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. Regarding
horror, I found this insight in line with WIRED FOR STORY: “ We seek out…stories
which give us a place to put our fears…Stories that frighten us or unsettle us
- not just horror stories, but ones that make us uncomfortable or that strike a
chord somewhere deep inside - give us the means to explore the things that
scare us…” – Lou Morgan (The Guardian)
H Trope:
immortality
Current Event: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortal_DNA_strand_hypothesis
While the
Wikipedia entry explaining the Immortal DNA strand isn’t exactly a current
event, the second entry IS and though it is a medical paper and written in medical
language, it happens to be significant to the life of our family.
To make this
understandable to lay people, I’d like to use those worn-out tropes of horror:
vampires.
Let’s just say
that the vampire DNA strand is immortal, but because so many vampires were
killed in the 19th and early 20th century by various
vampire slayers such as Koshiko Kamiyama, John Averill, Twelve String Digby (http://www.fvza.org/tophunters.html),
Van Helsing and Buffy, it has become widely spread and doesn’t produce vampires
any more.
It’s lengendarily
reported that the vampire slayings were in response to an outbreak of vampires
in the 17th and 18th Centuries (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-real-vampire-slayers-397874.html).
It is the 21st
Century now and people travel everywhere all the time. A chance college meeting
leads to romance for a couple with old, Eastern European roots – Curtis Allen
is the result and he discovers his vampiric leanings not long after his mom is
transferred to the 3M headquarters in Minneapolis. He attends a prestigious
private high school…but the story begins when his dad has to tell him about the
birds, the bees and the bloodlust…
“Listen, Vlad,
you’re thirteen now, there are things you need to know about yourself…”
Vlad snorted,
“Dad, I know all about sex, so you don’t…”
“I know you know
all about sex! This has nothing to do with sex. It has to do with a
family…problem.”
Vlad frowned and
said, “What are you talking about?”
His dad cleared
his throat. “Listen, son, this is hard for me to talk about, but it has to do
with when you get passionate with a girl…”
Vlad laughed.
“Dad, you know I’m gay, right?”
His dad sighed, “A
father can hope, can’t he? It doesn’t matter the orientation. It’s just that
when you get passionate, you can…nibble on people.”
Vlad had no idea
why it happened, but he was abruptly so embarrassed, his pale skin flushed red.
His throat got tight, and he suddenly found that his hands, sitting in his lap,
were worthy of intense study. He managed to croak, “Dad…”
“Listen, son, I
can’t sugar coat this, so I’m just gonna say it out loud…”
“Don’t, Dad!”
“You’re a vampire,
son, and when you ‘nibble’ on people, you’re passing the virus to them.”
Of all the
conversations he’d imagined having with Dad, this was one he’d never thought to
rehearse. He opened his mouth then closed it. Finally he managed, “You mean
anyone that…has ever had a bite…is gonna become a vampire?”
Names: ♂ Romania
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