SILVER LINING #23
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We're nearing the end, Cloudheads :( It has been such an awesome journey, and I'm glad that I've had the pleasure of spending with you all. I'll save the thanksgiving post for the last entry, and I just wanted to use this post as my last explanatory one.
A Day in the Clouds has provided me the opportunity to create a world that coexisted with reality. The story allowed me to flex my literary muscle and write in the first person for the first time in my writing career. It allowed me to write a politically charged narrative that hid itself between an intricate layer of highly interwoven fiction. Most importantly, it allowed me to give back to people in need without expecting anything in return. But, I'll expand more on this in the last episode.
So, in this chapter, we see Ledd perform an escape of sorts. When I was a child, I was deathly afraid of the dark. The shadows that hung on the walls always seem to play tricks on me. There's just something about darkness that was unnerving. But, that was then. Nowadays, I am vengeance! I am the night!
Really though, that fear had roots of deep-seated trauma. So, if there's a psychiatrist out there who takes STEEM as payment, please hit me up on the comments section.
Ledd's more corageous than I ever was though. If it were me, I wouldn't even have traversed those stairs. I'd rather suffer through being a giant than to journey in total darkness. I just adopted the dark, I wasn't born in it or molded by it. I know that darkness isn't my ally. I'd rather be blinded by light, than to wade around the dark aimlessly.
Okay, enough Batman quotes. Batman isn't my favorite DC character anyway.
One would argue that it wasn't courage that he felt, rather his actions were spurred on by ignorance. But, isn't courage but a triumph against fear by ignoring its existence? There are so many things that can be said about this, so feel free to discuss it in the comments section.
Filipinos, especially in the province and particularly the males, usually stay up late at night just trading stories, or playing cards, over alcohol and snack, which are called pulutan (from the word "pulot", which means "to pick"). It usually happens late at night until the sun rises. That's the activity that the night watch giants were engaging in. It just fitted so nice with the story.
@verbal-d, @dreemit and ryivhnn were right when they guessed that the creature with the chains is a dog. I think everyone knew that as well, yes? It's a case of everyone but the main character knowing something. I wanted to present a lingering "final boss" that wasn't a new character when Ledd encounters it. That's why I've been teasing it since the earlier chapters. You just know that there's going to be a confrontation eventually. I just hope that you weren't disappointed with it. His name was Hash, and I don't have a picture of him because he had already been given away. Keep in mind that it's already late at night, and I can't have a dog biting a young kid, now can I? Well, I guess I can since this is fiction!
While we're on the topic of the time setting, what are you feeling at that time of your day? Are you out and about partying, or are you curled up in your bed snoozing? As Ted Mosby famously said, "nothing good happens after 2 A.M."
That holds true for my case. Just a few years ago, I was a night owl. It was my attempt to deny my inherent introversion. I hung out with a group of extroverts, trying to adapt to their nature. It turned into a grand failure, but at least I have tons of stories that came out of the experience. I had performed jumping jacks in the middle of the road, I've been chased out by the owner of a drinking establishment because I drank in his glass, I shared a taxi with a transvestite hooker, I've accidentally stopped a mugging, and those are just the tip of the iceberg! I have tons more crazier stories haha! But, this post isn't about me, I just wanted to mention that in case it would entice anyone of drunk experiences posts.
Ledd has had many brushes with death, and he had been very lucky. Older people in my country would say that he's being watched over by angels. The same can be said about me, as I have tons of stories regarding close calls. But, again, this post isn't about me. Have you had any brushes with death? How did you feel after? Let me know in the comments section, I would love to hear your tale!
With that, I wrap the second to the last :'( edition of SILVER LINING. You've already read this much, might as well read the last chapter of A Day in the Clouds, right?
Voting for witnesses is free, but your one vote could dictate the course of this platform.
Vote for @lukestokes' witness lukestokes.mhth to help Steemit stop the Replicant threat
One doesn't negate the other. Yes, his understanding of the situation was , shall we say, less than complete. But that doesn't make him any less courageous.
Ah, those dark hours before the dawn, when some may be soundly sleeping but others might be in bed but not asleep. Those hours when sometimes our demons come to make us miserable and remind us of every bad thing we ever did, and what terrible people we are. Things we would (hopefully) never think about ourselves during the day.
Yes, I'm sure our angels know each other and have those conversations. But they also love us to bits and only want what's best for us.
Yeah, I agree. I was merely pointing out ignorant sentiment that I've heard and seen in the past, made by people who have very little empathy.
I want to agree, but if you were in my angel's shoes, you would probably be shaking your head as well because of all the antics I get involved in haha!
The last chapter is going to be posted in less than a day :'(
Hey bro, how does one sectionalize and highlight quotes like you and @kiwideb are doing? I always wanted to ask but get distracted and forget.
Use markdown's quote functionality, brother. Specifically, input "> " (greater than character then one space) at the beginning of a line to make it a blockquote.
Thank you for your good post. I am very pleased to read good posts in feeds.
Thanks @nezaigor! I hope you get the chance to read the story itself. The semi-edited version is now up ready for viewing :D
I'll try on how much Google will allow me to translate. I'm not English-speaking.
I'm not a native English speaker as well. Take your time with it. I've been told by a non-native English speaker friend that it's great for practicing English. I really made it a point to write plainly so that it would be accessible for all levels and ages. If my humble tale would help you to better comprehend English, then I would be a very happy man :D
Thank you
You're welcome, man!
@jedau Good :)
Alright then! Feel free to comment on the chapters if you get the chance to read them :D
Wonderful silver lining to bring things near to a saddening close :( This brings back some good memories. As far as near death experiences, it seems I'll have to reintroduce some very old stories that I first had posted when I came to Steemit, but here is one, I almost fell off of a hundred foot plus cliff down to my death towards jagged rocked shorelines from the top of a national park I was exploring with my wife. Needless to say, I have never neared another cliff again.
Oh shoot! Man, the world would be such a sadder place had you fallen to your doom right there. I'm glad that this is the reality we're living in now, and I wouldn't need to imagine a world without my bro. You have made such a massive impact on many lives, so everything would look totally whack without your hand in those events.
Excellent post dear friend @jedau, all normal people many times in the course of our lives we eat in nocturnal birds, although it is beautiful, it is not the right way to live, we must recognize that great experience is acquired, which can only To appreciate the people who at some point in their lives have passed through them. Congratulations dear friend, I admire your work.
I wish you a beautiful weekend
Greetings to all your loved ones
Thank you, my friend! I agree with you wholeheartedly. I appreciate your continued support, and I hope you had a great weekend as well :D
Come here to wish you a beautiful week full of success !!!!!!!!!!!!!
The final chapter is up, so fingers crossed it'll earn quite a few $$$ :D Thank you, my friend! I wish you the same level of success!
I actually read this last night but my husband rushed me out the door because we were meeting with friends. I can't believe there's only one chapter left, nooooo, it can't be over!
Well, I suppose it will be okay if it's over as long as you keep writing things for me to read!! And obviously I'm going to read the whole thing again, but that probably won't take me more than one day :)
Do you know @dianargenti? She said she lives in the Philippines and they have been doing some meetups. She seems very nice! I told her about you--actually you can read the comments in my meetup post ;)
You have to tell me more of your stories about being an extrovert, haha! We'll talk in chat :)
Do I have anything left in the tank? We shall see. We shall see... Currently, I've been slacking off on writing (six months without any new material), but hopefully I could get around to it once the series wraps up. Hopefully.
It's the first I've heard of her, but thanks for spreading the word out about me haha! You've been my most ardent publicist on here I really wish I was able to give you some STEEM for it :D Reading through it though, it seems she's based in Cebu, which is a long way away from where I live haha hulkbuster and surpassinggoogle's meetups are the ones that I'm able to go to because of the proximity :)
Oh the stories of my extroverted adventures could fill up an entire book, if not an entire series hahaha! :D
Hopefully indeed!
I would not accept steem for that! You're my friend, of course I'll spread the word about you :)
Oh, that would be very cool if you went to a meetup with Terry, I would love to see that post!
That's a series I would read ;)
There were heavy discussions regarding that, but ever since Steemit's new marketing team was set up, the prior plans fell through. We live just an hour away from each other, so a meetup is inevitable in the future :)
As always, I am enjoying every chapter of this story. You are a phenomenal storyteller, brother, and you are an exceptional friend. Thank you, for all of it, and for sharing this story with us in the first place. :)
As for near-death experiences? I used to work security for a night club here in Montgomery. I worked outside in the parking lot, making sure people didn't get rowdy and moving people that had been kicked out of the club left the property. Despite the general heightened alert I was on when I worked, it wasn't all that bad. Then, one night, a pair of club-goers left the night club with a drink in their hand.
You wouldn't think this would be an issue, but in the city of Montgomery, AL, the establishment can be fined up to $30,000 if police catch a patron with an alcoholic beverage outside of the night club. Me and another guard, Jeremy, confronted the two guys and told them to hand over the cup. They repeatedly refused and joked about how they were just going to keep ignoring us. I wasn't armed at the time as I hadn't yet received my concealed permit from the county, but Jeremy always carried a pistol on him. We finally got the cup away from them and told them to leave. Jeremy, being a hotheaded jackass, decided to get into a scuffle with one over some words.
The guy who was shoving Jeremy pushed him back and reached into his waistband. That's when I knew it was about to happen. I didn't even have a chance to turn and run for cover before the pistol was out and the shooting started. Thankfully, the shooter was an awful marksman and caught me in the foot instead of somewhere more vital. Still, it could have ended much, much worse.
Ah, shoot! Oh, wait, no. Bad choice of words, sorry! Man that's ... I don't even have a gun story in my list of tales. Wow! That was very intense. I'm glad you came out of it alive to tell the tale, brother. You were fortunate that it was only the foot. What happened to the assailant? Did they at least spend some time in jail?
I was too caught up with your story, I kept re-reading it. Thank you for your compliments, man. I hope you find the time to one day catch up on everything.
The assailant was never caught. Montgomery PD apparently didn't think that attempted murder warranted enough of a response, nevermind the fact that the guy who shot me kept on going out to night clubs. I ran across him a few months later at another club that I was working security at. Saw him in passing and didn't get a chance to track him down, otherwise I would have placed him under arrest right then and there.
I've got a long list of stuff to catch up on, but I'm working on it :D
Oh man, that's too bad. That's why people ridicule the criminal justice system. If they don't take attempted murder or even physical injury as a serious offense, then I don't know what qualifies as assault. Shaking my head,
Great Article ... Thanks For Sharing ...
Thank you! I hope you get the chance to read the story :D
LoL your hints of experiences with extroverted friends, that sounds like a semi-fictional-part-memoir waiting to happen XD Or perhaps an anthology XD
I think I've nearly died twice, once I didn't brea my neck when I probably really should have (in hindsight now thinking about how I fell), and one time where I ran across a flooded concrete floor to turn off a massively leaking washing machine at the power point getting electrocuted every step of the way. I haven't worked out if I need to be alive for something or if I'm just good at not dying or some combination thereof ;D Either way I didn't really notice til afterwards XP
The "boss battle" was in no way disappointing, there was that reaction of sympathy for everyone quite simply not getting it (the brave little warrior not getting it because he lives in his own version of reality and the hellbeast not understanding what it did to warrant getting nearly decapitated and viento'd out of existence). The best part about it is that it's totally not what one would expect from a boss battle ;)
The way I approached the experience was similar to a thesis study haha! Some scenes are a bit extreme, so I'm not sure if I would be able to publish it as a whole.
One has to wonder if the notion of "being watched by angels" is real. If so, do you think our angels know each other?
Your Angel: "G'day, mate! How's your charge doing these days?"
My Angel: "He's ugh I can't even (shakes head)"
Suffice to say, my angel would be none too pleased at all the shenanigans I get myself into. I mean, people around me already cringe, what more would a supernatural being whose soul purpose is to safeguard me.
It's so nice of you to say that, mate :') My process there was that I mapped out the different predictable scenarios, then I thought of the ones that weren't included. I love boss battles that don't have a definitive conclusion, but I totally get that there needs to be one, so I tried to find a balance for it.
My friend, you do not look like a drunk. Always imagine you as someone very correct. I want to know more about the transvestite!!!! Were you very drunk?... Hmmmm, haha... It's better that not tell this to your fiancée. haha...Have a great week dear jedau!
Ahahaha! You know, that time in the cab, I was coming from my fiancée's home after I escorted her back haha I was texting her the whole time and she couldn't stop laughing. It was very awkward, and, now that I think about it, a situation that was quite scary. When I boarded the cab, I hadn't noticed that there was another passenger at the back. The driver asked me if it was okay because where we're dropping her off (the red light district) was on the way to my condo. By that time, I had been waiting 2 hours for a ride, so I had no choice.
I'm not a drunk, my friend. In fact, I haven't drunk a sip of alcohol for years now. It was all part of an experiment with extroversion haha!