Tarrion

Cover image for the Tarrion word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Tarrion

n.
an odd interval of blankness you feel after something big happens to you but before you feel the resulting emotional reaction—stunned by a sudden loss, a stroke of luck, or an unexpected visitor—like those tension-filled seconds between a flash of lightning and the thunderclap that follows, which gives you a hint of how near you are to the coming storm.

From tarry, to be late to react, or linger in expectation + carry on. Pronounced “tar-ee-uhn.”

Austice

a leaf imprint in the mud

La Gaudière

Cover image for the La Gaudière word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Vulture Shock

Cover image for the Vulture Shock word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Kadot

a person looking at an abstract spiral

Etterath

a graduation cap and gown on a chair

Solla, Solla, Solla

a hand reaching out for plant tendril