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Even Fairy Tales Aren't Perfect - Prose Repetition
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Even Fairy Tales Aren't Perfect - Prose Repetition |
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration 
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This is actually the introduction for story I'm currently working on (almost said "prose story" just to irk Kamla with the tautology.) Anyway, I'm experimenting with this piece, trying something different from what I usually do with prose. I'm trying to be humorous! (I know, go figure!) I wanted to shear away from the "dark side" a little and go for a more "Douglas Adams" type style. It's supposed to be light, witty and somewhat childish. Always with my poetry, but especially with my prose, I'm interested in hearing comments, critiques, etc. ©2000 Christopher Ward Everyone in the world has a story, an explanation of whom they are and how they came to be. Many are content with the stories they have. In fact, many will tell you their stories with only a few regrets. But most aren’t satisfied. Most have many things they would wish to change. Casey was one of the latter. He too had a story. But if you asked him to relay it, you’d better be prepared for a tale of woe and misery, regrets and wishes. He was satisfied with nothing. He had a comely wife, a comfortable job, a dog and a sofa. He had friends with whom he could talk to and watch football games while drinking beer on a Monday night. Two weeks out of the year he was able to take a trip to somewhere exotic and while away the time in relative luxury. But he wasn’t satisfied. He was one of those whom as a child held his dreams between the cover of a book. He always wanted to be a gallant knight, saving the princess from some supposed danger or such. He wanted the castle upon the emerald hilltop next to the ocean. In short, Casey wanted to live the fairy tale, the perfect life. And since he didn’t have that “perfect life,” Casey wasn’t happy. So, once upon a time, while Casey was on his way to his not-so-perfect job, something happened. He was driving in his not-so-perfect car when someone jumped out in front, causing him to swerve into a light pole on the side of the road. Dazed, and not a little confused, Casey got out of his not-so-perfect car, stumbling around, and in general looking out of it. After a few moments of stumbling around, Casey fell flat onto the seat of his not-so-perfect pants and simply sat there, mumbling about his not-so-perfect life. It wasn’t long before the man he’d almost hit with his not-so-perfect car came over to check on him. Casey was complaining, as he was wont to do on every occasion he got, about his not-so-perfect life. The man, a nondescript sort of character, listened to Casey for several minutes, with his head tilted at a nondescript sort of angle. Casey, seeing that no matter how nondescript, he had an audience, began to tell his tale from the beginning. He told the attentive, nondescript man about his not-so-perfect childhood, his not-so-perfect teenage years, and all the way up to his not-so-perfect current life. Then for the first time in his not-so-perfect life, Casey ran out of things to complain about. He’d never had such an attentive audience! Usually, people would walk away after the first few minutes of his not-so-perfect telling. When Casey finally ran down and was quite, the nondescript man asked him a question. “So, basically,” the man said in a nondescript tone. “You’re not happy.” Casey looked up from his not-so-perfect eyes with a look of amazement. “You understand!” He exclaimed. The nondescript man nodded nondescriptively. “I do,” he said. “And what would you say if I told you I could help you change all that?” Casey mimed a not-so-perfect look of total disbelief. “Seriously,” the man said with a nondescript smile. “I have the power to let you rewrite your not-so-perfect life however you want. You will have the chance to choose what you want. You can choose everything. Everything.” Casey’s not-so-perfect look of total disbelief hadn’t changed. “Very well,” the nondescript man said. He then snapped his nondescript fingers. Casey looked around with his not-so-perfect eyes and discovered that he and the nondescript man were now in a nondescript chamber. The nondescript chamber was walled in by nondescript stone and cluttered by a variety of nondescript items. The only thing of interest (aside from the fact that they had been outside just a moment before) was a nondescript window framing a blue sky more vivid than any Casey had seen in the entirety of his not-so-perfect life. The nondescript man watched with interest as Casey slowly stood on his not-so-perfect legs and approached the window. He smiled quite descriptively (sort of an animalistic grin type of smile) when Casey stood rigidly before the window in shock. Out and below the nondescript window spread the most wondrous scene Casey had ever seen in the whole of his not-so-perfect life. A lush emerald valley raced out from the base of whatever building they were in. Waterfalls, glassy-clear and bright as flowing diamonds spotted the hills forming the valley on the left and right. From Casey’s viewpoint, he could see at least a dozen on each side. Every one formed into a glimmering pool at the base of the falling water. The mirror-surfaces of the pools begged to be swam in. And more! Casey’s not-so-perfect eyes drew away from the beauty of the valley and locked onto the amazing structure nestled at that base of the most distant waterfall on the right. A castle! He almost exclaimed with joy as soon as he saw the magnificent stone building with its parapets and pennants. His hands rubbed gleefully together in a not-so-perfect way as he watched the drawbridge slowly rise into position. Shaking his not-so-perfect head, Casey turned away from the beautiful scene before he could see any more wonders. “What’s the catch?” The nondescript man didn’t even pretend to not know what Casey was talking about. “In truth m’friend,” the nondescript man said in a sincere tone. “There is no catch. Not from me at least.” “What do you mean?” Casey asked nervously. “I mean,” the man said. “The only catch is that you have to live with the consequences of what you create. You can make your life. You can choose who shares it. You can choose the background, players and play. But you have to live within that play. You have one chance. I would suggest you make the best of it, because you’ll get no more.” “Ok,” Casey said, his manner becoming more confident and less not-so-perfect. “Let me get this straight. I get to create my life as I want it. I can choose the people, the setting, everything. And the only catch is that I have to live with it? What kind of catch is that?” He laughed. The nondescript man shrugged. “The rules are the rules. I don’t make them.” But Casey didn’t even hear the man. He was already caught in the excitement of a brand new life, a “perfect” life. “I’ll do it!” Casey exclaimed, turning on his not-so-perfect legs toward the nondescript man. The man smiled, then nodded. “Very well.” He set Casey down in a nondescript chair. He told Casey then, to “build” his world. Needless to say, Casey wrote himself in as the perfect hero, the “Prince Charming.” He had the perfect princess chosen, as well as the perfect castle where he would live. He’d chosen the perfect imagery which formed a perfect background. He wrote in the perfect characters to perfectly integrate with his perfect life. It was all perfect, almost like the fairy tales he’d read as a child... only better! Now he had the chance to take the parts he liked from one and combine them with ones from another. He did so with a fervor unlike anything he’d approached before. All thoughts of “not-so-perfect” left his mind as he focused entirely on the “perfection” of what he was doing. It took most of the day and a good portion of the night before Casey finally proclaimed himself satisfied, for the first time in his life, with what he’d “created.” The nondescript man nodded nondescriptively and snapped his fingers again. As the world faded around Casey - Now named Sir Hector - he heard the words of the nondescript man following him as if through a tube. “Now you must live with what you have made. Fare thee well, or fare thee bad, you must fare now with what you have.” Sir Hector smiled a brilliant, perfect smile as he closed his perfectly blue eyes and drifted backward into a perfect slumber. [This message has been edited by Christopher (edited 08-21-2000).] |
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| © Copyright 2000 C.G. Ward - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Poertree Senior Member
since 1999-11-05
Posts 1359UK |
ok C.. i admit i haven't read yet ..but you just got me in a silly mood (which is unwise) ..LOL... er... are you feeling ok btw?? .. coming in here looking like that and posting a story about fairies ..omggg  |
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration |
*grooooan* And I have to go to work now... not fair, so not fair... |
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Poertree Senior Member
since 1999-11-05
Posts 1359UK |
heh .. tough .. heh |
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Severn Member Rara Avis
since 1999-07-17
Posts 7704 |
Don't irk the K girl...or she won't comment! I did think of one minor anomaly...how come Sir Bors...oops..Sir Perciv...sheesh I mean Lancelot, nope - Gawain ummm...Galahad? Oh it's Sir Hecty... How come he's a prince then? Knights aren't princes.... C'mon C - if you're gonna be cliched then you have to do the full shmaboodle...and he really should be Prince Hecty in my op. Nice to see you ditched the crystal and did the hyphen too... BUT why isn't there MORE of it yet...hmmmmm?  K"He looked across the silky surface of the Severn... it was a famously difficult river with fierce tides..." From Jack Maggs |
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Dark Angel Member Patricius
since 1999-08-04
Posts 10095 |
Christopher,I really enjoyed this here your fairy tale I suppose there is always something that we'd like to change in our lives. And Poor Casey was so miserable, glad he got a happy ending, but will it be a happy beginning in his new perfect life? I suppose being a perfect life it should make him happy yes? We will see! Fare thee well, or fare thee bad, you must fare now with what you have.” Will there be a Part 2? Would love to see if his new perfect life, is just that. Oh and I loved the repititon of, not-so-perfect Thanks Christopher enjoyed it much. Maree [This message has been edited by Dark Angel (edited 08-28-2000).] |
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