z

Young Writers Society


12+

Black

by LadyShadows


Black socks were pulled from an oak dresser. Black velvet blankets covered her bed, in which she sat on the edge, delicately putting the socks on her feet; they reached her knees. Black mascara sharpened her lashes, matching the color of her soul, and they were as long as the list of people she hated. Black colored her lips. Black converse concealed her feet. Black was her happy place, but school wasn't; off she went. 

Black ink decorated white paper with pointless problems and fruitless sentences. Black paint covered blank canvases. Black letters created poems. Black words spewed from the hateful mouths of girls. Black was the color of their hearts. Black were the tears that fell; she felt so alone. 

Black was the cat that followed her home as Autumn leaves fell. Black lips formed a smile; she picked him up and took him home. Black shoes rested on the floor. Black socks revealed pale legs. Black was the stain that exposed pink lips. 

Black shaded the sky that Halloween night, and the moon illuminated the atmosphere with its ghostly light. Black silence filled the air. Black candles lit a darkened room. Black were the words she chanted. Black was the magick* she performed. Black was the wings of chaos. Black was the cloak of nearing death. Black was the taste of sweet, sweet revenge. 

*Magic with a 'K' at the end of the word is correct. 'Magic' is slight of hand, while 'Magick' is describing witchcraft. This is explained by Aleister Crowley in one of his works. 


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9 Reviews


Points: 20
Reviews: 9

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Wed Jul 12, 2017 3:37 am
K1553 wrote a review...



Hey! K1553 Here with a review.

I think you made the most out of this challenge. You were able to describe a character very well, even in few sentences, and even if all of them started with the same word.
I like how you used black to convey different meanings. The way I saw it, first it was the girl, her personality and her demeanor. Then black meant difficulty and evil at school. After that, it morphed into a color to describe the girl's magick.
I don't know if you intended it this way, but as I see it the last paragraph can be interpreted in two ways. The first is that the girl literally practiced witchcraft. The second is that her magick was something more; it was something within her. Maybe she was literally seeking revenge on those girls in some way? I don't know. But I enjoyed the ambiguity that I perceived in the last lines.
I would only go so far as to criticize one sentence: "Black letters created poems." I felt that it was out of place in the school setting, because school to her did not mean somewhere good or full of art, or somewhere where she good express herself. To me poetry is just that, and does not have a a place in such a negative environment. You could have used a sentence that described school more.
But other than that, it was a terrific short story. I love writing challenges. :)




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Sun Jul 09, 2017 4:18 am
Dossereana says...



High Lady shadows, I do not under stand ho this girl is in the story I think that you nee to describe her but a prat from that it was good,:D




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Sat Jul 08, 2017 10:56 am
ExOmelas wrote a review...



Hi there,

I'll do nit-picks (and mention nice moments) as I read through it, then talk about it overall in a couple of categories:

in which she sat on the edge

That's not quite grammatically sound. How can you be in something and also on it?

Black was her happy place, but school wasn't; off she went.

I really like how you throw off my expectations here.

Black waswere the wings of chaos


Overall:

Okay actually, screw the categories. This doesn't really fit into "character, setting, plot and flow".

So, I really like the concept of the twist. I think the idea of an emo kid actually turning into a witch on Hallowe'en is pretty awesome! However, I think it might be hampered by the 25 sentence (limit) where you can't really expain how this happens or what the magick actually looks like, and it just seems kind of vague from that.

I think what you could have done in 25 sentences is either leave me harrowed or surprised. The emo kid could have been happy with the way everything was black (surprised) or you could have left it on a cliffhanger about her planning some sort of magick (harrowed? well not really, more just thrilled and a wee bit scared).

The way it is ok if you go into it knowing how short it is and what to be prepared for, but as a pure short story I'd rather it was a bit longer. I really did enjoy the premise though!

Hope this helps,
Biscuits :)

p.s. I think of emo kid as a good thing, not an insult :P




LadyShadows says...


Lol she wasn't emo, she was gothic. It's alright, I will pass that off because sometimes that happens. xP
Yes, it was vague, and I can vouch for that. But it was because of the 25 sentence limit. And thanks for the help. The sentence that was written about the bed wasn't grammatically sound, but i just couldn't think of another way to put it! Thanks for the help! :)



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265 Reviews


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Sat Jul 08, 2017 5:14 am
myjaspercat wrote a review...



Hey there LadyShadows,
Myjaspercat here to leave you a review.

Black socks were pulled from an oak dresser. Black velvet blankets covered her bed, in whichwhere she sat on the edge, delicately putting the socks on her feet; they reached her knees. Black mascara sharpenedPersonally, I don't really think that sharpened is the right word here her lashes, matching the color of her soul, and they were as long as the list of people she hated. Black colored her lips. Black converse concealed her feet. Black was her happy place, but school wasn't; off she went. 

Black ink decorated white paper with pointless problems and fruitless sentences. Black paint covered blank canvases. Black letters created poems. Black words spewed from the hateful mouths of girls.I'm a little confused by this. How does one see the actual color of the words. I understand what your trying to do here but I don't really think it works that well. But then again it could be just me. Black was the color of their hearts. Black were the tears that fell; she felt so alone. 

Black is the cat that followed her home as Autumn leaves fell. Black lips formed a smile; she picked him up and took him home. Black were the shoes that rested on the floor. Black were the socks that revealed pale legs. Black was the stain that exposed pink lips. <-that is the third time you mentioned her 'black' lips. At this point it's just becoming a bit repetitive so watch out for that.

Black shaded the sky that Halloween night, and the moon illuminated the atmosphere with its ghostly light. Black silence filled the air. Black candles lit a darkened room. Black were the words she chanted. Black was the magick <-there's no 'k' at the end of magic. she performed. Black was the wings of chaos. Black was the cloak of nearing death. Black was the taste of sweet, sweet revenge. 


Ok, well for the most part I liked this story. I do have a question; was part of the writing exercise starting every sentence with black? Like is that already explained and I just missed it or not. If so, then I don't see any other problems, if not then I think you may want to think about changing it up a bit. Other then that, nice story I liked it. I could clearly see it's beginning, middle and end which is great since it's such a short piece. Good luck and continue writing.




LadyShadows says...


One, with the black words from girls and such, that was metaphorical. It was supposed to be like that. And yes, there IS a K in magic. Magic, with a C is slight of hand. Magick, with a K is witchcraft. So I was doing it right. Also the word black was supposed to start off each sentence. That was the prompt. Any color you want, it just needed to start with it. Well anyways, thanks for the help either way. Have a great day!



LadyShadows says...


For the magick part I put a footnote to explain that so it doesn't happen again! :P




If a story is in you, it has to come out.
— William Faulkner