I’ll be taking a BRIEF break from writing
a fantasy, a science fiction, and a horror novel online – to just provide you
with an trope, a current even, and a shove in the right direction. The reason?
I’m a school counselor and this year I am responsible for the class of 2014. As
events heat up, I need to use my energy to send them off well! So, until June
5, 2014, I will be in Guidance Counselor Mode…
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.
F Trope: good
versus evil
Current Event:
Khloe Garcia
shook her head and said, “I don’t think there’s anything to the whole idea that
there’s even such a thing as ‘good versus evil’.”
Glaring at her, Santiago
Tremblay said, “You’re not serious, are you?”
“Why wouldn’t I
be? Look around you. Nothing is clearly good or evil. Every single time we’ve
called something ‘evil’, it’s all a matter of perspective. One side of the
disagreement says they’re good and the other side’s evil. The other side…”
“What was the
good side of Nazi Germany?”
She rolled her
eyes, “That’s history. This is the middle of the 21st Century.
Socially, we’ve evolved far away from any kind of clear demarcation of ‘good’
and evil’.”
“I’ll give you
five seconds to tell me the ‘good’ side of Nine-Eleven-Oh-One.”
“History. There’s
nothing comparable since the turn of the century.”
“So Humanity has
evolved socially that much in forty-three years?”
“Sure. It’s
possible...”
“Unlikely.” He paused
then said, “So you wouldn’t have any trouble summoning a demon then? Because...”
“Demons are
mythological creatures no more real than Godzilla...”
He pulled a
heavy book from the backpack he’d dropped on her roommate’s bed when he came
into her dorm room and set it down on her desk, letting it fall open. “So you
won’t mind if I read this curse from this book. It was in the ‘Religion’
section of the old library – you know, the place they kept books before ebooks
replaced everything. I bought it. Paid the librarian four thousand...”
She hesitated
then said, “Read your stupid curse and we’ll see how real it is.”
He shrugged and
read the words casually. He waited. She waited. Nothing happened. “See what I
mean?”
He nodded
slowly. “OK. I’ll just summon a demon for fun, then.” He bent over the book and
when he stood up, he looked up at her, then down at the book and began to read.
Not casually this time, but with a voice changed. A voice that spoke of
education. Money. A voice rich in timbre and facile with the words it read.
The floor of the
room began to tremble...
Names: ♀ Canada, Mexico; ♂ Mexico, Canada
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