posted
American man experiences a near death situation that looks hopeless. (Third world ferry accident) Cold – choppy seas – predators, human and fish – rescue attempts likely to be weak. He begins to hallucinate but is unsure if it is real or hallucination. Gaps in sequence disorient him. He finds himself talking with a man on an island. Is it a fellow survivor, his own psyche, some other intelligence that talks to him on the edge of his own death? Does frame of mind or “Heart condition,” if you will, affect what happens next? The man debates with him as they sit on the beach. Is my mc truly a good man? Is he fundamentally capable of evil selfishness? He remembers he had beaten off an attacker of a bikini clad 14 yr-old white girl in the water. Now she sat near but in shock, knees drawn up, blank. He feeds her fish he’s caught. Covers her shivering frame… doesn’t remember catching fish. But sits cooking them over small fire while strange Indonesian man debates morality with him. What is truth? Old question. What is the definition of right and wrong? What really matters in life and existence? Is he really sitting on this island or is he still in the dark water with a terrified young girl clinging to him. Is the girl real? Whatever is real, will anybody ever find them? A man who finds his six senses untrustworthy is left only with his own thoughts and his own end. And possibly something or someone else.
PS I've never been afraid to write anything. But I confess to being afraid to write this.
posted
Reminds me a bit of a short story published after Mark Twain's death, can't remember the title--the whole what is reality thing. Sure stories based about what is reality have been done. I'm not sure that a debate of what is morality would be fascinating, but that might depend on how it's done.
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posted
The questionably dead part reminds me of Bierce's “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”.
Let's face it though, what there is to conquer by strength and submission, has already been discovered once or twice, or several times, by men whom one cannot hope to emulate.
As a friend of mine once said, “Embrace your allusions.” He would probably have encouraged me to attribute my quotes from East Coker, too
posted
I read a story yesterday called, Achilo by D. E. Lofgran. It had a strong and in fact, richly crafted, speculative element but in the end turned out to be more about morality than anything else. I wasn’t upset at all that it turned out that way as it turned me inward. Personally, I want fiction to affect me. But I realize some don’t. They want to be entertained but insulated. It’s a fine line I guess.
Maybe I’ll write my story and hide it away, but I think I need to write it. To understand you have to move past Budrys first three gates and wander freely in the maze of gates beyond.
posted
To me it sounds fascinating. Sure, lots of stories that question death and the meaning of reality have been done before, but it's how you answer the questions you raise that will bring something new to the table. I can't say whether it's been done before until I know your conclusions. If you leave it all ambiguous, as a statement about how mankind cannot truly be sure of anything, I'll probably feel let down and disappointed. If you say something about life and existence I haven't heard before, then I'll be very interested.
I would definitely read it. It sounds like you're dragging it somewhere deep out of yourself, and IMO that's the best kind of writing.
posted
Thanks, Kathleen! The Mysterious Stranger was what I was thinking of.
I agree that this sounds like a story that's trying to get out. Write it. Having been done before is par for the course. It's all been done before. Once it's written you can decide if it's something you want to do more with.
[This message has been edited by JeanneT (edited June 04, 2008).]
posted
I think people worry to much about "originality" some times. More or less every story has been told in some way (probably in a great many.) But each has a different voice, because it comes from a different mind. So have at it.
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