The exercise:
Write about: insecurity.
Today? Today was pretty uneventful. So we'll just move on to tomorrow.
Mine:
Doubts, fears, worries?
Cover them up,
Cover them up.
Hide those tears.
Wear the mask,
Wear the mask.
You don't sweat,
You don't blink,
You don't ask.
You're too cool,
You're too calm,
You know what's up.
You're so thin,
Your sly grin,
That perfect skin.
Don't let them in,
Don't let her in,
Don't let love in.
4 comments:
Background: This is a portion of an installment in my ongoing serial short story, The Snow Monsters. The heroine has left her children behind in the city and tracked the snow monsters to their lair in the glacier, in search of her husband, Erik. You can read the earlier parts of this story on my blog Lizbeth's Garden, search for Snow Monsters.
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Erik pulled me towards him and I belly-crawled down a slight slope and into a snow cave within the walls of the crevasse. The cave burrowed into the crevasse wall, turning as it went. Within moments, we were out of sight of the snow monsters, although we could still hear and smell them.
So NaNoWriMo fell apart quick...wasnt my year. Darn work....
Anyways, finally able to do some writing today:
He was a bit afraid of himself. Of what he could do. If he got his hands on her. Or him. Or the other him. There were a lot of hims. He once regarded himself as a guy who knew things. Especially about himself. Now…not so much. Not even himself. Especially not himself. He blamed her. Should he? He wasn’t sure. She had done this. And that. And him. Of course. Always a him. Now he sat in the dark. But it could have been the light. It didn’t matter. It was the same. He didn’t know what he would do. To all of them.
@Morganna: that might be short but it's evocative! I might suggest it's a cliff-hanger, but bad puns are Marc's department ;-)
@David: your protagonist feels agitated and jittery; that's a great use of short, fast sentences to set a mood and reveal character. I think it's a shame that you've not got far with NaNoWriMo yet -- but there are still twelve days left!
@Marc: Also quite an edgy, jittery poem! I like the way the last stanza reflects the first two with its near repetitions, and the poem runs through very quickly, like an anxious voice in the back of the mind. Great work :)
On a NaNoWriMo note I reached 50,000 yesterday so my only goal now is to actually finish the novel before the end of November!
Insecurity
Charles Asciugimento, Head of Building Security, looked around in disgust. This was clearly the definition of insecurity: the doors were wide open, there were no CCTV cameras anywhere, no guards, and -- he poked a teacup experimentally -- no hidden alarms, booby-traps or tasers.
He sighed.
The only way to make people take security seriously was to exploit when they left things so weakly guarded. He took a box of matches from his pocket, struck one, and dropped it on a piece of crepe paper on the floor as he walked out.
"Do you like the Wendy House?" asked the annoying woman who'd showed him in. "It's the pride of our nursery."
Charles tased her, just to make a point, and walked off. She deserved it for allowing such insecurity in the first place.
Morganna - that's a delightfully terrifying scene, even without being familiar with the snow monsters. I think the name alone is enough for now :)
David - ah, that's a shame! It's annoying when the world won't cooperate with our NaNo ambitions, isn't it?
Anyway, glad you're back at it. That's a brilliant little piece, full of character.
Greg - congrats on the 50,000 mark! I do hope you're able to finish the story as well, as I know how annoying it can be when you don't (see my last attempt).
Ah, Charles. Don't ever change :D
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