Each Tuesday,
rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and
lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I
can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a
second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include
the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc) and then a thought or
two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize,
chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if
you let me know if anything comes of them.
SF Trope: “door”
between “worlds”
THE LION, THE
WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE and TUNNEL IN THE SKY were a couple of books I read
many years ago that introduced me to the idea of being able to skip from our
world to another instantaneously.
That one was
fantasy and the other “science fiction” made no difference to me as a kid. That
such a concept might exist in science DOES make a difference here!
Based on the
reading I’ve assigned above (remember I’m a teacher at heart!), here’s the idea
for today:
Red-headed Liam
O’Donnell has exactly the fiery temper you’d expect of him, even at
twelve-years-old. Of course, this makes him nearly impossible to adopt out when
his parents – who are the only people on Earth who can really control him – are
killed in a car accident. Plus the fact that he’s almost 13. And Orange Irish.
Not a pretty
combination no matter how you look at it. Obviously, he’ll disappear into some
sort of magic portal and help to defeat King James (obviously!) and bring glory
onto himself…
Until he’s out biking
late and angry (his usual mood lately) in the country. Biking off trail and
uphill, letting the effort burn out the anger, he tops a crest and finds he’s
looking down on some sort of hat-shape UFO, pulsing green in the darkness.
There’s a door open in the side and he thinks he sees someone moving around
outside.
Leaving his
bike, he goes closer. A human male – whose hair is so black in the green light,
Liam’s sure it’s red – is arguing with…a raccoon. The pair of them are
shouting, the man in American English and the raccoon in a language Liam can’t
understand, but is sure is a language because of the rhythm of the sounds.
Suddenly both of
them turn to look at him and he realizes he’s slid half-way downhill. He
scrambles to get back up but the two sprint uphill faster than he can climb and
they grab him. Liam lashes out wildly, hitting both of them until the man puts
him in a full-nelson wrestling hold. Liam kicks until the man says, “If you don’t
stop moving, I’ll have the raccoon chew your leg off at the knee.”
To emphasize the
point, the raccoon lunges forward and his mouth engulfs Liam’s knee. He
twitches and the teeth bear down. A hair more and they’ll pierce his skin. He
shouts, “All right! All right!”
The man says, “I
think the gate attracted exactly what we need, Krrrrsnatcheerrr: young,
attitude, angry teen with no connections.”
The raccoon
said, “That’s what you always say and it always turns out badly, Carlos.”
You get to take
it from here…
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