Storyteller's Challenge - Summary (2)

The second Storyteller's Challenge is done. I won it... kinda. I'm not too satisfied of the results. Let's summarize it, shall we?

- Day 1 - Adventures in the forest
Did I like this? Yes, very much! In fact, I think this is one of the best, if not THE best story I've written. It was fun writing from a child's perspective again, and the overall theme of supernatural meeting real world stuck throughout the Challenge.
What did I learn from this? Always trust your characters, they know better. I also learned that the nexst time my cousins want to play with me, I shouldn't sit down and think I'd be ridiculous.

- Day 2 - Don't feed the trolls
Did I like this? Kinda. I could have done it much better, in my opinion. The idea deserved much more than what I gave it.
What did I learn from this? That I have a loooong way to go before I'm able to write things that make me chuckle.

- Day 3 - Memories of a revenge
Did I like this? Yesssss! Fun to write, and for the first time ever I wrote of a dream. My dreams usually are like... epic fantasy bordering on bizzarro fiction, but this one was more of a creepy short story that I've toned down a little.
What did I learn from this? Uhm... how to tell old legends?

- Day 4 - Crazy
Did I like this? This? This is the story where my lack of motivation for this Challenge became evident. But I think it turned out cool. I like what I've done with it, so I'll give it a pass.
What did I learn from this? Even if you lack inspiration, a story can be good.

- Day 5 - The house in Europa Street
Did I like this? Oh, yes! Oh, yes, yes! It was too fun to write, and I'm really satisfied with how it turned out. The greatest thing was imagining the ridiculous scenes going on in my head whereas all I wrote was dialogue.

- Day 6 - Procrastination
Did I like this? Uhm... I think I'll just skip this one. Let's just say that the best part was the Author's Note and leave it there.
What did I learn from this? Procrastination is bad. REALLY bad. But I'll still procrastinate. Because yes.

- Day 7 - U.S.S. Kittyprise
Did I like this? ...No. The idea was nice, the final result acceptable, but still, I did not like this. I wrote just because I felt forced to.

So, overall, this Challenge didn't go as well as expected. I have a good amount of stories I like, but I expected to have fun. Which I had, but I expected to have MORE fun and not regard this as an amusing duty.

Others writers who took part in the Challenge and deserve your applause:

- Denise Pena at mydesireforwriting.wordpress.com
- Lindsey McIntosh at http://youngwritersattempt.blogspot.com

- Stanley Morris, who wrote his stories on Google Docs. Links can be found here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/109240821422269206943/posts/R5x3t8iewiA

That's all, folks. Bye!

Storyteller's Challenge n. 14 - U.S.S. Kittyprise

So, I really felt lazy today. Plus, Assassin's Creed is waiting for me. So here's a random story. No cats were harmed in the making of this. Check in tomorrow for a summary!!

Left to right, random cat and random cat. But I'll call 'em Blackie and Silver. 

"Good morning, liutenant Silver."
"Good morning, captain."
"Is everything ready?"
"Aye captain, we're ready to beam down to the planet's surface."
"Good. Do it."
Silver clicked his heels and ran over to the controller.
"Blackie, stand by for beaming down. Okay captain, we've reached the planet's surface. I can see a Giant Sock, shall we explore it?"
Captain Red frowned. Silver's voice was distorted. Very much unnatural.
"Silver, can you hear me?"
"Captain? I think there's a disturbance in the electromagnetic field."
"Stand by, liutenant, I'm beaming down."
In the blink of an eye, the captain was by their side.
"Wait a minute, cap!" Blackie protested "You're a red! You're in danger right now!"
"Do not worry, Blackie, the captain never dies. Stand here, I'll explore that Giant Sock first."
Red went off, while Blackie and Silver were left to wait. Time passed, and the two of them were growing worried by the second. The captain was not coming back! What if he had been caught?! It was normal for away teams to get lost forever in Giant Socks - the phenomenon was largely unknown.
No choice but to wait.

Enrico entered his room humming a random melody with his headphones off. He threw himself on the bed and turned to the side.
Blink. Blink.
Yup, it's real. 
"Elena, your cats are playing with my spaceship model! And Red is stuck in a sock. Again!!"

The Storyteller's Challenge n. 13 - Procrastinating

Here's a short scene of what basically happened this day:

Writing Era: You know, it's 1 pm and you're still fresh. You could write now.
Lazy Era: Naah, later. I'm used to writing in the afternoon, anyway.
4 hours later
Writing Era: Okay, so now it's 5 o'clock. No excuses for not writing anymore.
Lazy Era: Okay, okay, calm down, I'll do it now!
Gaming Era: Oooh, look, Assassin's Creed II!
Writing Era: But...
Gaming Era: Oh, come on, you always write at 7, anyway.
2 hours and something later
Gaming Era: Heeey, why is Ezio not moving?! Don't tell me it's bugged! Come on, Ezio, move, pick up those blades! Mo... Wow, is it really 7:30?!
Writing Era: Write, NOW.
Gaming Era: But my gameeee! Come on Ezio, move!
Writing Era: Not moving. Come on, or you'll lose the Challenge.
Gaming Era: But you don't even have any ideas!
Writing Era: ...I'll work something out. I'm starting to write right nowwwww...
Dad: Era, let's watch a movie together!! (Personal code for "Let's watch Star Trek together!")
Writing Era: But... But...
Trekkie Era: Shut up girl, you'll write later! It's just 40 minutes!! Hey, wait a minute, this is Planet of Apes, not Star Trek!
Dad: Yup, you ought to see the old one, not just Dawn.
Writing Era: But!!
Movie-goer Era: Oh, shut up, you'll write later!!

So here I am, past 10 pm, after seeing a movie which made no sense to me whatsoever, and I'll hopefully start writing  now...

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Says pretty much all I need to say

I stare blankly at the page. A battle is waging in my head - I can hear the screams, see the tactics, feel the emotions of those involved. Would work out fine, but every time I lay my fingers on the keyboard the voices shut up and the scene goes away. So here I am, three hours trying to write a stupid battle scene with no use whatsoever.

I've tried out everything. Written rows upon rows of senseless words. Copied battle scenes from other books. Hell, even played a strategy game (of course, juuuust for the sake of writing). I think I deserve a rest right now.

And rest I do. I make myself hot chocolate, ignoring the scorching sun outside, flop down in my couch and stare at the window.

The night is so beautiful. The stars glimmer in the distance, a dark cloud shrouds the moon from my view. Crickets sing, cars run, someone is yelling in what I'm pretty sure is Chinese. Or Korean. Or whatever.

For a second, a minute, an hour, I stare at the sky, breathing in the fresh air of the night and letting my mind wonder. A fly passes near me, and for a moment I see the moonlight reflected in its wings. Images of raw beauty strike my mind, and I really should be getting back to the story, but just thinking about writing makes the images go away.

Oh, well. Procrastinating is fun, anyway.

The Storyteller's Challenge n. 12 - The house in Europa Street

Inspiration of a moment. A moment belonging to yesterday, but a moment.

Their house is weirder. 

Europa Street was a weird place.

"Febe, where are my brushes? You took my brushes, didn't you?"

For some reason, teenage punks liked to gather there. Cats seemed to have taken a liking to the place, too, probably because of the old lady who was rumored to have a cat for every square inch of her house, yet always managed to find the place to take in even more cats. The felines' preferred gathering spot was a weird house labelled with the number "0" (which had no roof, floor, and generally rooms that could make it a proper house). Not to mention the empty castle at the end of the street, which was always stricken by lightning no matter how sunny the day, and was believed to be haunted.

"No I didn't, look in the freezer!"

Of course, amidst the chaos, there lived a few normal families, which wanted to have nothing to do with their neighbours. These normal families spent the day working, gossiping, tending at the garden, and generally doing boring normal activities. The children of these people wanted nothing more than to go out and play with the cats, explore the abandoned house and stare at the punks all day long, but their parents knew that watching TV was much better for their education, growing process and mental health.

"What are my brushes doing in the freezer?!"

Now, somewhere in Europa Street there lived three kids who were definitely not part of the normal family group. If someone asked the normal families what they thought of these kids, they would certainly receive many different answers.

"I don't know, I told you, now do me a favour and search for my shoes in the pool!"

Some would say that they were weird, like their very much obnoxious neighbours.

"Aaah! Marco, are you out of your mind?! Turn off the stereo!"

Others would reply that they were nice people, but that heavy metal blasting at full volume at 1am every night wasn't playing in their favor.

"Who's ordering the pizza today?"

The rest would agree that they could be considered part of the "normal" group.

"You are, Sara! I want it with peperoni, eggs, bacon and french fries!"

(These people were the kind of families who said nice things to avoid conflict, by the way)

"Hey, one of grandma Carla's cats is drowning in the pool! Who forgot to close the gate?"

The cat lady would define them sweethearts who brought some hope to today's youth.

"Marco, it's the third time this week! Close the stupid gate when you get back home!"

The punks weren't aware of their existence.

"What did you say, I can't hear you!!"

The empty houses had no opinion.

"You let the gate open, and a cat is drowning in the--- hey Febe, I found your shoes! And your snake plushie!"

If we zoomed in and focused on each of the occupants, the opinions would be even more different.

"Snuggles, you green cutie, here you are!!"

If asked about the younger girl, people would give information ranging from the fact that she was a writer, to rumours about her being a fairy. The normal families' kids were the source of these second rumours, and Febe thought they watched too much television.

"Here's your stupid tarantula plushie, too."

If asked about the older girl, common knowledge was that she was an artist, had painted the house herself (thus explaining the large Hello Kitties on every wall) and was very fond of polenta. Rumours said that she was a witch taken captive by the fairy. Sara, too, thought that the normal families' kids watched too much television.

"Girls, a kitty is drowning in the pool!"

If asked about the only guy in the house, you would be told that he should keep his music down, that all the neighbourhood wanted to give him a pair of headphones for Christmas and that he was incredibly cute (the source of this last bit of information would be the blonde girl, third house down the street). Sara and Febe thought he was naive and annoying. Marco thought girls were weird.

"Bring it back to grandma Carla! And don't keep the cookies all to yourself!"

This house, where these three young adults live, is also where our story begins.

But looking at the hour, it's late, so that'll be a story for another time.

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The house labelled with the n. 0 comes from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBMgwip3ndc">this lovely children's song</a>

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For those who don't know me yet, hello! I'm a crazy teenage writer, inventor of the Storyteller's Challenge and overall a geek. English is my third language, so I'd love you eternally if you pointed out my grammar mistakes. As an aspiring author, I'm always up for constructive criticism. A big hug and may the Force be with you!

The Storyteller's Challenge n. 11 - Crazy

I was about to write something about the worms in tomatoes conquering the world, but felt lazy. Here's an attempt at a really short story (keyword here: attempt)

Awww, so cuuuteeee! Yeah, the spider of this story is definitely not like this one. 

"Steee--"
"Shut up."
"--eeeee--"
"Shut up."
"--faaaaa--"
"For the last time--"
"--aaaaa--"
"Will you shut up already! You're annoying!" Stefania could feel multiple gazes fixed on her, but didn't pay them any attention, opting instead to glare menaciously at the spider on her left hand.
"And you're making everyone even more convinced that I'm crazy."
"Oh, honey, you're not crazy, you know that." a sweeter voice intervened.
"Yeah? Tell me why she can talk to a spider and a fly?" 
"I'm a ladybug, not a fly!" 
"You're prey anyway." As if to punctuate the statement, the spider moved his fangs in what was evidently an imitation of eating. Stefania didn't need to look at the ladybug on the wall to know she was unaffected.
"Seriously boy, who taught you to threaten random ladies on the streets?" 
"We're in a cafeteria right now, not a street."
 The girl decided she had had enough and tried to tune out of the conversation and enjoy her coffee. The task wasn't certainly easy, not when the duo's bickering arrived directly to her mind.
"Anyway, you can't be sure the girl isn't crazy." 
"She--"
"I'm not crazy, stupid arachnid. And if you continue I'll stomp on you."
"You're not crazy, sweetheart." 
"Yes, she iiii-- Hey, are you crazy?!" Stefania smirked and stopped her hand a second before hitting the spider and leaving a large mark of black on the table.
"I'm not crazy."
"You're talking to a voice in your head and you think it's a spider."
"It is a spider."
"You can't know that..." 
"Do you know what the females of your species do to their mate once..."
"Okay, stop it! I'm still single, you know, I don't feel like thinking about death yet." 
"You're a spider." the girl's smirk became even larger.
"That doesn't prove you're not crazy. You're still talking to a spider." 
"Sh-shut up already!"
"Ooooh, she's realizing..." 
"Stop that, uncivilized brat, she's not crazy!"
"You know better than me that she is." 
"I'm not! Not crazy!" Stefania voice was bordering on hysterical. Anyone who hadn't been staring until then was surely doing it now.
"Come on, honeeeey, admit it. The first step is to admit it!" the spider drawled in a bad imitation of the ladybug's voice. Stefania could feel her heart rate quicken. "Am not!"
"Are too, Ste! Just let yourself go..." 
"Shut up, already!" she attempted to smash the disturber against the table, but it just jumped off and started tap dancing on two legs.

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For those who don't know me yet, hello! I'm a crazy teenage writer, inventor of the Storyteller's Challenge and overall a geek. English is my third language, so I'd love you eternally if you pointed out my grammar mistakes. As an aspiring author, I'm always up for constructive criticism. A big hug and may the Force be with you!

The Storyteller's Challenge n. 10 - Memories of a revenge

Today's story is weird. Today's story was also born from a dream of mine, and it was relatively one of the most logical dreams I've ever had. Maybe sometime I'll tell you about the worms that possessed our brain by hiding in tomatoes, or the time I was Robin Hood and had to steal a giant golden toilet.

Yay. A hole. So exciting. Woo-hoo. 

"I hope you understand."
The man's lips tightened in a thin line as he struggled to fake a smile. "Of course, my lord." 
"Good. You may go." 
Without bothering to remember or follow etiquette, the man turned around and stormed out of the room.
'Camilla... don't worry, my dear. He will get his lesson.'

"And this," the guide swung her arm to motion at the decaying room they were currently in "was where lord Collini's skeleton was found. A digital reconstruction of his face proved that the bones were effectively his, and resolved the mystery that for hundreds of years had been plaguing this castle. The technology of the time..."

Federica tuned out of the explanation, trying to hold back a yawn. Skeletons were probably the most exciting thing that they had seen in the entire tour, but the guide's monotone voice still sounded like it was specially programmed to induce sleepiness. Why the hell the professor had thought this would have been an interesting trip, she couldn't realize.

A few meters away, her friend Giulia was staring at a small spot restricted by a red rope. Federica elbowed her way across the sea of classmates.

"You know, this would be a lot more interesting if... woah."

What had appeared as plain ground was instead a hole, Federica realized. A hole so deep she couldn't see the end of it even at the artificial light in which the room was bathed.

The man stopped to wipe some sweat off his brow. Glancing at his work, his lips curved in a satisfied smirk. The edge was so far away he could barely reach it with his hands. Now for the acid once again.  

"Yeah. Please tell me this is not where they found Collini's body." Giulia turned to the side to get an answer from her friend, but Federica was already approaching the old guide.

"Excuse me? What is the hole over there for?"

The woman blinked in surprise at being asked something. Quickly recovering, she addressed the girl in a tone that was far from the monotone voice of before.

"Lord Collini's grave. The circumstances of his death aren't very clear, but..." she stopped for a moment, as if considering whether she should tell or not. "An old legend tells that his most trusted adviser himself was the assassin.

"Lord Collini had the fame of being a greedy man. When he married a woman from another noble family, things went downhill. Giglio, his personal adviser, apparently had an affair with Collini's wife.

"The mind of the old lord was plagued by his greediness. His wife, on the contrary, was a very generous woman. Seeing his richness being spent in donations to various causes, Collini decided he would get rid of Camilla... and so he did. Giglio was devastated, and the affair slipped out. Collini didn't seem to mind, now that the woman was dead. He went on with his life, sure that his advisor would forgive quickly and move on.

"Giglio never forgot what happened. A brilliant mind, he made up an acid so strong that it dissolved the stone of this dungeon's floor - and even earth itself. Of course, this is a legend, there is no way that would have been scientifically or historically plausible, but traces of a potent acid have been inexplicably found on several layers of the grave...

"The man dug for years. And five years after Camilla's death he finished his work. Finding a way to exploit Collini's greediness, he hid his personal savings in the hole, covering every once in a while, but leaving a hole of visibility so that every time a bit of money was discovered, Collini would still be able to see further below, and he would dig deeper to reach the final treasure."

Lord Collini rubbed his chin thoughtfully "Are you sure of this information?" 
A rumbling laughter echoed across the room. Straightening and holding back the last chuckles, Giglio curved his lips in a fake smile. "It's just a legend. But, if I may..." 

A nod signaled him to continue, and so he did, masking the excitement that was filling his chest. "If the story about the treasure is true, and it's obviously too ridiculous to ever be... I wouldn't order a search mission. You know how commoners are, my lord, if they see the remote possibility of acquiring richness, they will do anything, including stealing the treasure for their own personal benefit." He paused for a while, savoring the lord's greedy expression. 

"But it's just a legend, Giglio, isn't it?"

"Yes. Yes, of course, a similar treasure would never exist, my lord." 

"Lord Collini took the bait, and without telling anyone, dug for the treasure. Finding the first part, he noticed a gleam and dug even further. It didn't take long for him to make digging a nightly habit."

The pathetic old man's giggles were audible from his god-forsaken location. Giglio let himself smile and turned to leave the dungeon before being discovered. 

Just a little more. 

"When he reached the final treasure, he had dug through three hundred layers - but the final amount was worth every drop of sweat, in his opinion."

The rope ladder now was the only thing visible in the darkness that engulfed the lord's future grave. The old man's mad laughter of joy could be heard from the bottom of the hole. Ironic, that a man would rejoice being in his own grave. 

Giglio felt his excitement grow as he hoisted up the ladder. The laughter stopped abruptly. 

"Is someone there?" the faint voice asked. The advisor didn't even bother to answer, holding instead the shovel over the hole and letting the dirt fall down. He repeated the operation again. And a third time. 

Panicked screams soon filled the dungeon when Collini realized he was being buried alive. 

"The lord begged for mercy and for help, but no one heard his screams. The following morning, Giglio was among the multiple men wondering where had the lord of the castle disappeared. The man wasn't found anywhere, and Giglio took his place as ruler of these lands.

"Of course, this is a silly legend. The real reason behind lord Collini's death is still subject of investigation. Now, if you will all follow me, the next room has some lovely frescos, painted by..."

Federica tuned out once again as the guide returned to her monotone explanation. She didn't even hear Giulia approach until her voice scared her half to death.

"Do you think that story's true?"

"Of course not."

"I've heard there are ghosts in this castle. Maybe one of them is Collini's."

"Let's go, the class is leaving!"

A single transparent soul watched the girls rush to their friends.

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For those who don't know me yet, hello! I'm a crazy teenage writer, inventor of the Storyteller's Challenge and overall a geek. English is my third language, so I'd love you eternally if you pointed out my grammar mistakes. As an aspiring author, I'm always up for constructive criticism. A big hug and may the Force be with you!