SHADOW (Poem and Chapter 1)

Note: This is a random idea that popped into my head today and decided to throw it down on the computer. Will ti develop into a story? Maybe, maybe not? I can’t say for sure.

SHADOW

I am a shadow

A gray figure behind

Silent

Ethereal

Dark

Sometimes you see me

Other times I vanish

Faded

Blurred

Overlooked

I am always there

Right there with you

Watching

Waiting

Withdrawn

Do not forget, I

See All and Remember

 

 

Chapter 1

I stood there, looking at the front door, the last barrier between me and the outside world. I wanted to turn around and go back up to my room, close the door and lose myself in worlds of fantastic creatures and places. My parents insisted that I go to school to learn, yeah right, they just wanted me out of the house. What was I learning at school that I couldn’t at home?

Most of my teachers used textbooks, overly large collections of pages that would leave me with back problems. Their lectures could be recorded in a variety of ways so that I didn’t miss out on them. I could find some place to work out, go to the gym or community center, maybe, to get exercise. We had a basketball hoop out back, I had a bike, and there was probably a tennis racket and some other stuff buried in the garage. It’s not like anyone would miss me at school, so why did I need to go?

To socialize with my peers is what they told me. Socialize? Who did they think they were kidding? Don’t get me wrong I can be social, but socialize with my peers? Let’s be honest here for a minute, socialize with my peers is just the friendly way of saying suffer torment at the merciless hands of my peers, and for what? Wouldn’t we all like to know…Wouldn’t I love to know…

Why weren’t my teachers teaching that in class? I would be ten times as engaged in discussions and all that stuff if they taught things that mattered to me. Why your peers torment you 101, How to successfully suffer getting stuffed in your locker 203, useful topics and crap like that. Seriously I would rather take a class on socializing than actually do it, don’t get me wrong I find people fascinating but I like to watch their antics, not be beaten down by them.

“Hurry up you’ll be late,” says my Mother giving me a nudge towards the door.

Here we go again; grabbing my house key and stuffing it in my backpack I’m out the door, abandoning my last barrier, and walking down the driveway my eyes already scanning the landscape, all the locals live the next block over or so, so I usually don’t encounter them until the bus stop. As I approach I can see one of them standing there, reminding me of a buzzard circling a dead body. I would turn back but I’ve already been spotted, to run would be cowardly.

As I reach the bus stop I try to close out their words but with little success. My friends arrive bringing some small refuge, it’s a numbers game in this place and together we actually win a little. The bus arrives and carries us to school, delivering us like convicts to the prison, that’s really what it feels like too.

Reaching my class I immediately begin to lose the numbers game, I’m in a class with no friends this year. Whatever system they used really dealt me a crap hand this year. A teacher who hates me, classmates who acknowledge me only when they need a verbal punching bag, this year is trying my patience and I am so ready to leave it behind.

A stop at my locker and I move into the classroom staying quiet and keeping my head down, they can’t target you if they don’t notice you, I hope. I make it to my seat and pull out my book starting to read while I have a few minutes of peaceful non-existence. The bell rings and soon the day has begun rolling dragging me along with it, sometimes I try to fight it but usually I just let it run wild. I’m watching the clock waiting for my escape to begin; my math skills are pretty miserable so they send me for extra tutoring, where I have to deal with other kids who aren’t very good at math, you’d think that would give us a common bond, nope. We’re all lone wolves separated from our packs and sometimes that doesn’t go so well for us, bet that teacher doesn’t even know it either.

I wonder if teachers have a class on learning to ignore the down trodden students. School administrators certainly must have aced this class, there’s no way that all this could go on without their notice. How come it seems the only people I am invisible to are the ones who should be paying attention and noticing things like this? I hate this place.

 

Kevin Butler and Revolutionary Resumes

You’ve probably seen Kevin Butler, though some of you may not know his name. Think back to the last Playstation 3 commercial you saw, do you remember the guy who worked for Playstation?

This one?

Yeah that one. His name is Kevin Butler (he is portrayed by Jeffrey Lambert) and, according to his YouTube page, is the VP of…lots of stuff, giving him a dream resume.

In the past I have seen other bloggers joke about how they wish they could add their gaming exploits and accomplishments to their resume, and no one makes me want to do it more than Kevin Butler. Which makes me ask the question, should gaming exploits be claimable?

Now it doesn’t mean that every gamer should start adding things like, “Assassin’s Creed II, Supervisor Ezio Auditore da Firenze, job description: removing pestilence from society…”; that would be silly.

What I am talking about is using a solid game example to explain a skill like “creative thinker” or “problem solver”. This does not mean that you should not have a real world stock answer of a time that you were creative or solved a problem, but slip it in as one of your examples. “Well at my job I…, but one of my hobbies is video games which have taught me a great deal about thinking creatively and problem solving in unique ways…”.

In a recent interview of mine the interviewers said, “Any example of a time you creatively problem solved”, which sounded like an invitation to use a game related example. I hesitated though and gave a commonly acceptable work example, but it nagged at me that I hadn’t used my strong gaming background.

If nothing else at least you will stand out from the crowd, which seems to be one of the keys of getting a job these days. Wouldn’t it be nice.

Partial NaNo Part 4: Completion (A post from the year 2009)

Another year of NaNoWriMo has come to do battle and been defeated.

This years nano was titled 28 Angels Later. It is partially inspired by dream I had that reminded me of the movie 28 Days later and the rest of inspiration came from some archangel info I came across one day. Smash them together and you get my nano.

When a catastrophic event strands the archangel Cassiel on earth she must fend of attacks from the Fallen, as well as deal with her inability to interfere with things, and the while trying to avoid the remaining mortals who she unwittingly stumbles upon.
All the while the archangel Raziel has been trying to catch up with her traveling great distances to try and reach her, unable to contact her in anyway. He has been in contact with the archangels who are waiting to see what the Fallen have planned before acting.

The story is far from done at this point and I am looking forward to returning to it after a short vacation and developing into a full fledged story.

And while I love my vampires to death, pun intended, I am pleased to say that there were no vampires in this years nano, though I did come up with some lovely new ideas for where vampires come from for future stories or ones in development.

For now dear friends and readers I bid ye good night.

~R.C.~

Partial NaNo Part 3 (A post from the year 2009)

I moved a good amount of words today. Started 11,600 something and end around 14700. A productive day and unexpectedly inspiring day. I have a little research that I want to do for the story, yay for working in a library.

Current Word Count: 14735

Goal Before Sleep: 15000

Goal for today: 18000

I’m hoping to be all caught up or ahead of my word count by the 15th. Some really strong and focused days should help that a lot. Right now I am going a lot better than I have been the last two years I have tackled this task and I am pleased.

Special Treat!

Another excerpt from this years NaNo:

In my dream everyone around me is dead, but it does not upset me. I move past them saying several prayers for them all, only briefly mourning the loss. I know it is best that they are not still there with me.

My phone doesn’t get a signal even as I emerge from where I woke and go towards where I hope there is a signal, that’s when I see him. He looks down at me quite pleased that I am still alive, and yet almost disappointed that I am. He speaks to me but I ignore him and go to turn away, I know this was all his doing and it saddens me; that he would continue down this road, that he no longer stands with us, that he seeks to destroy us all though there is no way to.

He tries to send shuffling masses, no zombies, after me and the fire I call upon cleanses a path allowing me to escape from him. I know he will not pursue me, he had prepared a trap for me but decided it was best I not endure it, something about sleeping I suspect.

When I stop for the night I am cold and tired, will I make it through the night or will I die again? Can I die again? Of course, why would death be restricted to only one time per being or person? I wake the next morning, miraculously, and continue moving away from him. I don’t really know where I am going but as long as it is away from him I am fine.

I find a house that I stop into restocking some food and cleaning up a little. A shower would be so nice right now. I leave the house behind regrettably, I know it is foolish to stay in one place for too long. I have been checking my phone but so far no signal which means no messages, the others will be worried. By the time I notice the zombies I know it is too late to not be seen. I make a run for it wanting to get as much of a head start as possible.

I don’t look back as I run, only forwards. When I step for a moment something catches my eye for a second and then I see it again. What is that, I wonder. As I reach where it should I see that it has moved or is it another one? I’m not sure but I follow them into and through the trees of a forest. The entrance appears out of nowhere just as I begin to here the zombies drawing close. Without a second thought I jump in and fall hitting the ground hard, and then I die.

 

Partial NaNo Part 2 (A post from the year 2009)

Who ever decided that November was a good month for an anime convention was sadly a little early for NaNoWriMo. After keeping up with the word count of the day for several days it all went to pot this past weekend. I got a spot of writing done here or there but not nearly enough.

Current Stats:

Word Count:  11143

Where it should be by days end: 18337

Where I hope it will be: 15,000

Goal before sleep: 12,000

A few days of 3,000 word counts and I should be caught up by the weekend. I’ve been time tracking my word count, which MS Word 07 kindly displays in the bottom left corner, and if I focus realtively well I can write about a 1,000 words an hour (around 16 words a minute). I had been feeling rather sleepy all day which is what really kept my word count down. But starting at 9,000 and ending hopfully at 12,000 makes it a good day.

NaNoWriMo 2009! (Reposted)

NaNoWriMo 2009 has officially begun! ^ ^

I have been waiting months for this to begin. Quite a while back I had a really weird dream that was extremely vivid and I wrote it down. Drifting back through my dream journal I came across it and all of a sudden a story began writing itself. A little research laer I had the bare bones outline of some characters and events that sounded great for NaNoWriMo, only problem being that it was several months away. But now it is here!

2009 NaNoWriMo Info

User Id: RavynChloe (#233215)
Novel: 28 Hours Later [Working Title]
Genre: Horror & Thriller
Inspiration: 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, and a really vivid dream

Current Word Count: 416
Goal for Today: 1667

Main Protagnoist: Alecsis
Description: An unassuming girl with a surprising survival instinct.  Though her instinct is high there is a severe reluctance to help anyone around her, not because she does not want to. A curious mix of instinct and reluctance as if she was waiting for something…

Greetings Mortal Masses

Welcome to the blog, my own personal underground to post my thoughts, rants, and any random sarcastic thought that crosses my mind. Oh sure I’ve got other blogs I to post on but they know me there, and I want more conversation/discussion/exposure and I am so tired of my old blog sites clunky feel compared to the beauty of WordPress.

So here it is, and off we go!

*edit*

In these opening weeks expect to see a loft of shifting change in material. I’m compiling and rearranging several blogs to streamline it all into a single place. In short: This space is under construction, pardon our dust.

Partial NaNo Part 1 (A post from the year 2009)

Well the first day of NaNoing has come and gone.

Current word count: 1,082

Goal for first day: 1,667

Goal before sleep: 2,000

Considering the roll I feel I am on I should be able to crank out at least enough to meet my first days quota if not more. Tomorrow will prove to be a little more challenging as I will have to balance nano and work.

An excerpt:

Water… She could hear water falling, like several faucets had been left on. As her mind began to clear she remembered what had happened and panicked. Her eyes flew open and she sat up looking around wide-eyed as she gasped for air and stumbled off the high ground she had come to rest on falling into the water below. Her head slipped beneath the water but she stood up finding the water was only a foot or so deep. Her head though pounded in protest of her actions and she took a moment to reorient herself and let the pounding subside.

When it subsided she opened her eyes and looked around the area she had ended up in. She had only flown through there a few times but her path through the place had been about the same. Looking at the walls she realized she had ended up in one of the lower levels, she remembered the panels had at one time glowed in a rainbow of shades that she had taken a picture of. Beyond the water in the area all manner of furniture and fixture lay strewn about with a sprinkling of bodies. It churned her stomach but she took a breath and forced herself to ignore them.

As she took a few steps forward she felt something hanging onto her and panicked whirling around slipping and falling to her knees discovering the culprit was her backpack as it slipped down her arm and into the water. Standing up she pulled the bag out of the water seeing it had survived the event mostly unscathed beyond being soaking wet, which she was as well.

Deciding that it was best not to stay in the area any longer she surveyed the area. Looking to one end of the floor she saw that the escalator had been severely damaged, looking like a metal monster prepared to eat anyone that had gotten close. The water running down from the upper floor made it appear that it was drooling. She looked at the other end seeing it was damaged but still relatively intact and started for it climbing past the wreckage that had collected there ignoring the bodies that were strewn around everywhere.

Reaching the bottom of the escalator she scouted it visualizing the path she would take and the beginning her ascent. Her slick sneakers slipped a couple times but each time she managed to catch herself and slowly made her way up. Reaching the main floor she moved away from the escalator, the last thing she wanted was to slip and fall back into the mess below. She still felt like she was in a bit of a daze, wondering if she had fully recovered what the hell had that been anyways.

A quick survey of the area around confirmed what the silence has been suggesting, nothing had survived; furniture, fixtures, and bodies lay strewn about everywhere like a twisted game of pick-up sticks. She closed her eyes saying a brief prayer for the souls of all the bodies she had seen.