Comments on the begining apreciated, offers to read the whole when finished apreciated even more.

As Matt sank deeper into the Mariana Trench in the submersible vehicle Contender he thought about his dreams, his beloved, cursed dreams that had led him to where he was now.
He’d been around ten when the dreams started. Dreams of water, but most of all, dreams of things in the water. Some were peaceful visions, some horrifying nightmares. But they all created a feeling in him that Matt hadn’t been able to name when they started, but had since learned the word for.
Exaltation.
Matt fingered the controls for the submersible’s floodlights. Sweat broke out on his forehead, his back and chest. His hand shook in time with his heartbeat. No…not yet.

[This message has been edited by Merlion-Emrys (edited October 11, 2008).]

Send it over when it's done

As it is, I'm not really feeling this one. I have no idea who Matt is or what he's doing in the Mariana Trench so why should I be bothered with what he's dreaming about? I think if you first set the scene, tell us about Matt, tell us what he's doing and then introduce his concerns and dreams, then we'll be a lot more invested in the character and have more time for these dreams of his.

One minor typo: But they all creating a feeling in him should be "created".

I think you have a few kisses of death working against you if you start this way.

1)Immediate flash back/dream sequence - suggests this isn't the right place to start and takes me away from the action;
2) He's thinking about his dreams. Dream sequences are a tough place to start as it is, but thinking about dreams?? ACK!
3) A laundry list of dreams. Ex: In one dream . . . . In another . . . .

I know this is just a beginning/very rough draft, but you are picking a very difficult place to start. Try finishing it and then seeing where the story really starts.

Thing is, I am more or less modeling the style on several stories I recently read in the likes of Fantasy Magazine and Reflections Edge. Most of which, frankly, made no sense to me, and more or less flew in the face of most or all of the "common wisdom" that one finds around.

None of them explained anything about their characters, who they were, or why anyone should care about them, or at least certainly not early on. I found it annoying, but, they were bought by editors so...

My natural tendency would be to in fact explain who Matt is, why he is there, how he got there etc. But so far, I havent had any luck with straightforward stories like that, and most I've seen published in my reading this week dont do any of those things.