About an hour ago, while packing up for my trip back to Lubbock, I felt something. Something ancient and mystical, calling me.
"Child," it said to me. "Grown one, wisened one, keeper of stories and teller of tales." It used many names and titles.
I turned toward the call, my eyes resting on a small cabinet beside my bed.
"Open me, find me, release me," it implored. Who am I to disobey such a call?
Inside, admist several folders, binders, notebooks and GameBoy game manuals, a thin, manilla envelope shone brightly in the darkness.
Inside that envelope, I found a single page... of the worst piece of fiction ever created.
(Yes, Young Inklings, that's counting certain stories about talking snakes and detective stories that take place in the future.)
I know not when this page was created - it had to have been 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade - or the full extent on the evils it could unleash on the world, but regardless, I submit it to you now for your personal enjoyment. It is raw, unedited, and unfinished. The beginning to what I just KNEW was going to be an epic.
Even then, I apparently dreamed big. Foolish young writer.
What I may find funniest is that for some reason I gave this story an ESRB rating (you know, the folks that rate video games with stuff like, "M for Mature") of "Kids To Adults," which came before the now-standard "E for Everyone." Why a book would have been rated by the ESRB I have no idea, but I felt it important to specify what age this story was appropriate for, I guess.
So without further ado, I present to you the unedited Page 1 of "The Game."
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Saturday, November 29, 2008
The Worst Story Never Told
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
The Soldier, the Lady, and the Ally
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've realized lately that I've gotten WAY off track with my fiction writing. I could blame a lot of thigs for this, not the least of which being school, but the truth is that you should make time for the things you care about... I should have been making more time for this.
So to start getting back on track, I've been "exercising," as it were. Flexing my writing muscles by writing completely random scenes and such. I'd rather make sure I'm warmed up and back in full form before I start back into heavy "Tobias" writing, or pump out a short story idea that I've been pretty excited about lately.
So this is kinda the first bit of random writing I've been doing. More may come, depending on whether or not I end up happy with the results. I have a lot of scenes bouncing around in my head that simply dont belong to any known narrative (this is why much of my random crap doesn't have things such as names for the characters), so I may just type them up and see what happens.
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The soldier sat as still and silent as he could, not daring to make a sound. He risked a glance behind him and saw her chest moving rhythmically up and down as she breathed deep.
He smiled. She was asleep. Finally.
A sleep too deep for dreams. Or nightmares.
He sighed and turned back to the task at hand. It had been some time since the magic had fully shown itself to him. Fully allowed him to take control. But he had felt something now, he was sure of it.
Something had nudged him. Letting him know it was still there, wanting to help.
He closed his eyes, concentrating. Find the strand… He let his mind flow over the room, picking, probing, searching… Not even entirely sure what he was looking for, only that it was calling him.
He jumped when he felt his mind brush against something in the air in front of him. In that instant, his concentration was broken and he lost… whatever it was. He nearly cursed, but didn’t want to risk waking the girl
He took a few deep breaths before trying again. It was easier this time, knowing where to look. He sent his mind out like fingers, their tips delicately examining every molecule in front of his face. Frisking the very fabric of the universe to find the magic that called to him.
The fingers caught again. Something rough, out of place.
He was excited – it had been so long – but he stayed focused. He sent the fingers of his mind forward just a little, pushing against the invisible wall they had found.
It wouldn’t budge. He couldn’t feel even the slightest give to his force.
He narrowed his eyes and concentrated again. This used to be so much easier.
Find the strand… he told himself.
Ever so slowly, he felt along the invisible wall. He could tell that it wasn’t one solid piece, but rather more like something was woven. Woven into the air itself. Not physical, but magical. Supernatural. The kind of thing angels are made of.
He grasped at the fabric.
Found the strand.
And pulled.
A sudden burst of light nearly blinded his eyes, but it lasted no more than a second. He quickly turned to the girl behind him, but she still slept soundly. Beautifully oblivious to the world as her body healed itself.
He breathed a sigh of relief before grinning to himself. Though somewhat neglected in recent weeks, his power was still there. He could still light up the darkness, at least, and his other skills were surely still accessible as well. It was harder than it used to be, but he would improve again.
It would just take time.
He quickly jotted down a message to the girl, letting her know of the breakthrough. He didn’t want to wake her now, and couldn’t stay until morning.
There was too much to do.
Satisfied, he rose slowly and walked over to her sleeping figure. He brushed a single hair out of her face before gently kissing her forehead. She moved ever so slightly toward him, but didn’t wake.
He left her room silently – thankful he wasn’t wearing noisy, heavy armor – and shut her door slowly behind him.
Outside, the soldier was unsurprised to see his ally keeping watch over the area, his back to the lady’s room as he stood at the balcony, gazing thoughtfully up at the stars.
“Still awake?” the soldier asked.
“Aye,” the ally replied simply, not yet looking at him. “As always.”
“Why aren’t you home?”
“I get lonely.”
The soldier nodded to himself. He understood. “Any news?”
The ally finally looked down as he sighed. “My front of the war fares poorly. We’re losing a lot of good men.”
The soldier frowned. “But you’ll break through.”
“Of course we will. We have to. But it’s hard to be happy about the situation.”
Again, the soldier understood.
The ally glanced at the girl’s door, then back to the soldier. “How is she?”
“She’ll be fine. She just needs to rest.”
The ally nodded and looked back toward the moonlit horizon. “I’m glad.”
The soldier sighed. “I know I haven’t been there for the others as much as I used to, and for that I--”
The ally cut him off. “Do you still serve our Lord?”
“Yes, of course.”
“And can you still use magic?”
That, of course, had just been reconfirmed. “Yes.”
“And will you still devote time to this war, knowing your role and playing it to the best of your ability?”
“For as long as I’m able.”
The ally looked at the soldier and gave a soft smile. “Then you’ve done nothing wrong, and have no need to apologize.”
“But I’ve been so focused on my own problems,” the soldier started. “Everything seems to be falling apart, more and more as each day passes. And sometimes I feel like my mistakes are just making it worse.”
“A hero isn’t someone who doesn’t fall… It’s someone who’s able to get back up again. In defeat, they don’t look down, but up.” The ally walked toward the soldier and put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ve all stumbled lately, my friend. The world wants to break us more and more, and it feels like our world is falling apart as a result. But you and I? We keep getting up again.” He lowered his hand back down to his side. “And as long as you vow to continue doing that, you’re still a hero in my book.”
The soldier smiled. “And you in mine.”
They stood together on the balcony, enjoying the peaceful night sky.
As they stood, another warrior, beaten and bloody, came riding up to the city gates. He sat straight and proud on his mount, stronger having been through battle.
“Our bard returns,” the soldier commented, cheerful to see another comrade again.
His ally nodded, but still wore a somber expression. “Yes, but there are still so many that are drifting, and many more still that could serve so well, if only they would enlist! In these days I wonder… Can we really succeed? Are we really strong enough?”
“We have to be,” the soldier replied. “The dark is rising, yes. What will come will come. But this is the way it was meant to be.”
The ally chuckled. “That old creed…”
“It’s true.”
“I know.”
The soldier looked back toward the girl’s door, as if staring at it would let him see that she was still alright.
The ally followed his gaze and said, “Don’t worry. You’ll protect her if she needs it.” Then he grinned. “This is the way it was meant to be.”
“Touché.”
“We’ll make it, my friend. We’ll win in the end.”
The soldier nodded. “We’ll go together.”
They looked back toward the horizon as a new day dawned, ready and waiting for the things that would come.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
First Footage of Jake Gyllenhaal as the Prince of Persia
Entertainment Tonight scored a first look at Disney's upcoming video adaptation "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" starring Jake Gyllenhaal, due out in 2010.
I've been keeping a bit of an eye on it, because as far as movie adaptations goes, this one COULD maybe have potential... I know that's said a lot, and that most of us wish that the Peter Jackson produced "Halo" film was still moving forward, but alas...
Movie producing megastar Jerry Bruckheimer is helming this one. He also produced the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and interestingly, he's expressed that he wants "Prince of Persia" to be kinda the same... Only in Persia.
Despite making a somewhat weird choice in casting Gyllenhaal rather than a REAL Persian (and believe it or not, a legitimate Persian prince is an actor that was rumored to be getting the role), but maybe, just maybe, he'll work out.
Unfortunately, this video shows little of the movie other than plenty of opportunities for women everywhere to swoon over Jake's newly ripped physique.
Vid is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOIDMKVwF8E
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Need to Relax? Chill Out? Slow Down? This Vid is for You.
Sometimes we just take life way too fast...
And it's times like those that we need to just slow down, take things in stride, and just relax.
When I need to relax, I watch this video of this dude beating Sonic 1 (via Sonic Jam on the Sega Saturn) on Easy Mode. He gives profound life lessons along the way.
It's life changing, bro. Sometimes when I'm stressed, I just let the soothing voice of this video play in the background while I get other stuff done.
Gotta thank Jeff over at Giant Bomb for sharing this deep, thought provoking video with the rest of us: http://www.giantbomb.com/news/laid-back-video-of-the-week/465/
Monday, November 03, 2008
Slave of the Serpent and the Servant
Author's Note: I don't write poetry... At all. So this is an extreme oddity and something you should all feel privileged to witness.
Ok, maybe not.
It's rough, it's iffy, and it's obvious that I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to this whole "rythym" and "structure" business. I'll stick to fiction in the future, no doubt.
But this is something that, for whatever reason, started telling itself to me awhile back. It came in small bits and pieces over time until finally the rest of it decided to pour out onto a Word document.
I guess God's just gotta shake things up in my head every now and then. Make me do something crazy. But it works out in the end, as life in general has a way of doing...
What will come, will come. We just have to meet it when it does.
This is the way it was meant to be.
- Britton Peele
The Slave of the Serpent and the Servant
Once there was a wunderkind
A jack of every trade.
And all these skills had served him well
So long as this man prayed.
But a Serpent ruled his world
With violence, sin, and brawn
Who couldn’t stand to see him rise
So he would make this queen a pawn.
This man’s potential haunted him
He could never make a choice
Saw truth in every argument
And couldn’t hear God’s voice.
In search for deeper meaning
He fell deeper into sin,
And with this sin came sorrow
The likes in which he hadn’t been.
The Serpent had a Servant
Who came as black and grey.
He said, “I can make you happy, sir
If I just come out and play.”
So the Servant drove the Puppet mad
Blurring lines between friend and foe.
Made the Puppet act out normally
So no one else would know.
He was helped while on his road
But seen only as betrayed.
Though many chances he was given
His life became worn and frayed.
A Prophet came from far away
To set the Puppet straight,
The Prophet pleaded for his soul
But may have been too late.
One day the Puppet was torn to shreds
The Servant told him, “See?
They cannot care or understand,
Just place your faith in me.”
But the Puppet, he still had a heart
Though now beaten, black and blue.
The Servant wasn’t happy, and said,
“Can’t have your cake and eat it too!”
The Puppet was found oh so torn
Filled both with hate and love.
Screaming ever louder
For help from up above.
But the Serpent and the Servant
Had him locked in evil ways.
Until he strengthened and escaped
He would be destined for the blaze.
If he listens to the Servant
He’ll consign himself to death.
Lies of ever happiness
Will be his dying breath.
His mind is splintered, fractured, sure,
Bouncing off the walls.
But what he often fails to realize
Is that every angel falls.
Deeper, darker, deeper still
Into the black abyss.
Far from friends, from Lord, from happy thoughts
Far flung from lover’s kiss.
More heartbreak came, from ones once dear
He cried, “They cannot understand!”
He’d give up, scorn, patronize
Not address the matter at hand.
He looked close at everyone
And could find naught but lies,
But he saw them through tinted lens
And not through heaven’s eyes.
For if he would glance closer
He would find more love and hope,
But he wasn’t close enough to see
Not through the Servant’s scope.
He looked at lives around him
And couldn’t see their point,
What filled his friends with happiness
Felt like a knife into his joint.
As each day passed and misery grew
Hope wore more and more thin,
Descent, to him, wasn’t an “if”
It was rather an issue of “when.”
Whether or not he finds the light
Is not for friends to say,
Forced to merely stand and watch
And hope he finds his way.
The lives they lead may cause him pain
And confuse him further still,
But they know their lives have meaning
This ride is more than just a thrill.
And so do – choose life and live
Pursuing chosen path,
They hope their friend will do the same
Or suffer the Serpent’s wrath.
He walks alone – or so he feels
Seeking what is true,
Voices always telling him,
“The world ends with you.”
