Re: Discussion October SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE
nixie - this is quite an interesting and different one, we have often seen people feel guilt the things they have done after having a dream, but here we are offered a prescient one, where there is a change of heart beforehand because of a dream. There are possibly subtle religious overtones due to the fact those due to be killed were monks so perhaps it could be read that the dream came from God. I'm not sure whether they are true historical influences here that it is a good solid story.
Boneman - coming at this one from another angle I really like the idea implied in the story. It almost felt like a standard group of office workers, trapped in the mundane job possibly working towards promotion or a new goal. The whole twist on the job in itself is a totally different location, that it is working towards the badge of some kind of official positioning, that of a night mare just makes it that little bit more special.
TEiN - this was another excellent story, even if it does play with your head a little bit. The way it loops back in on itself toward the end is close to a work of genius, it turns a good story into an excellent one and makes you wonder whether the first part was real, or whether it was used to set up the final victim or whether the final victim was watching the previous one. Really quite clever and will keep me thinking for quite some time to come.
Bob - after I finished this I thought back over the story and thought it was so obvious, but the magic of the piece I did not see it coming while I was reading it and that makes it all worthwhile and so much more special. To me at least, there was a genuine emotional impact with the last words, as up to that point I felt that the character was just a victim of some horrendous accident and people could not come to terms with his injuries. The fact that it went beyond that was just an extra sums up in a solid good story.
Chris - as always a well thought out and clever entry. The writing in rhyming is exemplary, witty and intelligent. There is also a lovely reversal within these words, where we start the story of a genuine nightmare, only to find that the reality is even worse, not some horrific adventure but a slow gradual decay, boring slide into despair and probably death. The longing to be back in the dream world where at least there seems to be the chance of glory is a very human emotion.
Glen-for some reason I found this to be incredibly simple but very effective. The idea of someone dying and being left alone in the cold, but finding the body is wheeled away to whatever fate awaits it, the spirit or soul remains unable to move unable to escape, just a fearsome loneliness we do not understand what is going on, cannot comprehend the truth around you, leaving you in no in the darkness and very, very scared.
The Spurring Platty - in many ways the meaning of this one comes across very subtly. I'm not sure just how close my interpretation is to what was intended, but to me at least it seems that they leviathan in question needs to dream violently in order to quash it genuine violent urges, whereas a peaceful night sleep would do nothing to restrain that and it would wake in fury, destructive. A clever idea in that by giving one creature a nightmare it says everyone else from the same in reality.
TheTomG - almost the perfect counterpoint to Glen's entry. This one starts leading down the path that the main protagonist is someone who is dead, when in fact it is someone waiting to be born. Knowing how painful birth can be for the mother, it is often easy to forget what it must be like for the baby, probably not that pleasant experience. Of course there is much greater scope in the short stories, and here we see the baby realise, to him at least, just how bad the world is he's being born into. What a nightmare, no wonder he wants to go back.
telford - a simple straightforward, poignant but terrible piece. Craving the oblivion of a crafted fantasy-a near perfect world the memory, and escape from whatever pain protagonist is going through, reliving idealistic days with his family. Here of course the nightmare is not just the reality, but being snatched from that perfection, almost as though that was the intention of the torturers. Just that glimmer of a better world and then taking it away again could be a bigger torture than any pain inflicted.
Devil's Advocate - yet another great tale (the quality is becoming more and more daunting). I just love the idea of someone achieving immortality and then coming to a point where they are tortured, and that very immortality being the thing that is used against them. Constantly being killed or are rendered as close to death as a true mortal can, having to suffer the terror and pain and discomfort of being crowned again and again and again knowing that your torturers are going to do it again and again and again. Brilliant.
