Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
Serious about improving my chops in the world of stories and imagination and, did we say ‘a Story involving a prompt word that is Two Hundred and Fifty words (or less) in length?’ (But then again, had I been realistic about my math ability, I might’ve saved a half of semester in college.)
Wellll… in that case, we best stop in at jenne and ceayr’s weakly ‘hop, the Unicorn Challenge.
“It’s nearly midnight, Seth.”
The woman stood in the gazebo and looked down from the small, memorial park above on the village circle. Despite growing up in the peculiarly tribal culture found on islands, when the choice was presented to her as an adult to spend the War Years there with her children, she did not hesitate.
Walking down the path, the woman chose an arc that would be the shortest relative to the boy on his circular journey. The boy’s course was marked by the near-actinic glare of his cellphone light as he followed the outer arc of the sidewalk; past shops and stores, crossing the alleys and lanes that divided the circular town.
The boy, in the way as familiar as her hand, began to speak without the slightest preamble, “This GPT-4 app, if allowed access to sufficient similar material will create a virtual extension of any story.”
The boy began walking again, following the light of his video app. In his left hand, the handle of a vintage Radio Flyer, in the wagon a very old dog.
“Seth, the vet said Nema was healthy but old. Nothing can be done.”
The boy resumed his counter-clockwise journey, “But thats what the app is for! If I could let it see everything Nema has seen, then, even if only virtual…?”
The mother nodded, fell into step with the boy and the dog as they sought to gather the past to create a future.
About clarkscottroger
Inside your head is an interesting place sometimes, eh, Clark!
The sentence beginning ‘Despite growing up…’ suggests that this might be part of a longer piece, but it is intriguing, nonetheless.
Who the heck knows?
The central idea was thwarted by the word limit, aka writing skills insufficient to the task at hand.
lol
Well, sir, be more bliddy succinct!
That’s kinda the point of the exercise.
Or, as you’d say, ‘ * lol damn’
succinct? succinct?!?!! We doen…*
*cue obiglitory scene from ‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’
You leave me speechless, Clark.
“Twisty” (think it was Liz recently used that adjective) and totally dystopian.
At least that is how my current reality frames it, lol
Enjoyed your story immensely.
Ty
I may have mentioned elsewhere how difficult the story was to write. Not for the content, rather it was a matter of the tonal exerting it’s toxic influence, i.e. ‘You can’t write a real story… those Unicornerati will see right through you.
…but I did the sleepless deadline-eve thing and sure enough, first thing Monday morning, I start typity-type-typing and the Doctrine singing the ‘we are the clarks’ song.
booyah
How we would all like to capture some of that past.
Very much so
The Unicornerati (I like that) are, at heart, kind folk who enjoy your writing and appreciate your unique turns of phrase.
The intimacy conveyed by ‘in the way as familiar as her hand…’ for example.
Or the concept ‘to gather the past to create a future.’
I had a comment all typed up earlier, but it seems I forgot to press ‘Post’ and so it’s lost for ever – I can’t remember how I said what I said.
The warmth of love in the mother, son and old dog story is clear, and although the whole idea of the GPT-4 app scares me, the boy’s desire not to lose anything of what Nema has seen is so touching.
ty, j
(don’t tell anyone, but I’ve been indulging in a form of Writer’s block in the last few Fridays. funny thing about fear, we indulge it way past the time ‘we should’.
I’d say fear* is so, totally, like Superman’s disguise. “Really? A pair of horn rim glasses and we’re not going to recognize you? Whoever you are, take off those glasses!”
lol
…but in my years here in the blogosphere, this is the farthest I’ve traveled from the totally familiar. And…(even more critically, (Doctrine-wise)) its the most foreign. lol
no, not nationality/culturally! in previous forays it’s been a gathering of long-standing friends. Years-long standing.
But, it’s been my experience from the very beginning that if I want to improve my standing in this ficto-rhetorical world then I need to be sure to renew my discomfit. And that means, hanging out with new writers (and trying not to get caught).
So, thanks for the welcome/inclusion.
that said, expect the unexpected from them of us, ex cathedra Wakefield.
Funny thing about clarks. more often than not, once we accept a certain path, we become far more tenacious than our resume may imply.
There’s an old Doctrine saying about clarks: ‘clarks abhor being the center of attention but will not tolerate being ignored’.**)
* at least as it’s manifested in the predominant worldview of the Outsider(clarks)
** so much for the too-easy labels of: ‘oh, she’s such an introvert, but really once you get to know her, an incredibly loyal friend’ or ‘he’s kinda shy, but one-on-one is actually kinda sweet’
There’s something to riding a carousel backwards to recapture youth. I’m sure a red wagon on a roundabout might work miracles as well!
I, for one, certainly hopes so.