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Monthly Archives November 2009

Happy Thanksgiving everyone

Sorry the story was short this week – I was inspired by a short-short fiction contest recently, and thought I could get really creative in 100 words – but just got sappy instead.

I think Thanksgiving gets a bum rap these days for its unfortunate association with a bogus Pilgrims and Indians story, and for its general association with the devastation of native people by arrogant Europeans, but the basic idea of the holiday is about ten times more worthy than any other one we actually observe – it’s not about the founding of a country, not about any one religious sect’s special story, it doesn’t celebrate victories in war and it wasn’t created to generate revenue for greeting card and candy companies.

Look around you, look at everything you have, and be thankful. Look at the people around you, at everything they have given, and thank them. Eat well, and be thankful you can.

Thanks, everyone, for reading.

Posted 26 November 2009 § Personal ‡ Comments (1)

31 – Thanksgiving in 100 words

To Mom for unbending faith and more money than I deserved and Dad for everything he taught, to both of them for damn good genes. To siblings for their perseverance and the examples set before impressionable young eyes. To every lover for every word and touch and gift that may yet prove I am worth loving. To friends for being friends. To all the above and to sheer good luck, for my health and strength and sanity. To Miranda for that privileged spot in her young universe, and to everyone who taught, everyone who gave, everyone who cared. Thank you.

Posted 26 November 2009 § 52 § Prose ‡ Comments (0)

30 – Dead

Arley had been in car accidents before. Not many, and nothing serious, but there had been a few heart-stopping moments behind the wheel. The funny thing about all of them was that he could only really remember them as memories. One night, coming home late after a party, the alcohol warm and comforting in his veins, he had drifted over the center line and clipped the rear bumper of an oncoming car. He couldn’t actually remember doing that, but he could remember sitting in the car, heart pounding sobriety into his veins, and trying to replay the scene in his head to figure out what exactly had happened. It had been too fast, though, there was nothing except the nauseating shock of adrenalin and fear, and the -memory- of a hideous metallic crunch, a sickening lurch, spinning and the squeal of tires. He could remember remembering the wreck afterward, not the wreck itself.

Click to continue reading “30 – Dead”

Posted 19 November 2009 § 52 § Prose ‡ Comments (0)

Number 29

Number 29 is a scene from the middle of a much longer story. I’ve had it in mind for a while, and as it seems pretty self-contained, I decided to write it down this week. It’s probably pretty clear that there is a lot going on behind the scenes, though – in fact, the first couple chapters of the story has been sitting here for quite a while, waiting to grow into something bigger. I am hoping it will become a graphic novel, but as I have no talent for drawing, that will require some collaboration.

Posted 13 November 2009 § 52 ‡ Comments (0)

29 – The Deer

Alysin watched the shadows near the burgeoning tomato plants, watched for the telltale signs of Yasuo’s shape among the leaves. It was subtle. The half-man, half-wolf shadow was just one more irregular darkness on a field of irregular darkness. The dim light flowing from the kitchen window from which she watched only added more shadows and twisted shapes.

He was utterly still and she knew the artificial chromatophores in his skin were painting him in shades of black and green, though they hardly need bother. His stillness and the shadows of the garden were enough, he assumed the camouflage not out of necessity but out of habit.

Click to continue reading “29 – The Deer”

Posted 13 November 2009 § 52 § Prose ‡ Comments (0)

Blah

Sigh, I didn’t manage to finish 28. I can’t keep failing to fininish this story, so here’s the plan: Next week, a proper weekly  story, and soon, I will finish and post what I started in 21 as a stand-alone story, and I’ll post it when it is finished instead of by deadline. I’ll edit all three together and tell the whole big thing all at once, properly edited and with all the bits I wanted to put in abut ran out of time for. We’re looking at novella size here.

I will consider 21, 26, and 28 to be non-qualifying “52″ stories and now owe you three more proper weekly stories that actually have a beginning, middle and end.

Yeah, it means more writing, but now that I am done with GRE’s, I believe I can make more time. Thanks for reading, and please comment and rate.

Posted 06 November 2009 § 52 ‡ Comments (2)

28 – Under the Sea

The room was warm and the atmosphere inside felt heavy and rich, scented slightly with sea water and machine oil, but all the richer for that. There was couch of black leather, a couple of chairs similarly overstuffed and glossy, and two open doors, one revealing a tiled floor and the other only darkness.

Click to continue reading “28 – Under the Sea”

Posted 06 November 2009 § 52 § Prose ‡ Comments (1)