The short story 14 May revolves around the concept of the center of time and visually describes the way this idea would look like in a literal sense. The short story describes the center of time as this space where the closer people get to it, the more they slow down until reaching near stillness when arriving at the center. The story emphasizes how the stillness of the center is enjoyed by parents with young children, as well as lovers, in the sense of being frozen in the precious moments that they would like to be everlasting. Moreover, the story ends by mentioning that some people would prefer a frozen frame of a happiness, and the author compares this notion to a butterfly encased in a display.
The design for this short story follows the theme of clinging onto something through the type treatment, use of visuals, and textures. The design emphasize the desire to hold on to precious moments through the repetition and increasing size of the word Never, as well as the pinning down of the words in the same fashion butterflies are pinned. Lastly, as part of the butterfly theme, the short story’s call-out is framed within a case like a butterfly would be, along with the title underneath it just like dissected insects often are in order to describe their species. The design for this short story is effective because it portrays an relatively forceful execution of the human sentiment of wanting to avoid change.
