Slowly catching up! I had a chance to read through all the Dream Kingdom entries yesterday evening while waiting for a Google Hangout to help product-test a prototype for a magazine I subscribe to. (The testing was fun!) It's quite interesting that this story starts off slower than the others, despite one author's urging to get things done -- but overall it feels that the story develops better for it. We have the usual issue with discovering half-way through the year that we're not half-way through the story, but the plot is fairly coherent from the start and it doesn't feel as though we rushed bits; it feels as though we summarised a longer story. Overall, I think we deserve a B+ for this one. Except me, I only get a B since I seem incapable of remembering Nystor's name from one paragraph to the next.
The Dream Kingdom II? "Let's start with imaginary numbers," said Nystor. "An essential idea in modern physics." The class went smoothly: Nystor was clearly experienced at controlling students, and even though they knew who he was, Josh, Olivia and Dylan still found themselves following along his discussion with interest. After the class they hestitated, undecided whether they should bolt from the room or hang around until Nystor had left, but he solved their problem by leaving with the first few students and not even glancing their way. "Wow," said Dylan. "Do you think he even saw us?" "He should have done," said Olivia. She rolled her eyes. "The fish-folk stuck a trident in his chest, not his eyes." Dylan's stomach turned. "Thanks for the reminder," he said. "But he's here now, so he must have survived." "Or he had some magic we didn't know about," said Josh. "We never found out what spell he put on Reimar, did we? He might have had more on himself. What if the tide came in and washed his body out of the anti-magic room, and then his spell activated?" "He was dead though," said Dylan. "You can't have imagination if you're dead!" "Not all the magic worked like that," said Olivia. "Right," said Josh. "The spell on Reimar didn't need King Brekstan stood there all the time maintaining it. And Nystor did some magic twice when we were watching that was done some other way." "Yeah, but he brought us there because of our imaginations!" Dylan lowered his voice as he realised some of the other students were looking over. "That's what he said," said Olivia. "But we know he's a liar."
"This is getting us nowhere," said Josh. "We're just complaining that we don't know stuff, and I already know I don't know stuff. We have to tell King Brekstan that Nystor's alive again. Remember how he told us that Nystor keeps making attempts on the Kingdom? This has got to be another one." "Oh great," said Dylan. "I can't back there, you know? I've tried." The silence around the group revealed that they'd all been trying it. "Maybe King Brekstan will pay us a visit and see how we're getting on?" suggested Olivia, though her tone made it clear she didn't believe it. "Reimar might visit Josh," said Dylan. "They were... closer, I suppose." "Or we let Nystor teach us how to do it," said Josh. The other two looked at him. "Well, he's got to be here because he's trying to get there himself," said Josh. "And he's teaching us about imagination to make use of it," said Olivia slowly. "Right, I think you're right. He's making an army out of us so he can invade the Kingdom again." "Pretty small army," said Josh. "But then... he did just use three of us last time." "And King Brekstan made it sound like Nystor normally worked alone," said Dylan. "Ok, well, I've got to get to my French class," said Olivia, looking at her Apple watch. "I guess we keep trying to get back into the Kingdom in our dreams, and we learn from Nystor in the meantime." "I've got Chemistry," said Dylan. "Economics," said Josh. "See you all later."
When Dylan walked into his Chemistry class he was quite startled to see that the usual teacher, Miss Charles, was gone and Nystor was standing at the board. He smiled. "You're late, Dylan," he said.
Greg - yes, I do recall you having issues with Nystor's name :)
Okay, this is well past due.
Mine:
Dylan took his seat at the back of class with little more than an apologetic shrug. He didn't trust his voice to work properly. Besides, he was preoccupied with setting an intention not to get caught up in Nystor's teaching this time, not like in the Physics lesson.
Not five minutes later, though, he was busy scribbling notes with the rest of his classmates. Nystor was walking them through chemical formulas that were well beyond anything Miss Charles would have dreamed of teaching them.
"Dreamed..." Dylan muttered, his pen becoming still in his hand. "Son of a..."
"Is there a problem, Dylan?" Nystor called from the chalkboard. Was there a hint of a smile playing around the corner of his lips?
Dylan shook his head, using the question as an excuse to try to get his thoughts back in order. After that he managed to pay more attention to his classmates and gave less heed to what Nystor was saying.
Toward the middle of the lesson Nystor moved through the rows, handing out sheets for each student to conduct an experiment. Dylan took his paper without meeting his gaze, choosing instead to study what they were expected to do.
The first thought that came to his mind was that it looked like a formula for a potion. To what end he couldn't possibly guess, but he gathered the required materials dutifully before returning to his desk. He took his time at first, taking any opportunity to observe how his classmates were getting on with it.
Which was how he realized that each student had been given a slightly different formula.
He's trying to find the right combination Dylan understood, anger beginning to bubble up inside him for the first time since Nystor's arrival.
And that anger only increased when he realized that a part of him really, really wanted his formula to be the correct one.
3 comments:
Slowly catching up! I had a chance to read through all the Dream Kingdom entries yesterday evening while waiting for a Google Hangout to help product-test a prototype for a magazine I subscribe to. (The testing was fun!) It's quite interesting that this story starts off slower than the others, despite one author's urging to get things done -- but overall it feels that the story develops better for it. We have the usual issue with discovering half-way through the year that we're not half-way through the story, but the plot is fairly coherent from the start and it doesn't feel as though we rushed bits; it feels as though we summarised a longer story. Overall, I think we deserve a B+ for this one. Except me, I only get a B since I seem incapable of remembering Nystor's name from one paragraph to the next.
The Dream Kingdom II?
"Let's start with imaginary numbers," said Nystor. "An essential idea in modern physics."
The class went smoothly: Nystor was clearly experienced at controlling students, and even though they knew who he was, Josh, Olivia and Dylan still found themselves following along his discussion with interest. After the class they hestitated, undecided whether they should bolt from the room or hang around until Nystor had left, but he solved their problem by leaving with the first few students and not even glancing their way.
"Wow," said Dylan. "Do you think he even saw us?"
"He should have done," said Olivia. She rolled her eyes. "The fish-folk stuck a trident in his chest, not his eyes."
Dylan's stomach turned. "Thanks for the reminder," he said. "But he's here now, so he must have survived."
"Or he had some magic we didn't know about," said Josh. "We never found out what spell he put on Reimar, did we? He might have had more on himself. What if the tide came in and washed his body out of the anti-magic room, and then his spell activated?"
"He was dead though," said Dylan. "You can't have imagination if you're dead!"
"Not all the magic worked like that," said Olivia.
"Right," said Josh. "The spell on Reimar didn't need King Brekstan stood there all the time maintaining it. And Nystor did some magic twice when we were watching that was done some other way."
"Yeah, but he brought us there because of our imaginations!" Dylan lowered his voice as he realised some of the other students were looking over.
"That's what he said," said Olivia. "But we know he's a liar."
"This is getting us nowhere," said Josh. "We're just complaining that we don't know stuff, and I already know I don't know stuff. We have to tell King Brekstan that Nystor's alive again. Remember how he told us that Nystor keeps making attempts on the Kingdom? This has got to be another one."
"Oh great," said Dylan. "I can't back there, you know? I've tried."
The silence around the group revealed that they'd all been trying it.
"Maybe King Brekstan will pay us a visit and see how we're getting on?" suggested Olivia, though her tone made it clear she didn't believe it.
"Reimar might visit Josh," said Dylan. "They were... closer, I suppose."
"Or we let Nystor teach us how to do it," said Josh. The other two looked at him. "Well, he's got to be here because he's trying to get there himself," said Josh.
"And he's teaching us about imagination to make use of it," said Olivia slowly. "Right, I think you're right. He's making an army out of us so he can invade the Kingdom again."
"Pretty small army," said Josh. "But then... he did just use three of us last time."
"And King Brekstan made it sound like Nystor normally worked alone," said Dylan.
"Ok, well, I've got to get to my French class," said Olivia, looking at her Apple watch. "I guess we keep trying to get back into the Kingdom in our dreams, and we learn from Nystor in the meantime."
"I've got Chemistry," said Dylan.
"Economics," said Josh. "See you all later."
When Dylan walked into his Chemistry class he was quite startled to see that the usual teacher, Miss Charles, was gone and Nystor was standing at the board. He smiled. "You're late, Dylan," he said.
Greg - yes, I do recall you having issues with Nystor's name :)
Okay, this is well past due.
Mine:
Dylan took his seat at the back of class with little more than an apologetic shrug. He didn't trust his voice to work properly. Besides, he was preoccupied with setting an intention not to get caught up in Nystor's teaching this time, not like in the Physics lesson.
Not five minutes later, though, he was busy scribbling notes with the rest of his classmates. Nystor was walking them through chemical formulas that were well beyond anything Miss Charles would have dreamed of teaching them.
"Dreamed..." Dylan muttered, his pen becoming still in his hand. "Son of a..."
"Is there a problem, Dylan?" Nystor called from the chalkboard. Was there a hint of a smile playing around the corner of his lips?
Dylan shook his head, using the question as an excuse to try to get his thoughts back in order. After that he managed to pay more attention to his classmates and gave less heed to what Nystor was saying.
Toward the middle of the lesson Nystor moved through the rows, handing out sheets for each student to conduct an experiment. Dylan took his paper without meeting his gaze, choosing instead to study what they were expected to do.
The first thought that came to his mind was that it looked like a formula for a potion. To what end he couldn't possibly guess, but he gathered the required materials dutifully before returning to his desk. He took his time at first, taking any opportunity to observe how his classmates were getting on with it.
Which was how he realized that each student had been given a slightly different formula.
He's trying to find the right combination Dylan understood, anger beginning to bubble up inside him for the first time since Nystor's arrival.
And that anger only increased when he realized that a part of him really, really wanted his formula to be the correct one.
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