Month: June 2020 | the Wakefield Doctrine

Six Sentence Story -the Wakefield Doctrine-

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

It is a writing-prompt bloghop, hosted by Denise.

A prompt word each week. Six sentences is the number of sentences a story is required to have; no more and no less.

[Note: This Six is one of a series of stories set in the infamous Parchman Farms, a state prison in Mississippi. The era is early Twentieth Century. Following are links to to previous Parchman Farm Six Sentence stories: ‘Shake’ ‘Polish’ ‘Agreed’ ‘Release’]

This week’s word:

PASSION

“The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion!”

On the far side of the wrought-iron gates of Camp 8, the preacher threatened damnation and promised heavenly rewards, his god shielding him from the scourge of irony; now, hours into the afternoon, he brought the Sunday service to an end, armpits of his white suit proud laurels of his victory over the devil.

Just to the left of the front door, Billy Tulane crouched protectively next to the oldest convict in Parchman Farm, “Jes like Boss Roscoe said last night, ‘ceptin he left out the part about how long this fool can talk,” being young Billy remembered every detail of the surprise visit from the cage boss the evening before; being old the other man didn’t bother, having learned that a man’s spirit took up room inside him and keeping life spare and simple was the key.

The convicts of Camp 8 moved off the porch in search of rest in the remains of the day, ignoring the scraps of the feast enjoyed by the preacher and the warden who, in the heat-blurred distance, passed through the open gate out of the prison.

“What I don’t understand is how you stay so calm,” the young man slid down the rough pine wall to a sitting position next to the old man, “all that talk about God and salvation, gots to work a man up.”

Moving only his eyes, the wood cross worn around his neck in a protective embrace of ebony and faith, the old man stared out over the endless fields, “That preacher man done left the classroom early, passion is to conviction as the seed is to the flame, only together can we use their power.”

Tuesday -the Wakefield Doctrine- “of Time and timbre”

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

Yes, hanging the wall in my office. Gift from zoe.

What the heck is it with clarks and Time?

No, not in the sense of our ability to socialize (“Hey! clark, its a party, lighten up and have a good…”)

It is not even, the sense of appropriateness (“I’d hardly be one to suggest it, but given how everyone else feels about the situation, this is not the…”)

I mean, the ability or capability, to keep track of (the passage of) Time.

New Readers: one thing before we start. a) the Wakefield Doctrine holds that we, all of us, are born with the potential to experience our lives from one of three characteristic perspectives:

as an Outsider(clark) which is a reality poetically described as ‘looking on from apart, to see the world as interconnected and spend a lifetime searching for a common point’.

as would a Predator(scott) for whom the world is a live/death struggle characterized by a here and now where the rewards are as fleeting as the threats, and the only way to live is dynamically and spontaneously.

Herd Member(roger) really, life is quite simple and uncomplicated, as it comes with a set of rules and instructions (and the distinction is lost only on the other two), emotion is the landscape and the Herd is the wind that never ends, lending a sense of togetherness and an awareness of the Right Way.

…and at a certain point in our early life we settle into one and only one of these, which we refer to as our predominant worldviews. What others call a personality type, is merely our best effort, as tiny babies who would drive cars and raise families, to develop strategies to make the best of the world we find ourselves in. But! We never completely lose the ability to perceive the world as do ‘the other two, the ways of experiencing the world that were not selected’. That’s why sometimes, despite knowing our predominant worldview, we’re tempted to say, “Hey! Thats like one of those… that’s not like me at all.” Not to worry. Those are secondary (and tertiary) aspects. You are still living in the same reality you started out in. You’ve just been given a glimpse of the potential for self-improving yourself that the Wakefield Doctrine offers.

and 2) we have something called, ‘the Everything Rule’ which states (and, if you do your reading, we won’t have to explain) “Everyone does everything at one time or another.”

… almost out of Time!

(ha ol)

Example: when I go out to the woods to work and, thereby get some exercise. I often set a timer on my phone. At the end of the period, it plays very catchy, (in a repetitive sort of way), music. More often than not, despite never taking out my phone to check the time remaining, I will stop just before the alarm sounds.

If you were to say, “Tell me when twenty-three minutes have elapsed” or “Wake me up at 6:59” I will. Because I can. Without the use of a timepiece.

Just thought I’d mention it. Seems to be a clarklike talent*.

* full lol …. of course it would be. Seeing how, “I will read the instructions and assemble this 2,398 piece mantle clock. It will work and keep perfect time.” or “Hey! That one, at the end of the buffet line? Kinda cute!…Gimme five minutes. Nah, don’t wait up.” were already assigned to ‘the other two’.