It's Official.

It's official, during spring break next week, I'll be setting up a WordPress and testing it out to either coincide or to just completely replace this blog. I'm also considering posting anything I find inspiring from my english classes. So if anyone is out there, anywhere, be excited, please. To help that excitement along, I'm gonna put it all out there, here and now, that my classes rock. In case anyone is wondering, I've got medieval lit, poetry, and notebook and journal writing in hand. All of these classes have contributed to become what has been an earth-shattering, inspiring adventure and I'd like to communicate that to all of you. (Especially my writings). 



I hope that you guys will contribute to this as well and help me form a beautiful, probably somewhat soupy, collaboration of sorts. I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps, this is what The Story Book Society was meant to be. Maybe, it's not just a collection of our creative works but our experiences and inspirations as well, maybe it was always that I didn't see it until now. I hope this makes it out to all of you. I'm giving this project a dedicated year, smashed in-between school and job and life. Together, I hope we can create out own city of words, cheers to now. 

   

Light and Shadow

My stories a unique one. And the funny thing is it is my story, I mean it's about me, but it doesn't feel like mine. I haven't made any of the decisions. I 'm just a pawn trapped in my own fate. So when I finally made one small choice and everything fell apart, I didn't feel guilty about it. Because it was at that point that the story truly became mine.

It all started when they found me again, 20 years after they left  me. I guess their mission had to be completed. They were guardians after all, and their only purpose for existing was to protect...me. But what happened in those twenty years was never intended to take place. I was to be an infant for eternity, as long as the Infinite Statue was around. But due to the dark powers changing tactics, gaining the upper hand, and killing my parents, I was separated from the statue and allowed to grow. The statue was taken to the place it was created, the only place it could be kept safe. I was passed from guardian to guardian, until I was taken by the witch Hansel. She hid me away and began to teach me about myself and my abilities. When the guardians found us, I expressed my desire to stay with Hansel until the time was right. These were the freest years of my life. Hansel, in a sense became a mother to me. And the guardians left to abide their time. But the knowledge they gained of the world away from me would prove to be more important than the thousands of years they protected my parents.

Despite the motherly figure Hansel was, I felt it important to stay shut off from her. She was not to be trusted. I closed off to everything. Not letting anyone, even myself, know my true potential. I had a feeling that I would have the opportunity to explore that on the journey to come. Which was inevitable. While stuck in a cottage for 20 years, the guardians were out exploring what they never dared set foot in before. Each day I knew they'd come back for me. And that they'd have the Infinite statue. 20 years on the day of when they first found me they came. Hansel was gone. And so we went.

We had many trials among the world. It seemed that my existence did not go unnoticed. We were hunted by authority figures, magicians of all sorts, and bandits. One magician released the blue plague, which covers your skins in symbols. Once fully covered, the wearer died. But we pushed through always just barely getting away. But none the less we got away.

So why on the day we felt most safe I decided to leave the group? All I can tell you is because I needed to. I couldn't be a pawn in my own story anymore. I wanted to decide my our fate. And sadly the only way to get free of those protecting me was to fall into the hands of those hunting me. And so I did.

We were at an abandoned ship on the sea shore. The guardians instructed me to stay hidden in the ship. I watched from the shadows as they basked in the sun. I remained neutral in my judgments, I was not angry at them. If this was indeed my story I should be in the sun? However, I obediently stayed in the boat, because I knew it would be my escape. I always seemed to be more aware of the situation than the rest of them were. And I knew exactly what was about to happen. And right then two bandits came from behind and snagged me. I yelled out, because it was what I should do. The guardians did their best to get to me but they did not prevail. As I suspected.

I was taken to the authorities barracks. And this is were my story begins.

I walked as two bandits held onto my arms guiding me through the entrance of the enormous building. The walls were of white marble as were the tall pillars that lined the walk way we were on. The vaulted ceilings were fifty feet above us and made of glass. Two men in dark uniforms approached and without words exchanged me for a leather bag filled with some sort of contents. The two men lead me up stairs, down hallways and through rooms. I noticed many security guards in every place we went through. They all had the same uniform and demeanor, and they all held weapons.
I was led to a small room which had a small window on the far end. Sun light shown through. They two men led me inside, walked out and locked the door. I sat in the floor when the sun rays hit and looked out the window. I was completely calm. There really was nothing they could do to me and the guardians would find a way to free me. They always did.

Then something happened that I did not expect. I heard the shuffling of materials in the far corner of the room were it was the darkest. It was hard to see what is was but I believed I saw long dark hair and dark baggy clothes. Could it be...
"Hello?" I said.
The clothes tightened up.
"Excuse me, but I think we have met before."
I could tell that the woman's head lifted to see who I was. She stiffened and sat up.
"So," She said, "They finally got you huh?"
"Well in was inevitable." I smiled.
"How were they able to get you?"
"I let them. Bandits were clearly hanging out in a place we took refuge and I just lagged behind."
"Psh, why didn't you let me catch you? Would have saved me all these beatings."
Oh right! She's the shadow bender we ran into, she was a hard one to get by.
"So you were trying to catch me for them?"
"Everyone is, the authorities are the only ones that want you. They offered a bounty that was irresistible to pass up."
"What is it?"
"The Infinite Statue."
But the guardians have the statue. Maybe they have a decoy.
"You know they are bad. And cruel. You shouldn't be here."
"But you were trying to capture me."
"Yeah well that was before the beat me and left me here to die. I bet what they have in store for you is worse."
"What do you think they want with me?"
"They want immortality."
So they want me and the statue.
"Ah!"
"Are you ok?" I asked.
"I hurt."
"Here let me help you. I can heal flesh wounds with light."
"But I'm a shadow bender, you might hurt me more."
"You are also mortal, and made of flesh. Besides there isn't a lot of light in here to have a concentrated doss."

The shadow bender allowed me to help her and we began talking about our fates here. We concluded that letting the authorities have their way was wrong. So we planned away of escape.
We didn't eat our food rations, because they were drugged, and we waited till they would finally come to retrieve me. In two days time they did.

We were ready as the door began to open. Two guards stood in the door way. Kristi, I learned was the shadow bender's name, cast a shadow tentacle over the eyes of the guards. After a split second of panic from the guards she released her cover and in the time I had built up the brightness of the room. The contrast blinded them. We pushed passed them and ran.

We went up stairs using similar tactics, to get passed the guards. We made it to the mid-level of the grand entrance. By this point the alarm had been going off for a while and we knew many guards were following us now. We ran from platform to platform using light and shadow to through off the shots. The room became more and more concentrated with guards. I felt defeat and in doing so let me guard down. Pain rushed through my body as I was shot in the arm. I fell down, considering myself done for. I was calm and at peace even with the adrenalin rush from the chase. But as I looked up at Kristi I saw she did not share the same demeanor. Fear shown on her face as she saw me fall. But that was not it, some other emotion ran across her face in the split second she had to evaluate the situation. Determination. I could tell she was not defeated. She turned to the numerous force approached us. I watch in amazement as five, ten, fifteen, and more shadow tentacles formed out of her being. With fierceness she lunged her shadows into the bodies of the guards. When a tentacle entered a body it messed with the molecular structure of the person. They would freeze and shake, until the tentacle left the body at which point they laid on the ground twitching till the body reassemble itself. This could take seconds to hours depending on how long the shadow tentacle were in the body. If they were in for a long time, the person could even potentially die. I sat in awe as I watched her battle the mass, stunning them in place.

In this moment I saw something I never did before. Kristi was determined to have her own life controlled by only her. And she was going to give her all for her freedom or die. That is what I am missing, the fight for my freedom. But in this moment, Kristi was not only fighting for her own freedom but mine as well. I began to feel the fires of freedom burn inside me. Now was not the time to give up.

Right then Kristi fell to the ground. All her shadow tentacles recoiled back inside her as she lay unconscious. I saw some of the guards twitching on the ground, and some were dead. Others began to get their strength back and stand up to continue the pursuit. The leader was there amongst them unharmed. He shouted at he men to get up faster as he too trudged forward.

I crawled over the Kristi grabbing her arm. And feeling the fires of determination inside of me I stared at the Head authority as he approached. But of course he'd never reach us. I closed me eyes and focused on the fire inside as well as the brilliant sun rays outside, concentrating the brightness on me and Kristi. A bright flash appeared and we were gone.

I teleported us out of the building, near the guardians in fact. I could sense their closeness to the barracks. They were surprised to see Kristi and I both unconscious on the ground before them after a flash of light. because of the energy used Kristi soon awoke and shared our tale. The guardians believed her and they picked me up and put me in a wagon they had and they all began running from the pursuers. For there were many.

I was a bit confused at this point. I wasn't sure were I went but I could see my friends and my unconscious body. But I still had no fear. I was sure everything would work out. My gaze seemed to follow that of the sun's light moving across the earth bringing morning to the new locations. I knew where my friends were, but the sun light was not there yet. I waited patiently for the light to reach them so I could see what was happening. I was aware of the grand force pursuing them. And right when the enemy reached my friends so did my gaze and I disintegrated those of evil designs. Sun shone on those lands as evil was vanquished.

I closed my eyes and focused on my body and with a bright flash. I was there inside my body again. At that point I realized that I was a moment ago apart of the sun. And in this moment I realized my full potential.
We all were in awe at what just occurred. For it was indeed a defining moment. All that we were now changed. The guardians eternal purpose was now gone. And I was now a guardian of the earth.

The Ancient Woods

Once upon a time Christian was walking with Ava and Ashtyn. We didn't know what to do so we went home and had lunch. Then we went for a walk again in the ancient woods and we saw bears and lions and tigers. The End.

Written by Ava Lee Clawson

A Wider Lens

 

I was thinking today how much I wanted to get back into writing and then I remembered, there's a blog for that! However, this thing has pretty much died. It might even be more apt to say that it never got on its feet in the first place. It was born, sat up and started a somewhat sluggish crawl forward only to have dropped down and die. So I decided it was high time for a change, a new angle. A wider lens was needed, so to speak.

So here's the plan, friends. I suggest we upload or copy and paste whatever story, poetry, prose and whatnot we have written or are writing and post it. I still like the idea of having themes but instead of a monthly theme, let's shift it to a don't have to follow, free-for-all gross list of theme suggestions for the particular month. There's a reason for it to be this way; it will help keep our brains thinking of new ideas without forcing anyone to rely on a theme at all. I am also in favor of occasionally suggesting good reads for fun, ideas and a look at various styles, themes and such. We could maybe even start a conversation on how awesome or not awesome it is. So good luck to us all and happy writing!

p.s. (because I like post scripts) Ashtyn had the marvelous idea to let each other review and suggest edits on google docs. She had helped with a particular writing assignment a couple semesters ago and it was pretty much awesome. It was so awesome, I decided it would be nifty if we were to pair off and review each others papers once in awhile that way instead of the usual comments. I can even see it working well if someone was stuck in their writing and needed some critique to get unstuck. Let me know what you think in the comments! Thanks everyone!

p.s.s. The themes for the month can be found just below the title, in a more space conserving and unfortunately, almost unnoticeable spot. 

New Theme Details

I read this story and loved it, I saw the puppet show preview and loved that too and I just new you guys had to like at least one of the two. Marquez once said something to the effect that it is always an image that inspires him and not an idea or concept, so I thought that this puppet show clip might do the same for us. So for this theme, we're all going to be writing a story based off one of the characters from Marquez's story. This can be something as simple as a character piece or poetry describing something your character is feeling. Take this wherever you want as long as a person in the story is present. I'm really excited to see what everyone comes up, I know that you're all fantastic writers! Best of luck!

New Fellow Writers!

Hello, Hello!

So, before I get this blog really going for the summer, I though it might be nice to first, quickly introduce the new (those I literally just sent an invite over to and obviously have not had time to accept) and not so new (those who have already accepted the invite but were never introduced to the blog) fellow writers. I am extremely stoked for these people, we have

Dear, dear friend, Heather. She is full of wit and has some pretty cool, diverse interests such as, skulls, cats and Hello Kitty.

Amazing cousin, Pam. This girl is just chock full of spunk and has the most adorable little girl ever. So stinkin' cute.

Wonderful and charming friend, Jenny. She ice skates and has the cutest style I've ever seen. Period.

The man full of wit, Jamoman. He's pretty dang awesome. He's not really sure that he'll be writing on here but I'm hoping that he'll show his face sometime tims summer.

That was that. I hope this was conducive. If you have any thoughts on this, please let me know.

Sincerely, Marette. :)

The City Packers

The shoes were the strange thing.  There were just so many of them.  Women’s pumps, men’s flats, little baby booties, glitzy stilettos and pennyloafers mixed haphazardly with old riding boots, steel-toed Timberlands and dainty ballerinas.  They piled high in the pristine City garbage bins, lay strewn through the elegantly cobbled streets and intersections, and were clumped lazily together in huddles and puddles on the neat squares of green grass spaced evenly along the roadsides.

As Norman walked among the wreckage, he noted how quiet the morning was.  No birds sung merrily to greet the dawn, only just now breaking over the perfectly symmetrical hill on the east side of town.  No music strained out through the tightly closed windows of early risers, no joggers were out experimenting with the feel of the air in their lungs.  It would be a cool day, with perhaps a 24% chance of rain.

Norman wondered if the City at large would ever really feel the missing presence of the Packers.  He guessed that by the time anyone looked out their windows, perhaps a little later today than they ever had before, the shoes would be gone.  Vanished.  Banished.

 ******************************

Norman laughed out loud.

“You’re joking!” he finally sputtered, sloshing his drink on the glassy, bruised and battered surface of the pub booth table.

“I ain’t,” Finley muttered defensively.  The man was small enough to start with, but he was practically burying his face into the table, hunched over and muddy cap pulled low over his eyes.

“The Mayor?  Actually meeting the Packers?  Himself?  Why, you tell me, would anybody believe that?  What purpose could that possibly serve?”

“He’s trying to oust ‘em.  He don’t want no low-lifes around the City.”

Norman considered this.  It did sound like something the Mayor would do.  But it was hard to argue with results, and in the 2 years and 4 months since Mr. Ron Goodman had become Mayor, the City had grown in prestige by leaps and bounds.

“Well, maybe it’s a good idea, then.  What did everyone say about the fountain the Square?  Now it’s always busy, and we’ve gotten traders from as far as Northland, with real crystal cups!  Never thought I’d see the day.”

Finley looked up sharply, then down again.  “No, never thought I would, neither.”

Norman reached over and slapped Finley’s shoulder.  “Cheer up now before you bring a storm cloud in here.  What’s so bad about the Packers leaving?  So they clean up the place when no one’s looking.  They’re dirty and probably diseased, vampiric and poor.  I left a hat once, my favorite hat, on a park bench on 3^rd Avenue.  Not two minutes later I came back for it – POOF!  Gone.”  Norman dusted off his hands dismissively before leaning closer to Finley.  “I could have used one fewer Packer that day.”

Finley slid out of the seat, hands deeply disappeared into his front pockets, shoulder hunched up to his ears.  “I just gives you the news.  It’s you decides what’s fit to print.”

  ******************************

Norman stumbled through the iron door, the hand extended to catch the supportive doorframe not quite connecting.  It was good to be outside again, breathing fresh clean air.  He took several appreciate gulps, then let out the last one slowly, clearing his head.

Finley followed him out a few paces behind, assured of his footing and his place.  He stopped a few feet away, hands in his pockets, balancing on his small short spindly legs like a stork.

Norman gasped a final time, shocked again by all he had seen.  “I wouldn’t have thought air could feel so different.  It’s so thick down there, so gray.”

Finley didn’t move.

“And the things!  Why do they keep all of those things?!  Piles of it – mountains of it - higher than you can see!  What’s their purpose?  Why don’t they get rid of them?”

Finley shrugged.  “They fix some ‘n break some others, puttin’ pieces in parts of other things.  Some they sell in other cities, other towns.”

Norman looked up at the sky.  It was overcast, as it always was, but here and there bits of dark, star-streaked heaven was visible.  He felt calmer now.  He remembered how organized it was, even amidst the piles.  Clean countertops, brooms in well-swept corners, children running ragged in spotless, neatly darned clothing.  They hadn’t been overly friendly, but they hadn’t immediately disdained him, either.  Although he wished Finley had warned him that feather caps were not the polite thing to wear inside the Hill, where the Packers…well, lived.  Lived is what they did, and lived pretty well, although in a deep, dark town inside the Hill.

“They seemed…happy enough…down there.”

“It’s a home, see?  Nobody bothers ‘em much.  They can come ‘n go, ‘n have their children ‘n collect their things, ‘n spend the rest of their lives fixin’ and tweakin’.  Or could.”

Norman nodded.  Or could.

  ******************************

The sun peaked at last over the Hill where the Packers once lived, and Norman thought he could even make out the barest hint of the iron door, left open and hanging, abandoned, on the hillside before he heard the noise.

It began as a grumbling, rumbling, croak of a roar, gradually getting louder until a strange contraption turned a corner and came into Norman’s line of sight.  It was an ugly thing, a conglomeration of whirlybobs and metal tongs and wheels.  But that would change.  This was just a prototype, a first crank at the replacement.  The tongs came down and began picking up the shoes, the movement quick and fast, shoes disappearing into a vast shiny steel center.  It worked for a few minutes, and Norman watched it, curious what would happen.  The machine’s center was only the size of a large beer keg, and the shoes stretched on in every direction, large and small, work shoes and summer shoes, flats and wedges and boots, down every street of the City, he was certain.  It would take a lot of trips to the Hill before the work was done, and before too long the town, already sleepier than normal, would have to get up and begin the day.  How many of these machines were there?

As the machine piled shoes inside, its mechanical whirling grew louder.  Then, suddenly, a lid slid across the central vat, the machine stood up straight, and Normal heard sound like a vacuum before a small pop.  The lid opened, and a trail of smoke emerged.  Without a pause, the machine began placing shoes inside the cavity once more.

Norman watched it.  Behind it, occasionally, he could see similar contraptions on the other streets, picking up shoes and vaporizing them.  He had been right – the City citizens would never so much as trip on a single shoe this morning.  How did they know to stay inside, curtains drawn, windows closed?

“Ain’t it pretty?” Finley asked, behind him.  “A whole swarm of ‘em machines can clean the city, and get rid of the garbage for good.  None of it hidin’ inside a mountain.  Nice change.  No dirty, diseased people around, neither.”

“Yeah,” Norman responded.  They stood in silence, watching.

“Why shoes?” Norman asked.

Finley shrugged.  “Dunno.  Reckon they’re heavy, that many shoes.  But here,” he pulled a squashed gray rag out of his pocket and handed it to Norman.  “This is for you.”

As Finley slouched away, Norman looked at the thing in his hands.  It was a hat.  A hat he had lost on a park bench on 3^rd Avenue.