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Young Writers Society



Pouring Shadows - prologue

by Twinkle4ever


Can anyone tell me what I’m doing is wrong?

Can anyone say that it is despicable, inconceivable, and yet I’m still doing it? Does anyone dare to confront me at all?

Silence.

I thought so. All of you cowards. Can’t even stop me from taking the golden box from the Casto’s room. That old geezer might never even notice it’s missing.

I stood on the metal window sill, looking down from several floors above. The flats were all adjoined, running along a line from one corner of the street to the other. Parallel lines of flats, connected by metal stairs that zigzagged in between them, were occupied by tons of people. Each of them had their window shutters down by nightfall as they had no desire for falling into the hands of trouble. Trouble that I usually brought with me, they said, while doing my night duties.

Trouble… it was something I’d long since stopped worrying about. I had other important things to do now. For example, at the moment, I was surrounded by the night creatures who were all here for the small golden cube in my hand. Vicious, lime yellow eyes glowed in the dark, fixed at the box. I gripped it hard, the corner of my mouth turning upwards in a half smile.

‘Hmp!’

Their pointed, cat-like black ears twitched at the sound of my voice. I put my right leg forward and let myself fall. My smile broadened as the little black creatures all dived in after me. The wind thrashed at my face but I kept my eyes open. It was as if all the windows of the flats were running upwards past me rapidly. I swooped past the metal stairs one by one, counting them… 9, 8, 7, 6, 5….

The third was my stop. Still clutching the box, I stretched my arms out in time to grab the metal railing and swing myself onto the steps. I looked up; the creatures were already sitting on the 4th set of staircase and the window sills all around. I grinned.

I knew it. They know better than to attack me head on. Clever… but still cowardly.

It was darker down there as the moonlight seldom reached the lowest floors. I slowly tiptoed towards the metal door that would lead me inside the flat. However, that was not how I got around in this place. With one hand on the railing, I lifted myself onto it; my feet perfectly balanced. I glanced up one last time to make sure the creatures kept their distance. They hadn’t moved an inch closer, to my content. Then I pushed the railing with my feet hard enough to send me flying a few feet away and onto a very old, rusted windowsill; my windowsill. I slipped in.


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100 Reviews


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Fri Jun 28, 2013 2:23 pm
mystogan wrote a review...



This seems interesting enough but it was confusing at the start, when he or she talks to themselves. It would be good if there were speech marks or it is in italics to shows thought. I would have liked some more description across the chapter. A few more on the building, possible the main character's appearance, and a little more on the creatures.

A general description on the weather and the night would be nice as well. I sort of get this really chilly exciting feeling about the scene but it would be helped along with more description to aid to the atmosphere that you intend to create.

Now onto the good stuff. The pace is very good, I like how enough detail is given whilst at the same time the plot moves on at a good pace. Further more, you have already given a good insight into the character's personality such as how he seems almost arrogant and how he ultimately decides to label the creatures cowards regardless of realising their intelligent manoeuvre. Also there seems to be a confidence which they display that seems a bit over the top. This not only helps understand the character but it displays their flaws which may come in handy for plot development in the future.

This can be very interesting for a story but only thing is, I cannot bring myself to sympathise with protagonists who are just plain stupid and who get into trouble because of stupid things which they do. Oh well, I guess I just have to find another character to favour. Onto the next chapter..............




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Sat Apr 13, 2013 5:39 pm
barefootrunner wrote a review...



Hi there!

This was quite an interesting piece, and quite well done!

I think, firstly, that you should use some way to isolate thoughts, like italics, because the thoughts voiced in the first part of the work are confusing. The reader is not certain if they are thoughts, spoken words etc.

The isolated sentence, the second-last paragraph, contains a grammar mistake. The "know" should be "knew", as you are still in the past tense. If, however, these words are the direct "spoken" thoughts of the narrator, you should leave them as is, but use italics to show that they are mental dialogue.

Your story so far has a very visual basis, much like a description of an anime movie. This is not in itself negative, but try to include some other senses in your beautifully detailed descriptions. The flat may smell like boiled cabbage. The wind may whistle in the character's ears and his/her nose may start to run. Give some show of feelings, experiences and emotions.

You have succeeded in capturing the interest of the readers in this prologue. You have said enough, but not too much, so the reader feels compelled to read on and discover exactly what is going on here.

Well written!




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Thu Apr 11, 2013 12:17 pm
ShadowsKittykat says...



Wow, cool. Different, but this is good different. You did very well at pulling the reader in, me, with the suspense and drama of it all. Quite an enjoyable story. Your punctuation was really good, could use fixing in a few places but not many. Your spelling was good but I think it would do this story well if you rephrased a few parts seeing as it sounded wrong, made sense but would of been much better phrased differently. Great story, great author. Good luck.

S.K




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Tue Apr 09, 2013 12:59 pm
Hobbit22 wrote a review...



The set of questions the character says/thinks or whatever..I don't know clearly..they could've been more intriguing if stated just accurately?

The line :-

"I thought so. All of you cowards. Can’t even stop me from taking the golden box from the Casto’s room. That old geezer might never even notice it’s missing."

It's a bit confusing..but first..we don't even know if the characer's male or female..I'm guessing male. Who's Casto? How the character stole it? And who are coawrds? Is he talking about the creatures?

The chapter overall kept my interest and excitement..but it was confusing at times..introducing new questions and answering them later is other thing and confusing is other..but since I assume..it's a new thing..and you haven't much planned or something..I 'm only assuming..so ok..

The writing didn't dissapoint me..but you know...it can always be improved..;)

The basic mistakes are all mentioned by others..so I'm not going down that route.

At last, I think and strongly would advise..that you should continue this but do plan it..so you know which thing to tell and which not..so it do anything but confuse us to a point where we wouldn't be able to read it...overall..a good job as always..:)

Hope the review helped..XD




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Tue Apr 09, 2013 8:30 am
Auxiira wrote a review...



Hey Twinkle! Auxiira here to review!!

The first four paragraphs seem sorta strange in this. Is he saying them? Is he thinking them? Who is her talking to? Why is he thinking/saying them? Think about that. I like it, it just seems a little strange.

were occupied by tons of people.

Tons. You are a writer, please find something to replace this travesty by something different.
-were occupied by a mass of people
-were occupied by crowds of people
Find something interesting!

they had no desire for fallingto fall into the hands of trouble.


Trouble that I usually brought with me, they said, while doing my night duties.

This sentence is slightly awkward. Maybe: "Trouble that they always blamed on my nightly activities."

Vicious, lime yellow eyes glowed in the dark, fixed at the box.

You don't need the comma after vicious and "at" should be replaced by "on".

Their pointed, cat-like black ears twitched

You need a comma after "cat-like".

dived in after me.


Still clutching the box, I stretched my arms out in time to grab the metal railing and swing myself onto the steps.

Is this physically possible? I mean, he (which I'm not even sure of) is rushing past windows pretty fast and has a box in one hand. Already with both hands it would be pretty hard, so with one hand it would be even harder. Maybe rethink this.

With one hand on the railing, I lifted myself onto it; my feet perfectly balanced.

You don't really need to put in "my feet perfectly balanced", as it doesn't really mean much... but if you really want to keep it, ten you can replace the semi-colon by a comma, the pause isn't that big and we try not to use semi-colons in fiction prose.

They hadn't moved an inch closer, to my content.

"to my content" makes this sentence slightly awkward.

Then I pushed the railing with my feet hard enough to send me flying a few feet away and onto a very old, rusted windowsill; my windowsill. I slipped in.

There's something about this sentence that makes it strange to read. Also, how can he/she slip in if the window is closed (which is what most people will assume). Maybe:
"Turning back to the flats, I pushed off of the railing hard enough to send me flying onto a very old, rusted windowsill a few feet away; my windowsill. I opened the window and slipped in."

Overall:
This is pretty good, but you need to pay a little more attention to details. I still haven't worked out whether the person is a girl or a boy. I'm leaning towards boy, but you need to make it clearer in the voice of the narrator, since it's a first person narrative.

I think this is going to be a very interesting story and I'll come back for the next chapter!

Hope this helps and keep on writing!
Auxiira^^




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Tue Apr 09, 2013 6:21 am
Incandenza wrote a review...



Hey Twinkle,

Your story here is interesting, but I felt it was a bit fragmented. Your descriptions are pretty good, particularly here,

I stood on the metal window sill, looking down from several floors above. The flats were all adjoined, running along a line from one corner of the street to the other. Parallel lines of flats, connected by metal stairs that zigzagged in between them, were occupied by tons of people. Each of them had their window shutters down by nightfall as they had no desire for falling into the hands of trouble. Trouble that I usually brought with me, they said, while doing my night duties.


What I felt wrong with this was the lack of explanation. I felt that it could've been much better if you explain a little about this cube and a little about the "night creatures" and why they want to take the cube from the narrator.

Other than that, I thought it wa pretty neat and cleverly written.





"You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend."
— Mary Shelley, Frankenstein