MAPS

So as I’ve said before I started writing again. I’ve got an idea for a story and what you are about to read is the opening chapter. I think. It’s by no means finished and it wont read like this on final draft but this is what I’m starting with. Any feetback at all would be great.

_________________________________

The climb, so far had been the most arduous things he’d ever undertaken. For some reason he had imagined the journey to the top to be filled with lifts and solid stairs but in reality, it had been fraught with danger almost the entire way. And he wasn’t even at the top yet.

When planning for this journey William sought advice and guidance from anyone willing to offer it and the only thing he found out for sure was that everyone’s assent into the heavens is completely different. No two stories were ever even remotely similar. One person he spoke to, a strong but thin moustache man named Edgar, had given him one good piece of positive guidance. He said “it will be hard, it will change you and god knows you might not even make it but if you do, know that it will be worth it.” William sat in a natural cave, cold and very much alone, remembering the advice and guidance the various men had given him. He hoped Edgar was right.

He never much cared or the name William. His father had given him the name William Bruce in an effort to instil confidence and strength in his underweight, sickly newborn. It had worked to a certain extent, maybe too much. William was small and fair haired up until he was about eighteen when he got bigger almost overnight and grew a thick dark beard. It suited him because it went with his dark clothes, dark eyes and the darkness which grew inside him. As a child right into his teens he sought solitude in his day to day life. He almost always ate alone and made every effort to avoid building any sort of relationship with anyone around him. His family loved him; he knew that for sure, they just didn’t understand who he was. He was a Bruce, but he never considered himself a part of the family. His quest for solitude was never a difficult one. He was different right from the beginning and there is nothing kids hate more than that other kid who is different. As a result, he spent his entire school career without any friends. It should have bothered him and he knew it, but it didn’t. He wasn’t socially inept by any standard. He found that social interaction with strangers to be highly enjoyable. When on public transport he would talk to whoever sat next to him, train conductors, shop keepers, dog walkers, anyone who looked as if they might be as alone as he was. He found he was able to pick these people out of a crowd. He could find a kindred spirit just by looking at the way someone stood.

Now here he was, up in the sky on the side of a mountain, no one for miles in every direction, or so he thought, finding himself longing for someone to talk to. He found that his mood would swing wildly from day to day and from week to week. He was forewarned of this by Edgar but brushed the advice off thinking he was of stronger mind than that. But as it turned out Edgar was right. He couldn’t precisely put his finger on the reason his mood would go from deliriously happy and confident to near suicidal in the space of 24 hours. Edgar had said that the journey treats everyone very different and that spirits lived high in the mountain who would judge you for your past actions and treat you accordingly. William scoffed at the very notion but now, here, huddled in a calm but very old cave, he began to think that all the things he was told were possible. His mood and strength had been in a downward spiral ever since his last encounter with one of the creatures that lived up here.

It was about a month ago, maybe two. He had been walking at a steady pace, the weather was dry but dim and he found himself in an uncharted part of the high foothills that surrounded the mountain.  He was walking along a cliffs edge, a high vertical wall to his right, a steep vertical drop to his left.  Between the two was a path about 5 feet wide, plenty of space to manoeuvre and set up camp when he found he had too. Along this path he heard noises unfamiliar to him, a single animal that he felt he may be following. He wasn’t sure if it was coincidence or if the unseen animal was luring him into some sort of trap. One night, when he felt at his most vulnerable, the beast showed itself. It stood on hind legs about shoulder height to him, a big blonde mane but with blue eyes like a snake its tongue protruded from its mouth, sharp like a razor but not as sharp as the talon’s on its almost human hands. If it wasn’t such an obviously dangerous animal William might have considered it to be beautiful. Stunned by its presence it leapt on him before he had the chance to pick up his weapon to defend himself. He went down on the ground as this wild beast clawed at his chest and eyes. It took all the strength he had to throw it off him and awkwardly roll backwards to find his sword. As he grabbed it, the beast rallied for the killer blow. William turned around just in time to plunge his blade into the beast, he aimed for where he assumed the heart would be but it didn’t seem to end the beast only wound it slightly. It then backed off not in fear but in respect for Williams’s ability to fight. It bled but it was essentially unhurt. It then turned and climbed up the vertical wall to the right and disappeared. He knew the beast would probably not come back. But he had to be wary for the rest of the journey, ensuring it didn’t have a change of heart and tried to come back and finish the job.

That felt like it was only yesterday but he knew it was a lot longer ago than that. The wounds on his chest began to heal, or at least not hurt so much and he began to get proper vision back in his eyes. He reminded himself it would only be a matter of time before he recovered, not fully of course, but recover as much as you can after a battle with one of the many mountain beasts.

More to come soon…. 

I made up a 30 day challenge nearly a year ago. when I had no followers. Now that I have more followers, I would be honoured if some of you would try it. Cause I’m going to give it a go starting today. Here it is.

So here’s a thing. It occurs to me that all of the challenges of the 30 day thing are either designed to make you talk about yourself or find a picture on your computer. Blogs, in my opinion should be a discussion about your life and whats happening in it currently. Not what has happened, or photos of times past. in that spirit, I’m going to Create my own 30 day challenge and try and complete it. (once ive completed the 30 day challenge I’m doing now.) Feel free to do it aswell whoever reads this. Hopefully it’ll mean we’ll go out into the world and do stuff and then blog about it, rather than just talk about what’s happened before. You follow? Right I’m going to make these up as I go along but I’ll put some thought into it and post it when it’d ready.

FEEL FREE TO JUST UPDATE YOUR BLOG AND SAY THAT YOU COMPLETED THE TASK BUT IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT, ALSO TAKE SOME PICTURES OF THE TASK/EVENT AND/OR TALK ABOUT IT.

ARE YOU READY?

DAY 1. ON YOUR DAILY COMMUTE, SMILE AT A STRANGER.

DAY 2. LEAVE A NOTE ON SOMEONES DESK/ROOM JUST SAYING HI AND LET THEM KNOW YOUR THINKING ABOUT THEM.

DAY 3. WRITE AND POST A LETTER TO SOMEONE YOU’VE NOT SPOKE TO FOR A WHILE.

DAY 4. TELL SOMEONE TO HAVE A GREAT DAY…AND REALLY MEAN IT.

DAY 5. SIT ALONE FOR 20 MINUTES AND THINK OF NOTHING. JUST RELAX.

DAY 6. LOOK AT YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR AND SMILE, GIVE YOURSELF A THUMBS UP.

DAY 7. PHONE UP A FRIEND AND ASK THEM WHAT THEIR DAY HAS BEEN LIKE. IF THEY SAY IT WAS BAD. GO MEET THEM AND DO SOMETHING FUN.

DAY 8. DON’T GO ON THE INTERNET TODAY UNLESS IT’S COMPLETELY NECESSARY.

DAY 9. EAT SOMETHING YOU HAVE NEVER ATE BEFORE.

DAY 10. WATCH YOUR FAVOURITE CARTOON. OR YOU DO NOT HAVE ONE, DO A FORWARD ROLL.

DAY 11. PHONE OR GO AND SEE YOUR BEST FRIEND. TALK ABOUT HOW YOU FIRST MET.

DAY 12. COMPLIMENT SOMEONE ON THE WAY THE LOOK. REALLY MEAN IT.

DAY 13. NO MATTER WHAT, EAT YOUR FAVOURITE FOOD.

DAY 14. FIND THE BIGGEST LEAF YOU CAN, TAKE IT HOME AND PUT IT ON DISPLAY.

DAY 15. SHAKE HANDS WITH A STRANGER.

DAY 16. SEND A POSTCARD TO YOUR FAVOURITE RELATIVE.

DAY 17. INDULGE…

DAY 18. LOOK AT A MAP OF THE WORLD FOR HALF AN HOUR.

DAY 19. LEARN THE WORDS “HELLO” GOODBYE” AND “THANKYOU” IN A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE.

DAY 20. HIGH-FIVE FIVE PEOPLE. HIGH 10 ONE PERSON.

DAY 21. GET A PIECE OF CHALK. GO TO A PUBLIC WALL AND DRAW SOMETHING BIG, SIMPLE AND BEAUTIFUL ON IT. (TAKE A PICTURE FOR THE BLOG AND…DON’T GET CAUGHT!)

DAY 22. SHAKE ANOTHER STANGER’S HAND. THIS TIME, TELL THEM YOUR FAVOURITE FILM.

DAY 23. TRY TO CONTROL SOMEONE WITH YOUR MIND. JUST FOR LAUGHS.

DAY 24. SHOUT THE WORD “HAPPY” AT THE TOP OF YOUR VOICE.

DAY 25. THINK ABOUT THE SYMBOLISM OF ROPE. WRITE ABOUT IT.

DAY 26.  GO ONTO YOUR ITUNES AND PLAY YOUR MOST PLAYED SONG. DANCE.

DAY 27. IN THE SHOWER, JUST BEFORE YOU GET OUT, TURN THE SHOWER TO ITS COLDEST AND HOLD IT TWO YOUR FACE AND SAY “ONE, TWO”. TRUST ME. YOU’LL FEEL GOOD.

DAY 28. DRINK A PINT OF COLD WATER. WHEN YOU DO IT, TELL THE PERSON CLOSEST TO YOU TO DO THE SAME.

DAY 29. WRITE A LETTER TO YOURSELF TELLING YOUR FUTURE SELF WHAT YOU’D LIKE THEM TO BE LIKE AND WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE THEM TO BE DOING. PUT THE DATE ON IT. OPEN IT IN EXACTLY ONE YEAR FROM NOW.

DAY 30. IF YOU LOVE SOMEONE, TELL THEM. IF NOT, KNOW THAT SOMEONE LOVES YOU. HOW WAS YOUR 30 DAYS?