Totems 4

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Hope no one is afraid of mice. :)

I have edited a bit thanks to comments, (thanks!) but haven't done any major plot-wise kinda stuff. I'll get to it when I have time. (No idea how many times I've said that) Anyway, thanks everybody who gave me critiques!

____________

Totems 4

I run my hand over the bridge of my nose, rubbing a huge streak of flour across my face. My ponytail itches the back of my neck, and I swing my head to move it. Wiping my floury hands on a dish-towel, I breathe in the scents of fresh bread baking and yeast. My mother is stirring a large bowl of dough, and I see that her hands aren’t at all dirty. I sigh, and pick up a ball of dough. I begin to knead it, turning it over and over in my hands. My mother puts a cloth over her bowl, and walks through the double swinging doors towards the front. A small line of customers have formed, waiting patiently for their daily bread.



The flour makes a rough scratching sound on the wooden counter as I continue to knead, putting all my weight on it. At last I am done, having worked the sticky mass to perfection. I begin to shape it into a loaf, putting it in a long baking container to rise once more. I reach over for the other un-kneaded ball of dough, picking it up and then shaking my hand to try and unstick it. The damp dough clings to my hand, large clumps of it breaking off. Scraping my fingers off, I reach for the shelf to grab a handful of flour. Something stops my hand mid-reach, and I step back. There is a small brown face peeking back at me, accompanied by tiny whiskers and a twitching nose. A mouse. I consider yelling for my mother, but the customers would probably wonder what the problem was. Also, if my mother knew of a rodent in the kitchen, she would put out traps. There is such an innocence in its round black eyes, and I do not want it to die.



A shout from my mother interrupts my thoughts. I turn around as she speaks, seeing her face through the window on the swinging door. Also visible is the long wooden counter, behind which the customers are waiting. There is a man standing in front of the register, his closed eyes almost disappearing in his wrinkled and weather-worn face. He is without a doubt the oldest person I have seen. His eyes snap open, and they catch mine. As his gaze meet my face, he breaks out into a huge grin, and points towards the mouse, which still hasn’t moved from the shelf.


“Isn’t the bread done yet? The ovens are ready!”


I hear footsteps and realize that she is coming into the kitchen. Thinking quickly, I grab an empty parmesan cheese container, and bundle the mouse into the square plastic box. Surprisingly, it doesn’t resist. I love the feeling of the soft brown fur on my hand. It is not like the mice I have sometimes seen before. Its tail is covered with hair, and there is a small tuft on the end. It also has amazingly large, sensitive-looking round ears, which twitch around at the slightest noise.



I find myself imagining the view from the box as I walk quickly out of the kitchen, container under my arm. The cool breeze in the backyard blows in my face, bringing the scent of summer rains to my nose. My shoes make heavy clomping sounds as I travel down the wooden ramp. Suddenly I trip, jouncing the box. I should be able to regain my balance, but I feel like I am flying off my feet. I land on my backside, container still in hand. The mouse's large eyes are staring at me through the clear plastic. It doesn't look injured, but my heart is still pumping fast. I had never fallen like that before. It almost felt like I was being thrown off my feet. I set the container down next to a rock at the bottom of the ramp shakily, hoping that it will be safe. I will have to find somewhere else to put it later.


A heavy step on the ramp makes my head turn. It is my mother, and she is looking at me strangely. I straighten up hurriedly, trying not to look too guilty. She frowns.


"Are you alright?"


I nod.


"I just needed a little fresh air."


She sighs exasperatedly, and turns to go into the kitchen. I follow, glancing once back at the mouse's hiding spot.
Last edited by canislupis on Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.




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Aak! I was writing a review and by accident I pushed some weird key command that deleted EVERYTHING! And it's not even saved as a draft or anything. :( *sigh* I guess I'll have to start over from the beginning. :evil:

I wipe my nose with the back of my hand, rubbing a huge streak of flour across my face. My pony-tail itches the back of my neck, And I swing my head to move it. Wiping my floury hands on a dish-towel, I breathe in the scents of fresh bread baking and yeast. My mother is stirring a large bowl of dough, and I notice that her hand aren’t at all dirty.

Three things:
1. The "a" in "and" (in the second sentence) should be lowercase.
2. The repetition of "wipe" kind of bothered me...
3. There's something about the last sentence that doesn't leave a good impression... maybe that you said "I notice"? Try editing that out, I don't like it! >.<

My mother puts a cloth over her bowl, and walks through the double swinging doors towards the front.

The front of what? This would be a good place for a little description.

At last I am done, having worked the bread to perfection.

Shouldn't this be "dough" not "bread"?

There is such an innocence in its round black eyes, and I do not want it to die.

Here would be a lovely place to make her feel the connection to the mouse...

I set the container down next to a rock at the bottom of the ramp, hoping that it will safe.

Hoping it will BE safe?
--------------------

This was really good! I loved the way you discreetly integrated the little old man, and how you described the making of the bread and the mother-daughter business. Definitely much better than numbers 2 and 3. The only reason I don't like it quite as much as the 1 is because of spacing. Not paragraph spacing, but the spacing of the plot.

You spend a lot of time on the bread making, then once she finds the mouse it feels a little rushed. In the other stories (especially number 1) there were magical moments of seeing through the eyes of the animals--that were lacking in this one. I think you should keep all the lovely scenes with the bread, and elaborate MUCH more on the mouse. Maybe when she goes outside she can release the mouse and be playing with it, then her view point will change to that of the rodent and the next thing she knows her mother will be calling her in again and she will have fallen asleep... The ending felt a little lame too, so that might fix it? Play with it. :wink:

Also, I think a little more description of the surroundings would go a long way. What is the weather like? What are the people wearing? What is the kitchen like?

There were a few typos that I noticed the first time 'round, but can't seem to find now... I suggest you comb through it on your own.

Oh, and congratulations! There aren't any tens slips! Yay! *throws confetti*

Hope this helps somewhat!
~Azila~




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:D Critique Four of Five :D

Meh. Azila has been here before me, so there might not be much to point out. :P But I shall comment anyways.

My pony-tail itches the back of my neck, and I swing my head to move it.


This is really nit-picky, but 'pony-tail' doesn't need to be hyphenated. According to my spell-check, anyways. =p

My mother is stirring a large bowl of dough, and I see that her hands aren’t at all dirty. I sigh, and pick up a ball of dough.


I don't like the repetition of 'dough'.

Also, if my mother new of a rodent in the kitchen, she would put out traps.


If she new? It should be 'knew'. :wink:

There is such an innocence in its round black eyes, and I do not want it to die.


I agree with Azila that this would be a really good place to bring in her connection with the mouse. =]

There is a man standing in front of the register, his closed eyes almost disappearing in his wrinkled and weather-worn face. He is without a doubt the oldest person I have seen. His eyes snap open, and they catch mine. As his eyes meet my face, he breaks out into a huge grin, and points towards the mouse, which still hasn’t moved from the shelf.


You used 'eyes' a lot in that sentence. Maybe for the last one, you could say 'gaze' instead?

It also has amazingly large sensitive-looking round ears, which twitch around at the slightest nose.


There should be a comma after 'large', and 'nose' should be 'noise'. :wink:

Suddenly i trip, jouncing the box.


The 'i' needs to be capitalized. :P And... er, what does 'jouncing' mean?! xD

I should be able to regain my balance, but I feel like I am flying off my feet. I land on my backside, container still in hand. The mouse's large eyes are staring at me through the clear plastic. It doesn't look injured, but my heart is still pumping fast. I had never fallen like that before. It almost felt like I was being thrown off my feet. I set the container down next to a rock at the bottom of the ramp shakily, hoping that it will safe. I will have to find somewhere else to put it later.


I think you should elaborate more on her falling - did she feel any pain? What thoughts ran through her head?

---------------------------------

Overall, this is really good! It feels more developed than numbers two and three; it has more substance. I like the way you made the bread-making a mother/daughter thing, as Azila said. I really like the characters you've presented in all the Totems stories - they seem so... I don't know how to explain it, but it's good. :)

I agree with Azila that you should elaborate a lot more on her finding the mouse. It seems kind of rushed...

Another thing I noticed is that you didn't use very much description of... anything, except the dough and the mouse. I would like to see more creative language (metaphors, similes) because I think they would lend more depth to the story.

Anyways. Great job! I love your Totems pieces. :D

Cheers,
Camille
everything i loved
became everything i lost.


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Thanks! I will edit when I have time....



Most people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people.
— Adrian Mitchell