CREATIVE WRITING 1 (WRIT19015) TERM 1, 2008
ASSIGNMENT ONE First Draft
WORD LIMIT words
AURTHOR Ben Graham
STUDENT ID S00051551
COURSE COORDINATOR Dr Lynda Hawryluk
DUE DATE 2/5/08
Proposal for that which will be written.
A tale about a journey to a destination and the complications along the way. Similar to the Japanese "journey to the west" or the Greek "odyssey of homer" and "Jason and his agronaughts".
Setting is to be a hole in the ground, similar to the game of nethack. Lots of caverns and monsters living in them. Also there will be a few narky people that the main characters must converse with to proceed.
The premise is that two warring kingdoms have sent their representatives to obtain an object that is guarded at the bottom of a cavern. Each of the two kingdoms are very different and follow contrasting philosophies that pervade every part of their culture.
Materialist’s girl Liza Kalitina
Value matter, collecting it and analyzing it. Living in luxury with an abundance of everything, these people value life and are by nature pacifists. They realize that it is harder to create, than to destroy.
They only believe hard facts and what can be physically (scientifically) proven. They are experts on physiology and understand that when they have an empty stomach chemical impulses are sent to the brain telling the body to eat.
Idealist’s boy Arkady Nikolaevich Kirsanov
Value thought and consciousness, they collect information and enjoy verbal debates. They see their bodies as merely a vessel through which their knowledge can be exhibited. They only look after their human bodies to the extent required for survival. Believing in magic and in everything mystical. They believe that they are only hungry when they imagine that it is so.
Side Character Imp
Used implicature in all conversations. that is never answers a question directly but implies the answer through his response. Also uses a lot of words with 'imp' in them.
Side Character wise man in a hole
"well all the mountains were taken!"
View
I think that for the intro I will have it in first person with the speaker bagging out the other main character saying "Right, now that's over with you can get lost. I'm not going to babysit you, this will be hard enough to do without you interfering." Then, after the first scene the story will degenerate into a third person view.
##speaker is a klutz. other person speaks in old English and worries a lot
+______________________________________________________________+
"Right, now that's over with you can get lost. I'm not going to babysit you, this will be hard enough to do without you interfering." Now that all that palaver was over I was keen to get started, that is, this is where my story begins.
So, here I am. Strolling down the middle of a long dark ally, down into the colon of the earth, my mission to save life as we know it. And all I can hear is this puncy whining from that idiot behind me. I cannot fathom why the higher ups would deem it necessary to tolerate such a dweeb. Probably some sort of diplomatic thing.
...
Can't get through a door until the doors guardians are defeated. But they first need to find the guardians to kill them. Gives rise to an argument about what happens after you die, the afterlife and such.
...
Turning the corner down yet another dark tunnel they were assaulted by a sudden noise through the darkness, breaking the monotony of their footsteps.
"Erm..." came a rather high pitched voice. "Excuse me."
Silence.
"Heelo? ... Will you bee my friend?"
"Who goes there" Shouted Liza "Be ye friend or foe?" as the echoes reverberated down the tunnel Arkady replied. "Don't be so uptight, you obviously didn't hear him say he wants to be your friend."
"Show thine self then"
"Down heer on the ground"
Liza was startled to see a pink rock try to right itself. It was smooth and shaped as a raindrop although it was nearly knee height. Promptly the creature fell over, landing on a withering mass of similar looking vines. "What manner of creature are thee?" she queried reaching towards the strange creature.
"Don't touch it," yelled Arkady, pulling Liza away, "that is a cephalopod. They are sea dwelling parasites that devour people from the inside out"
"Hmph. Thee and thou mythical 'sea full of water.' We are sure it is harmless."
"Actually he is right." Intruded the cephalopod. "I am actually a sepiida. But I don't want to eat you. If you are prejudiced then I will stay here."
"Why doest thee wish to be our friend then?"
"I left the sea to travel the world. But it is rather slow traveling on land with these." Waving his tentacles about in the air.
"So you just want someone to carry you?"
"And to share with. It is incredibly boring traveling by myself with nobody to talk to."
"Nothing doing. I don't trust you at all."
"How canst thee be so cruel." stated Liza picking up the creature. "What is thy name little fellow?"
"You fool, don't let it touch you." Yelled Arkady knocking it out of her hands.
"What does thee care. A minute ago thee saith thee never wish to see me again."
"Guilt is a fate worse than death. I will not allow you to die due to my negligence. If we must take it I will put it on my hat. That way it will not be able to eat us and it will be able to see where we are going." With that Arkaby dropped his Akubra on the ground.
"Thank you. My name is Cooch Windgrass." Flopping himself into the middle of his hat and wrapping his tentacles around it as they changed colour to match the hatband. Within seconds he looked like a ten gallon hat. The only give away that he was there at all was the W shaped eyes on each side of the hat.
"That be amazing Cooch." Exclaimed Liza picking up the hat and plonking it unceremoniously upon Arkaby's scruffy hair.
This resulted in quite a peculiar expression on Arkaby's face. Not quite sure what to do about a man eating monster hiding on his head he tried to change the topic. "So, in anybody hungry?"
Now Liza was surprised and flicked her eyes between Cooch, Arkady and back.
"I mean I have some chocolate bars in my pocket." he hastily added. And gingerly reached into his pocket, trying not to tilt hit head any or than was absolutely necessary. At this Liza burst out laughing. With a grim expression Arkady opened one of the chocolates.
"Why thank you, much obliged." Said Cooch reaching down with a tentacle, taking the chocolate from Arkady hand and swallowing it whole. As he did so all the blood drained from Arkady's face and he stared at the now empty wrapper. Setting Liza into fits of laughter.
...
##Complication 1
The bridge is broken and they need to get across
But there’s no wood so...
They need to find wood for the builder to build bridge.
But the builder is hungry and won’t stop fishing so...
They need to find bait for his rod.
But he is a hopeless fisherman so...
They need to find lunch for the builder.
But it will take a week to finish fixing so...
They go the long way around.
...
#when they find imp on the other side of the bridge they talk for a bit and he introduces himself as the Grand Monarch of the unknown states of existence. Arkady replies that this title is too long and will call him Imp. Liza interjects "That be the shorthand for Emperor not Monarch."
"I was referring to him saying imp more often than is necessary." Arkady replied, slightly surprised. "But how did you know such an obscure title?"
"Thus is how I refer to Emperor J.. Never mind, I revealed too much." Liza hastened to compose herself and started marching down the tunnel. "Come along Imp we shant wait for the short legs. Thee must come if thee shalt come. The goal may wait for us but our home shall not remain unchanged.
...
As the tunnel opened up into another cavern Imp exclaimed of the rock formations "These rocks look like the teeth of some monstrous beast"
"Aye this place must be some sort of esoteric ritual chamber where they mutilate small creatures, much like yourself Imp."
"Never fear Cooch, I will impose my will onto them. I will not allow them to impede your life forve in any way." Replied Imp as he inched towards Liza. Hugging her leg he peered from behind her, apprehensively peering into the darkness beyond the light of the torches.
"Actually Imp this is a fairly common rock formation, whence the passing of water reshapes sandstone caves. The ones on the roof are stalactites and the rocks on the floor are called stalagmites. See the drip forming on that one there." Pointing to a stalactite not far from where they stood.
With a look of relief Imp jumped up onto Liza’s shoulder, careful not to get tangled in her hair. Just as he sat down Cooch jerked from where he was resting on Arkady's hat. "Ssomething comess".
Imp stiffened in fear, grabbing a hold of Liza, his claws piercing into her neck causing her to gasp. At that very moment the Nihilist launched itself from the shadows of a stalagmite. Her three meter blade hissing through the air. This was the distraction she had been waiting for. Liza leapt backwards with Imp's grip tightening at each breath. The blade narrowly missed her but left a neat slash across her uniform, exposing her naval.
The Nihilist paused, her black shell glistening in the light of the fluro. With beady eyes flickering between the two humans she spoke, the gravelly voice scratched thorough the cavern.
"YOU WILL JOIN THE nothing. YOUR ABSENCE WILL MAKE nothing STRONGER."
A pool of black sweat slowly spread away from her kneeling form, like the steady march of time encompassing all in it's path.
The fluro flickered. The Nihilist leapt again at the gasping Liza, thrusting the sword toward her heart. The sword seeming to pull itself forwards in a relentless lust for destruction. This time Arkady dove between them, parrying the blade with the back of his hand. Their bodies collided sending them flying over Liza. Who was on the floor trying to pry the now petrifies Imp off of her throat.
Arkady and the Nihilist landed in a tangled heap at the base of a stalagmite. The Nihilist being the first to stand grabbed Arkady in her right hand and threw him into the darkness where he fell with a heart rending scream. She then sprinted back towards Liza. Stepping on Arkady's hat where it had fallen and Cooch who was still perched upon it.
By this time Liza had pried herself away from Imp. Who was standing between Liza and the Nihilist staring at the blood dripping from his claws. As the Nihilist approached Imp picked the sword up from where it had fallen.
The Nihilist saw Imp struggling to lift her sword too late to halt her advance. The last she heard was Imp's desperate scream as the sword slid through her shattering the shell plates as it exited her back.
The drip fell.
Liza rolled the corpse over to free Imp fro under its body and ran towards where Arkady could be heard moaning. She scooped up Cooch as she went. Imp scurried after her grabbing the lantern along the way. The light shivered across the cavern as he held it in his quivering palm. They found Arkady at the base of a stalagmite he had evidently landed on. The point had missed his heart but had severed most of his shoulder, leaving his left arm only attached by three ribs.
"It looks as though I'm about to be freed from this body of mine." Gasped Arkady. "Liza, you must not return home empty handed. Continue down with Imp." Cooch flopped off the hat and with a dusty slap landed on the floor as Arkady had a fit of coughing. "Cooch, before I die. Eat me."
"What?" Exclaimed Liza.
"It should be a truly unique experience. This is what life is for after all."
"There is another alternative." Said Cooch calmly as he dragged his crippled body up onto Arkady. "Liza pull him free of the stone."
Solemnly Liza dragged on Arkady's feet. With a cry he came free of the stalagmite. Immediately his arteries started gushing blood onto the cold stone floor. Quickly Cooch flipped his body into the gap in Arkady's chest. Then he flung his tentacles on either side of the wound, sealing off the blood flow with his body. "All of by species are able to regenerate limbs." Stated Cooch when he was done. "I can reroute my blood stream so that one heart pumps to your arm and one back. My third heart will supply my body with blood."
"You would sacrifice yourself to save me?" Gasped Arkady.
"Not quite. I also would have died from my wounds. Also you are the only friends I have ever had."
"You always have several answers to a question don’t you?"
"I always have three reasons for doing anything yes. But now we both need to rest to recover."
As Cooch finished speaking Arkady's ragged breath calmed to a steady pulse of in and out, leaving Imp and Liza staring on in wonder.
...
As they entered the chamber they stopped. It was. It was big. It was majestic. It was huge. It was awe inspiring. It was gigantic. It was fabulous. It was.
"Not the smallest cave I’ve seen." Said Imp, as he climbed up Liza's leg onto her shoulder. "Well don't just stand there with your gapers mouthing, dinners getting cold"
"What?" said Arkady swiveling to face Imp.
"How canst thee dwell on nourishment (food) at a time like this, doth not the beauty of this place astoundeth you?" exclaimed Liza.
"Impervious stomach lining implies that I've been eaten. Which in turn impedes my immortality. For who would wish to spend eternity imprisoned?"
# cavern is lined with many precious gems of all colours which look to have been melted into plave. Liza notes that they cannot have cooled that way and must have been polished by something. They decide that it looks like a dragon has swallowed it's entire treasure horde then continue to make there way through to the other side. The story ends here as Arkady muses to himself "Two enter the colon of the earth, now four enter the colon of the dragon."
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