By Ava Levinson

My project is a creative take on our travels in Morocco and Spain. Each place we visited was rich with history, culture, art, and inspiration. For this project, I decided to write 5 short stories based on the places we visited and inspired by historical and literary elements of each place. I wanted the stories to include a variety of themes and genres, most with a fantastical or romantic element. I began in Rabat, as it was the first place we visited, and then moved to Marrakech, Fes (the Fes story is set in Volubilis but we visited Volubilis as a day-trip from Fes), Seville, and Granada. The stories are flash-fiction, meaning they are concise snapshots of a scenario. I really enjoyed getting to use creative liberty to explore the places we visited and really get lost in a fantasy world. They are all fiction, but the descriptions of setting in each are based on what I saw with my own eyes. I also included an author’s note at the end of each story, contextualizing them and explaining more about my inspiration. This project was a lot of fun for me to flex my creative muscle and I hope will successfully transport you to the cities we explored as well as the worlds I created.