Little beasts (weekend freewrite)

in #freewrite6 years ago

I had this system for getting exactly what I wanted from people. You could call it a gimmick, I suppose, but that would be childish, I think. It's not a gimmick and it's not a trick, it was simply magic, as I always told everyone.

It first began with my mother. She had a habit of doing and specifically asking for things that I did not like or want to do. It wasn't anything I said or did, but she always changed her mind, in the end. I think she saw that, in all honesty, it was for the best. It was about simple things at first, so irrelevant that, at first, I didn't realize I was doing it. She asked me to clean the dishes and I just sat there, alone in my head, and very very quiet, so as not to disturb the beasts who resided there.

But the beasts, see, they had excellent hearing. They generally do, they need it to hear the prey, you understand. So, of course, they heard me. I didn't want them to, because I knew they' d make me do some really bad things.
They felt or smelled my dislike, my uneasiness and they crawled into action. That was one of the horrible things about the monsters in my head – once they got moving, it was really hard to get them to go back.
Very determinate little beasts.
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They crawled, I've always believed, in my mother's head and planted some nasty thoughts in there. The sort only they could do. What I do know for sure is that she changed her mind about the dishes, about the same time I felt them return to my head.
To my cage, as I came to think of it later.

It all went downhill from there.

He was skating on thin ice, that's all I can say. He had been for a long while. Almost for the whole time I'd known him, I'd just never liked him much. And after what he did to Catherine, I began liking him a whole lot less.
You see, despite knowing what resided in my mind, and being fully aware of its power, I was never a dangerous man. I wasn't one of those boys who oozed strength and peril. I wasn't a bully. So naturally, he didn't know to fear me, at first.
That was his mistake.
Mine was not killing him sooner.

I always loved Catherine. She was mine, my beautiful muse. I'd often write her poetry and leave in under her desk, before class. Despite reading them all, she said nothing.
I've always believed that the poems – all very beautiful – came from the beasts, also. Because they were incredible beasts, creatures of great beauty, as well as great danger.
But Catherine never liked my poetry, or at least, never said. So, she fell in love with him, instead. With the plain young man that sat beside her, in class. He never wrote her poetry, though. She fell too in love with him and I felt it, I felt the passion in her veins increasing, as well as the impending danger.
In that last week, I felt I could kill. And I suppose, in a way I did.

It happened one afternoon, in the woods behind her house. I always kept a watch on her. A close watch. But not close enough, it seems.
I was the one who found her. She was crying and she was glad, then, to see me, although I doubt she even knew I was the one who wrote the poems. I carried her back to the house.

I was alone. The beasts had escaped.

The day Sheila brought Hilary to my office, I was stunned. She was just like her mother. Thin, with small bones – petite, I think they call it. And she was blonde with cinnamon brown eyes. I suppose she got her nose from her...from that monster. Nobody ever found him, the beasts made sure of that. He was so, so small, by the end.
I told Sheila to bring her a cocoa. Kids like cocoa don't they? I stared at this young girl, in shock, as she told me about her mother – my precious Catherine – and how highly she had spoken about me. Her savior. The boy who wrote her poems, her protector, I suppose. It seems she had painted quite the nice picture of me in this little girl's head. Her daughter, her beautiful off-spring.
Maybe good things do come from bad happenings. Anyway, that is done now and he is long gone.

And so was she, apparently. The girl – Hillary – had come to me, because her mother had died. The news shattered every bone in my body and went deep into my very soul. I was beyond crying, I had lost even that.
The beasts' blood boiled and howled. MY Catherine had died, and in such silly circumstances. A car accident. It seemed obsolete, impossible that a car could take my precious out of life.
I had failed. I had not protected her as I should've.

As I looked at the little girl, sitting in front of me,I vowed that would not happen again.

Weekend freewrite, for @mariannewest's 5 Minute Freewrite Challenge. This one's a bit more complicated, so I urge you to check it out here and have a little fun.

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"I was beyond crying, I had lost even that."

Man... the writing here is amazing @honeydue. I love the way you describe the beasts, "Because they were incredible beasts, creatures of great beauty, as well as great danger", the way they crawl from his head and are gone and then return, and he seems to have only a general idea of where they've been and what they've done. It's a surreal, not-really-in-his-control superpower, with that delicious kind of ambiguity that makes you want to keep watching it to see how it works and where it goes next.

And then there's the psychological dimension of it... the internal experience, and its reflection in outer reality, are very real to him, but if he were to tell anyone else about it it's unlikely that he would be believed, and possible that he could even be committed, medicated, etcetera.

To me this reads like the beginning of a really fantastic graphic novel. Like the ones Neil Gaiman used to write in the 90's. I could see it continuing from there through all kinds of convolutions in plot. What an interesting and tortured hero/antihero the protagonist makes!

Thank you, I think these are really the nicest words anyone has ever said (well, written) about my work :O I am so happy to read this! And you describe it so...well and so..I don't know, you just pay so much attention to detail, which I love, I mean even I learned a few things about the story reading your comment...

Reading back, I can barely recognize the words, strange how stories just leave your head once you write them down...

o me this reads like the beginning of a really fantastic graphic novel. Like the ones Neil Gaiman used to write in the 90's.

You have no idea how much this means to me. Neil Gaiman is one of my all time favorite writers. Ever. I've always considered him a master of crafting words and the comparison just fills my heart with joy <3
Thank you!!
Also, thank you for the resteem :D Much appreciated :)

Oh that's so awesome!!! I hesitated to make the comparison, because I'm always a little leary of doing that, not wanting to compare one artist's work to another's in case it turns out they don't relate... so I'm happy it fits. I really feel the resonance between his writing and yours! Big fan of both.

Somebody compared the vocals on one of my songs to early Robert Smith (The Cure) recently... He is one of my idols so I think I somewhat understand the feeling :D

I know, I'm often surprised by the words I've written, when I go back to them... weird feeling lol.

Nice! It's not easy to do a weekend challenge freewrite. You managed to succed with a great imagination and a very good style

It really isn't, although I find it's more fun than the normal freewrites, in a way. Thank you very much :)

This was very interesting. I wonder if in some twisted way, the beasts got into Catherine's other guy's head. That would be a really interesting plot twist. The beasts were a really cool concept - loved the freewrite :D

Yep, that's where I was going with it, but you know how it is with these freewrites - you only have so much time.
Thank you ;)

Yeah, and there are plot twists! I did get a sense of it (but I did not want to assume so).

In that last week, I felt I could kill. And I suppose, in a way I did.

and

I was alone. The beasts had escaped.

Had the beasts done something so far-fetched they couldn't return to the cage? (Possibly they just were there and did not communicate). but the "I could kill, and I suppose I did" kind of sentence does speak a lot. Something big happened and my mind did assume that it went that route. It did not to be said so explicitly - the protagonist was far more dangerous than he knew.

Yeah, you know, your comment really makes me happy, because I've been...gathering information, shall we say - about building story and I try not to give anything away. I don't want to write things like And I killed him. - I don't want to explain it, I want to show it, to hint it. To make things be understood...
So thank you!

Personally, I think the beasts would always be there, but it's really up to the reader ;)

Yeah. I just didn't want to assume, you know. I don't value myself as someone who understands every plot etc.

I love the room for interpretation. Maybe I'll believe he and the beasts became one. It's the fun of reading <3

WOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!

great freewrite and GREAT story!!!

Really a FAB read!!

Thank you :) I'm glad you liked it!

Um, wow, that's awesome! Make sure you enter next time I offer a writing prompt contest for writers! Very nice. I just stopped by to say hi, thanks for your recent support and leave a comment and upvote! Stop by anytime! @markrmorrisjr

Oh, thank you! That is very nice of you :O I shall ;)

That one carried a lot of weight, it was dark, but very well written, looking forward to reading some more of your freewrites

Thank you very much :)

It's so much more satisfying to be able to flesh out a story better on the weekend! The poetry, the beasts, the magic and the fury were all perfectly woven into this story! Hillary will be well protected, I'm sure!

Aww, you beat me to today's prompt! Nice work!

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