (throw).161
valley....138
vegetation..26
very..22
village..104
walk.....38
water....66
way.....79
weapon88
west.....113
wheat185
whip.45
white...50
wind179
wing.........137
winter..43
woman44
work.................80
wrap...35
wrong..141
yawn...82
yellow...185
ALPHABETICAL
KEYWORD INDEXES
ACTIVITY
acupuncturist141
adoptive mother...116
adventurer46
agent, real estate 109
agent, special ...88
agent, undercover 36
animal trainer31
anthropologist 22
antiques dealer71
archaeologist176
archer94
architect..80
aristocrat15
astronaut21
astronomer 12
ballerina44
banker 73
barber...164
baseball player...45
beekeeper...91
biologist25
blacksmith, Viking.28
boy scout129
butcher..106
camper ..175
carpenter110
castaway42
cave diver.111
cheese maker.92
chicken sexer ..115
chief executive officer 165
choreographer 171
cigar roller..65
195
cliff diver40
climber.108
coal miner.174
coffee farmer112
collector.74
combat engineer20
concierge..103
cook..114
coroner47
dancer.23
diver, cave111
diver, cliff...40
diver, land....117
doctor, eye..19
doctor.89
drummer145
duck hunter 53
embalmer78
engineer, combat 20
eye doctor19
fakir48
farmer, coffee...112
farmer, pearl.. 27
farmer, Vietnamese..173
fashion designer.60
fast food worker...137
firefighter84
fisher166
forester13
fortune-teller..57
freestyle skier.62
furrier...131
gangster100
gardener26
geisha..159
genetic engineer...134
geologist..139
ghost hunter90
196
Sergio Moreno
gladiator. 76
graffiti artist.181
gravedigger..125
hair stylist18
hang glider pilot...160
head warder152
hunter, duck53
hunter, ghost90
hunter, seal..64
ice road trucker..54
ice skater..170
jeweler 58
killer.123
king33
land diver.117
lawyer 43
leather tanner156
librarian..37
lighthouse keeper..61
literature professor...122
magician.50
maker, cheese .92
maker, shoe ..180
maker, wig .167
mariachi136
martial art master70
Mayan priest...83
mayor...104
mentor ..132
merchant34
miller163
missionary17
monk177
mortician124
mountain guide138
native American119
naturalist.86
nightclub doorman.97
nursery teacher75
odor tester150
oil rig worker..30
opera singer11
ornithologist147
osteologist169
packer35
painter..140
paleontologist.41
paparazzi56
paraglider.179
park ranger.49
pastry chef155
patriot...154
pearl farmer... 27
photographer133
pioneer14
pirate101
plowman...162
poacher.178
police officer..68
politician..102
pottery master.99
priest, Mayan ...83
primatologist82
prince..29
printer...183
prisoner..85
projectionist161
psychologist32
pyrotechnician 146
racing pilot.69
rafting instructor172
real estate agent109
red cross aid worker.....158
reggae singer153
roofer184
safari guide.38

samurai 63
sapa Inca...149
sculptor...........................81
seal hunter64
security guard.77
sewage worker.135
shaman.151
shepherd 67
ship captain..118
shoe maker..180
singer, opera 11
singer, reggae 153
skier, freestyle 62
smuggler.93
snake charmer87
snake oil salesman144
sommelier...39
Spartan warrior24
special agent...88
speleologist51
spy105
storm chaser...95
stripper.143
strongman...52
stylist, hair 18
swindler..142
swiss guard..157
tattoo artist...168
taxidermist120
templar knight ..128
Terracotta warrior16
Thai boxer (muay thai).121
thief..79
Tibetan monk.182
tourist113
trainer, animal 31
trapper148
undercover agent36
197
US president72
vet..126
Vietnamese farmer..173
Viking blacksmith28
virologist98
waiter..55
warrior, Spartan..24
warrior, Terracotta...16
welder...127
wig maker.167
windsurfer66
wood carver96
woodcutter .59
worker, fast food ...137
worker, oil rig ..30
worker, red cross aid...158
worker, sewage .135
yoga instructor.130
zoo keeper107
ANIMAL
albatross179
alien21
alligator60
angora goat...167
arctic hare54
argali ,mountain sheep.178
armadillo30
badger ..129
bald eagle...72
bald ibis78
bat...51
bearded tamarin164
beaver.80
bee..91
Belgian blue bull..134
bird160
198
Sergio Moreno
bison.119
blackbird152
blue foot bobby171
blue-eyed cockatoo147
boar42
bobcat..138
bullet ant25
butterfly39
camel 71
cassowary...46
chameleon142
cheetah...69
chick115
chimpanzee104
chinchilla..131
chinese dragon146
chipmunk13
cicada 99
cobra87
conch 74
cormorant127
cougar 49
cow.92
coyote 56
crane12
cricket.70
crocodile76
cuckoo ..116
deer177
dingo..14
dinosaur, tyrannosaurus.41
doctor bird 153
dog , wild dog 126
dolphin31
donkey 102
draft horse162
dragon29
dragonfly159
duck53
elephant52
falcon..19
firefly 84
fish166
flamingo23
flying snake94
fox..77
frigatebird158
frog.95
gazelle38
gecko 85
giant squid165
gibbon11
golden retriever, dog..58
goose122
gorilla 82
griffin 157
grizzly bear24
groundhog155
hamster75
hippo....161
horse.110
hummingbird26
humpback whale....66
hyena.100
iguana.86
Ivory-billed, woodpecker145
jackal....183
jaguar88
jerboa105
jumping spider117
k9 dog68
kangaroo121
killer whale43
koala143
lamb..156
leopard97

lion.103
lobster..18
macaque monkey63
mantis...123
marabou137
mare & foal176
marten..128
meerkat.170
mole...135
moose 45
mouflon113
mouse...136
mule112
neanderthal169
octopus55
orangutan.107
osprey...154
ostrich...140
otter..163
owl..90
ox.59
oyster.. 27
panda..16
pangolin93
parrot32
peacock15
pelican 40
penguin62
pheasant33
pig.106
poison dart frog..89
pony..174
porcupine48
possum.124
puffin....139
python35
qilin..168
quetzal 83
199
raccoon148
rat98
rattle snake144
raven.125
red crab17
red uakari..79
reindeer180
rhinoceros81
rooster 65
salamander...181
salmon ..172
saola.173
sea lion109
sea urchin141
seagull ..118
seahorse111
seal.64
serval 96
shark.101
sheep, valais blacknose..67
silkworm34
siren..132
skunk..150
sloth..149
slow loris.130
stingray36
stork61
swallow....184
swam44
tarantula151
tasier.....133
Tibetan antelope...182
tiger..120
toucan. 37
turkey114
unicorn57
vulture.47
200
Sergio Moreno
walrus.28
warthog175
water buffalo20
white pigeon50
wolf73
woolly mammoth22
yak108
PLACE
Abidjan, Ivory Coast..35
Acapulco, Mexico40
acupuncture center..141
Alaska, US43
Altai Mountains................178
Amsterdam, Holland.79
amusement park57
animal shelter...126
Arita , Japan...99
Arkansas , US 53
Ascot, England...15
Aspen, Colorado, US62
Australia.14
aviary..147
Bahamas.36
barber shop..164
Belfast , Northern Ireland.135
Belgium134
Belize...................166
Berlin, Germany23
Beverly hills, California56
Birmingham, England ............58
Bordeaux, France..39
Borneo..151
Boston, Massachusetts , US...80
Brazil..25
Cambodia20
Canada13
Cardiff, Wales ..................167
Caribbean118
Carthage................176
Casablanca105
casino..142
Chicago, Illinois, US 100
China. 16
Christmas island, Australia17
cinema ..161
circus.52
coal mine.................174
Colombia..112
Congo.82
Copenhagen, Denmark...29
Costa Rica..89
cow farm...92
Croatia..128
cruise ship.50
Cuba...65
dance school...44
Death valley, California, US..138
desert island...42
Devil's island, France..152
Egypt78
England..33
Ethiopia..41
Far west144
Faroe Islands160
Finland..59
Florence, Italy81
Florida, US.31
fur farm131
Galapagos, Ecuador...86
Graveyard.125
Greenland64
Guatemala83

Haiti158
harbor93
haunted house.90
Hawaii, US 66
Himalaya..108
Hong Kong.70
hotel.103
Iceland ..139
Idaho, US..................172
India..87
Innsbruck, Austria113
Ireland..162
Isabela Island, Mexico........171
Ithaca.132
Jamaica.153
Japan..12
Kentucky, US 137
Kenya.38
Kerguelen islands, France179
Kyoto, Japan..63
lab.98
Lapland................................180
Las Vegas, Nevada, US84
Lhasa, Tibet, China..............182
lodge..129
London, England88
Long beach, California, US165
Macao. ................168
Maine, US..18
Mainz, Germany..................183
Malaysia.51
Maldives...145
Marrakesh, Morocco156
Mexico..136
Milan, Italy.60
Modena, Italy.......................184
Monaco69
201
morgue 124
Moscow, Russia.11
motel123
Mozambique..96
museum of natural history.120
Namibia................170
Nara, Japan...............177
national library..37
New Guinea.46
New Jersey, US150
New Orleans, Louisiana, US..48
New York, US45
New Zealand..26
nightclub97
Norway...28
Nottingham, England 94
nursery school75
land, Sweden.163
orphanage116
Paris, France32
Peru.149
Portugal................................169
poultry farm.115
Prague, Czech Republic........181
Punxsutawney, PA, US.155
Qatar19
restaurant55
Rhone island, US.154
Rocky Mountains148
Rome, Italy76
rytei....159
Sahara.71
San Diego, California ,US.107
San Francisco, California, US..109
San Quentin, California, US85
Sardinia , Italy ..111
Scotland..61
Seychelles..74
202
Sergio Moreno
Shanghai, China146
Siberia, Russia22
slaughterhouse106
South Korea.127
space station21
Spain140
Sparta.24
Stratford, England122
strip club143
Switzerland67
Tahiti..27
Tasmania, Australia...68
Texas, US...30
Thailand...121
The Hamptons, New York, US..77
The Philippines133
Tornado Alley, US95
town hall.104
treasure island101
Troy..110
Turkey 114
Tuscany, Italy.91
Uganda.................175
USA72
Vanuatu117
Vatican.157
Vietnam................173
Wall Street, New York, US73
Washington , US..102
Wichita, Kansas, US47
Wyoming, US..119
Xanadu....34
Yellowstone National Park,US. 49
yoga center..130
Yukon, Canada...54

The Narrative Approach (Japanese Kanji Radicals) by Sergio Moreno

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The Narrative Approach

The Multi-Keyword Book for the Japanese Kanji Radicals