Sunday, February 27, 2011

Why Children Should Not Play With Demons

Right now I'm trying my hand in something I've never done before: writing fiction. The book is based off of a story by one of my best friends. She originally wrote the story to tease the silly girls in love with vampires and demons, but I fell in love with the characters and concept. We've reshaped the plot til it's almost unrecognizable, and we may be switching to first person narrative. I'm very excited, and I'm planning on posting portions as I go. So, here is the prologue (still in third person) for you enjoyment!

Prologue
Myra was named after her great grandmother. Not the beautiful, and talented one that 80 years earlier had charmed her way into the heart of every young man in town. No, that honor was reserved for her younger sister, Clara. Myra was named after the great grandmother with wanderlust. The ancestor who had zigzagged her way across the American West before finally settling on the Oregon coast. That is, if you could call it "settle." Even through her old age, she spent most of her time roaming through unknown parts of the forest. That's why no one was surprised when they searched the woods for four days and still couldn't find her body.

     In fact, her disappearance was almost expected by the town folk. It was even a bit of a joke. "Old Myra spent so much time with the trees, she just up and turned into one". Unfortunately, Myra's favorite granddaughter, Ramona, had recently grasped the concept of death, and was terrified of the forest from then on. After the birth of her first daughter, whom she named Myra, Ramona's protective instincts kicked in and she declared a "no woods" rule for the family. So, despite living near 630,000 acres of national forest, Myra's family never went on hikes, and definitely never went camping.

Still, it was hard to keep Myra away from the forest behind the house; she always managed to creep right up to the border during play-time. She had natural courage and curiosity that wasn't deterred by even the worst of spankings. Ramona realized she'd have to pull out the big guns: The Brothers Grimm. After just a few nights of bloody German fairy tales, Myra developed a most intense phobia of the forest. Nothing and nobody could compel her to go near it, even though it was the quickest route from town to her house. 

     However, on one particularly dark and rainy September evening, Myra found herself crossing the road between town and the forest, more afraid of what of what she was walking away from than what she was walking into. Forest dangers and dead ancestors were the furthest thing from Myra's mind at the moment. Currently, she was so filled with fear that the only coherent thought in her mind was "GET HOME." And it so happened that the thing between herself and her home, was the very forest she had been taught to avoid.



1 comment:

Mama D said...

This is really good. Way to leave us hanging... I want to read more!