I’ve been quiet for some time, huh? No, no, I’m not trying to play hide and seek with you all, but as you’ve seen from some of my last posts, I’m taking time to reconsider writing and it’s place in my life, which means I’ve sort of gone back to basics. I love writing–that’s a given–but things started to go awry when the focus became producing a product not something creative that burns in my soul. So, I’m writing something now that is entirely new for me in terms of subject, story length and style. Best part is, I’m not thinking at all about what I’m going to do with it next. Eh, what’s that called again? Oh, yeah, I think it’s called writing for the love of writing and to heck with everything else. 😀
So I’ve enclosed a sample below, for fun. It’s the opening of episode 1. Real quick, it’s the story about an adolescent boy who is bullied at school but in the evenings finds solace in the gaming Virtual Reality world. Well… he finds solace for a while, but when you mix gaming, VR and the control of elemental forces you know that won’t last for long. Anyhoo, I’m five episodes in. And for those who know anything about anime, the concepts and visuals and scale (which come later in the story) are inspired by things like .Hack, Chaos/Head, PsychoPass, etc. Let me know what you think!
The Cloud-Gatherer’s Tears
When the devil’s got you good by the neck, what do you do when you’re too scared to scream? Or when he’s beats you down so hard that just thinking of moving sends shock waves of pain through every part of your body?
All the brave words you came up with, the ones meant to build you up and tear him down, if even a little, shrivel up like scraps of burnt paper; the motes dissolve into thin air just like the veneer of your courage. Panic slams into your gut like a fist until you’re sputtering and coughing up bile and spit like a man half-drowned.
What do you do when the devil’s stares turns your soul to dust?
Nothing.
You just stuff it all down, pack the hurt and the hate and the questions about justice good and tight so nothing gets by the seams. And then you wait it out.
Bullies are strong. But every storm eventually blows over.
They picked me out on the first day of school. I was the new guy, fresh off the truck as they say, the one huddled up tight against the lockers never knowing where to put my hands. Pockets? Let them hang? How do the other kids stand? Or do they lean, like this?
I pictured school as a sort of African game-land, where fluorescent lights buzzed from above like cold suns laying bare the lay of the land. I was the gazelle who never knew which line to stand in; who got lost on his way to every class. Lured by the smell of fear, the devil-lions swarmed. Pink tongues flicked, swiping salivating maws.
The lions made me bleed. And bleed and bleed until there was none left to give.
Adults say you’re supposed to get help. They preach that it’s bad to hit back. I’ve seen kids who dared to stand up for themselves get expelled for fighting. I think grown-ups have forgotten what the real world of kids is like. They think we’re nice. Innocent.
We aren’t.
Well, at least some of us aren’t. But grown-ups can’t seem to tell the difference.
Copyright@ 2014 by Dyane Forde
Tried to comment but apparently need to look up my password. Well done. Enjoyed the article and the piece on bullying.
Rebecca
Sent from my iPhone
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Thanks! You never know how it’s going to go when you start something new. 🙂
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Welcome back to the world of Writing For Fun! 😀
I loved the excerpt, it’s very powerful. Great work.
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Hey, thanks so much! Taking the pressure off sure makes a difference. 🙂
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It really does, doesn’t it? I find that I get really bogged down if I’m pushing myself to get through a certain amount or hit a (self-imposed) deadline. It works well for a while, but then motivation slips over into pressure and it’s no fun any more.
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That is so true. Some people can work that way, and it does work for a while but in the end I find it becomes restricting. 🙂
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Sometimes a break is just what you need to get back in, refreshed and ready.
Carol
http://www.carolcassara.com
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Absolutely! Thanks for commenting, Carol. 🙂
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Glad you’re back. I missed the stories and the one above sounds great. Looking forward to more.
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Hey, Robert! Thanks so much 🙂 What about you? You had a really cool thing going a while back. Did you ever finish?
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Are you talking about my series, Water for Blood? That, I finished last week and doing another story called Effigy. Not a series, just a short story.
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It was the gangster one, I’m not sure what the title was. Oh, and more stories eh? Excellent. 🙂
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Oh, I love to hear it! Writing for writings sake. Love, love it!
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lol yeah, (writing) love makes the world go round. 🙂 Good to hear from you, Katie!
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Sounding good! Let’s hear more! Glad you’re making good use of your time and I totally relate to the feeling of just wanting to be writing again instead of doing all those other necessary evils.
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Hey Su! Thanks for checking in! Much appreciated. 🙂 And yes! It is great to just write as things flow rather than to always be thinking about all the other junk, lol
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Glad you’re enjoying your writing again, Dyane.
Whatever it takes to make that happen, we have to do it or the words can come out wrong: stilted and forced. When we write for the love of writing, it flows better, don’t you think?
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Yes! Thanks for reading Christine! 🙂
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Great piece on bullying. You have trouble making blogger post and I have issue remembering WP password how funny. Enjoyed your writing about writing as always.
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Thanks Rebecca 🙂 lol technology can be a pain!!
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