Here's chapter two of The Magic of Chocolate. of course, comments and edits are welcome...
Okay, I have now taken some (but not all, yet, I'll get to them all sometime) of the edits and edited this chapter. So I'll now post the newer and hopefully better chapter two.
Two <^> The Drop of a Pen
The most important city in the United States of America was named Conscilia, in Texas. It was on the west side of the aforementioned city that a tall, one-room, soundproof tower sat in the shade of two huge trees. The tower was called Gray-side, for reasons known only to the man who built it. It had raised tunnels on two sides so that you couldn’t go from one side of the tower to the other side without taking at least an hour-long drive. And at the heart of each tunnel was a door. At the date spoken of, each door opened, one right after the other, and two men entered from opposite sides.
The first man was young, and he wore a black suit. The second was older, and had more casual clothes on. They looked opposite in every way, the first with short dark hair and blue eyes, the latter with long gray hair, and brown eyes.
However, different though they looked, they walked identically. Their arms hung at their sides, and they stood with their heads in the air, never losing eye contact. They made sure that they weren’t walking too casually, which would put them off guard, but they didn’t walk too stiffly so that the other couldn’t tell that they weren’t comfortable.
When they reached each other, they each held out a hand—their left—and shook. They gripped for only a few seconds, because neither liked the feel of the others hand. They gave it the exact amount of time, so that they didn’t have to grasp for long, but neither thought the other didn’t trust him. Everything was done perfectly.
After they let go, there was a moment of silence. It was—to use a much overused saying—so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop, which is almost what happened.
Finally the older man spoke. “Do you have the money?” he asked.
The younger nodded, and pulled another stack of bills—this one much greater than the last, which he had used to buy the chocolate—from his pocket. He held it in his hand, but didn’t hand it over yet.
The older man also nodded and pulled out a small box from his pocket. He cracked it open so that the younger could see what was inside.
Finally, the younger gave one more nod, and he traded the money for the box. As soon as he had the box, the younger turned to walk away. But the elder stayed still and pulled a pen out of a jeans pocket. He dropped it.
The younger watched it fall, and just before it hit the ground, both he and the older man jumped.
As the pen hit the ground, pulsing blue waves flew through the air a centimeter above the ground. The older man had jumped so he would land on top of the pen, where he wouldn’t get hit. But the younger jumped higher… he jumped all the way up to the top of the tower, hundreds of feet above him, and as he started to fall….
He watched the waves hit the walls of the tower. As they hit, they exploded. A ring of fire surrounded the inside of the tower. But luckily, the tower was not burned. Slowly, as the younger man fell, the flames subsided. He could see the older man glaring at him angrily, but the younger made sure he landed as far away from the elder as he could.
He landed on the ground, muttered “goodbye” to the other man, and stepped out his door. He locked it behind him and drove his vehicle away, back through the other side of the tunnel.
As he drove, the younger man felt inside his pocket. Earlier that day, it had been filled with money. Now it just had a small box. The contents were worth it… but he wished that he had never had to get a hold of them. He wished this hadn’t happened. And he wished that the older man hadn’t tried to kill him, so he wouldn’t have had to buy the chocolate. But he had to admit… it did taste good.
Thanks again for reading!
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Yeah! Still lovin' all the chocolate! Woo! Go choco and go teh wozzinator!!! 0(o.o)0 (The monkey's still hottttt;)!!)
Hey! I'm baaaack! What's up?
Awesome. I loved it, although I really found it hard to believe that he jumped up a hundred feet... until I read that he the chocolate gave him superpowers, I thought that it was just all of a sudden.
So, I think that you could have at least told us that chocolate did that. Or you will in later chapters. I don't know...
I'm not sure what you mean. As the WAVES hit, the WAVES exploded, or as the WAVES hit, the BUILDING exploded?
I'm not quite sure..
other than that, great job! I'm going to read chapter three and keep going!
Keep writing!
BBB
Don't worry, I'm editing. But with all these editors and nine chapters it's hard. I've edited chapters one through...five? But I'll still add more edits as I get them.
Thanks for the edits!
Sometime soon I'm going to post the edited versions on all the chapters I have edited. Actually, I'll go do that right now. As soon as I get the chance I'll edit your stuff!
Teh Wozzinator
I was really taken off by this whole older and younger man issue, why do we need those words to relate to two characters? How about giving them other defining qualities rather then younger man this and older man that. I also didn't like how you described what they were wearing, if it doesn't really matter why is it included at all. If it was needed, it felt like an info dump.

Good work though, still interesting. I hope you edit your other chapters after we put all our work into trying to help.
Remarks and add-ins are in braces:
{On the date spoken of, t}he most important city in the United States of America was Conscilia, Texas. It was on the west side of the aforementioned city that a tall, one-room soundproof tower st{ood}. The tower was called Gray-side, for reasons known only to the man who built it. It had two raised tunnels on two sides, so that you couldn’t go from one side of the tower to the other side, without taking at least an hour-long drive. {A}t the heart of each tunnel was a door. {On this date}, each door opened, one right after the other, and two men entered.
The first man was young, and he wore a black suit. The second was older and had more casual clothes. They looked opposite in every way, the first with short dark hair and blue eyes, the latter with long gray hair and brown eyes.
However, different though they looked, they walked identically. Their arms hung at their sides, and they stood with their heads in the air, never losing eye contact. {They did not walk too casually because they were on guard against one another, but} they didn’t walk too stiffly, {so as to give away their guard}.
When they reached each other, they each held out their left {hand} and shook. They gripped for only a few seconds, because neither liked the feel of the other. They gave it the {shake perfect} amount of time, so that they didn’t have to grasp for long, but neither thought the other didn’t trust him. Everything was done {immaculately}.
After they let go, there was a moment of silence. It was—to use a much overused saying—so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop. Which is almost what happened.
Finally the older man spoke{,} “Do you have the money?”
The younger{, the one who bought the chocolate,} just nodded and pulled another stack of bills—this one much greater than the last—from his pocket. He held it but didn’t hand it over.
The older man nodded and pulled out a small box from his pocket. He cracked it open so that the younger could see the thing in it.
Finally, the younger gave one more nod, and they traded the money for the box. As soon as he had the box, the younger turned slightly to walk away. But the older stayed still and pulled a pen out of a pocket on his jeans. He dropped it.
The younger watched it fall{. J}ust before it hit the ground, both he and the older man jumped.
As the pen hit the ground, pulsing blue waves flew through the air, a centimeter above the ground. The older man had jumped so he would land on top of the pen, where he wouldn’t get hit. But the younger jumped higher{,} all the way up to the {tower's} top, hundreds of feet above him{. H}e started to fall. . . .
He watched the waves hit the walls of the tower. As they hit, {an explosion erupted}. A ring of fire surrounded the inside of the tower. {T}he tower was {unscorched}. {A}s the younger man fell, the flames subsided. He could see the older man, glaring at him angrily, but the younger made sure he landed as far away from the {elder} man as he could.
He landed on the ground, muttered “goodbye” to the other man, and stepped out his door. He locked it behind him and drove his vehicle away, back through the other side of the tunnel.
As he drove, the younger man felt his pocket. Earlier that day, it had been filled with money. Now it just had a small box. The contents were worth it{,} but he wished that he had never had to get hold of them. He wished this hadn’t happened. And he wished that the older man hadn’t tried to kill him, so he wouldn’t have had to buy the chocolate. But he had to admit{,} it did taste good.
This is the weirdest story I've ever heard of! I love it!
I cannot believe your only thirteen. I'm hoping in the next chapters it will be less confusing though. I don't understand what this has to do with chocolate really yet.
I should probably post the edited version up, because I've totally edited the tower paragraph. Hmm. Maybe I'll just add that paragraph edited sometime.
Thanks for reading! (And for the comment...a good comment
Teh Wozzinator
ahh, more chapters, more reviews
I'm trying to continue reading but I only get to quick read
(due to a time limit, and the fact that it's extremely late at night.)
I would like to here more of this
it made me stop and think about some of what was going on.
thank you for writing even more than last time!
I'd like to see if you could write twice as much in the next chapter!
I think your descriptions of the two men were just fine, since it sets them in contrast. I loved the way you talked about their timing and so on and so forth. It was absolutely fabulous. Loved it, loved it, loved it. I wish I had come up with it.
Anyway, that having been said, I had a lot of trouble with the tower. It was just complicated in that beginning paragraph. It completely threw me off. But then the rest of the chapter was good. Confusing, but I am sure you will explain all in time, no?
~GryphonFledgling
Thanks Sumi...
No, the "young'n" isn't a clone. lol!
Teh Wozzinator
1. Infodummmmmp! Get rid of that nasty description and give us some clear images. I was puzzled from the get-go, but this is just confuzzling.
So we don't have to trawl down through conversation.
Also, you use too much description. We don't need the information about the hair and eyes, though the fact they move identically is quite interesting. My mind is cooking up ideas for clones, the young'n isn't a clone of the geezer, is he?
2. Overuse of certain words. Like "tower" and "ground". Variety is the spice of life and whatnot.
And this last note:
You should not have to explain your story. You should let the story explain itself as the tale unfolds. If you feel so great a need to talk about it, try using PMs.
Ah, that's it. I'll get to the other parts tonight.
Ciao!
~Sumi
I'm so confused it's not even funny. Why did the older freak try to kill him? WHY DOES HE NEED CHOCOLATE? 'Cus it taste good?
That may be reason enough for me, but I'm still confused! WAAAAAH!!
This chapter was extremely detailed and well-written, so I must applaud you on that. Much better than the first chapter.
You didn't get an editor, did you? CHEATER! Lol, jk. It doesn't really matter, and you probably didn't get one anyway.
Again, I applaud you! GOOD JOB!
as i said before, i have edited it, trying to get it to flow better. i hope i succeeded...once i finish part one i'll post all of the chapters in that part into one forum, so you can read all that there.
on your last comment...i don't agree, i think that you're a lot better than me...but i guess it's fine if you think i'm better. ;-P
see ya round
The Woz
Hi,
I've had a read through, and nothing major hit me really.
I thought your description of the tower was a bit difficult to understand - it doesn't flow very well.
Other than that, I really liked it. I think its good the way that you aren't emntioning names fr a while, a long case of suspense!
To be honest, I think you are better than me. (dont get that the wrong way im not a vein person! lol) I might use a load of fancy words but your sentence structures are far more developed, and a lot stronger.
just one comment on the first paragraph...i have rewritten the entire paragraph, so that it's more descriptive and less run-on-ish. i also rewrote some of the other stuff. what i was going to do with this story was: once i finish with part one (The Magic of Chocolate), i'll post each different chapter in one topic. that way you can read them all, and it will have the edited version. however a lot of your grammar things are good, cuz i do add way too many commas. lol!
Lol, ya'll do know you can discuss through PM, right? It'll be much better, since this isn't a discussion thread.
Anyway, let's see what happens next. ^^
I see you question parentheses. Some authors actually use parentheses. However, I don't think I quite understand how the info in the parentheses is any important to the story. Of course, I have yet to read the rest.
Delete both commas.
The entire description of the tower is a little clunky. In fact, the entire paragraph could use a rewrite? The Gray-side Tower had a tunnel on two of its sides, taking an hour-long drive from one side to the other. At the heart of the tunnel was a door and, at the date spoken of [I don't much like this phrase], two men entered.
Wait, so they entered through separate doors? I must have missed that?
Again, it would probably be nice to slur in this fact rather than tell it straight out. You know the ol' saying 'round here: Show, don't tell.
Because the younger guy is the one who traded the money for the box. The other guy traded the box for the money. (You follow? Lol)
Not much to say. At least I have a reason to read now--what's in the box?
Jabber, the One and Only!
well...thanks for reading....
(well Yeah, but be could have robbbed the bank while he had his temporary powers. =P)
=P The title was the orginal reason I kept skipping past your story, and then the final reason I ended up reading it. I don't actually like chocolat so it sounded like something I wouldn't like. But it actually looks good, so I'll keep reading (I've actually read the third chapter, just haven't gotten around to commenting =P)
^_^
ah, that's the thing...he doesn't HAVE superpowers (i'll just tell you this now, since it isn't a secret), it's the chocolate that gave it to him...for a limited amount of time...lol.
anyways, the chocolate gives him that power, which is how he was able to jump that high.
also, i'm not POSITIVE that the title's going to be The Magic of Chocolate, but i do have a plotline (which i like) that will make it a good title. but for now it may just be temporary.
Well then I'll just have to keep readng because I really do want to know what chocolat has to do with all of this.
(and if he has super powers, why not just rob a bank?)
i know, about the parentheses...i just couldn't think of any other way, so i will probably edit that. this was all written in a short period of time, so nothing's been edited yet.
the first few chapters are quite unrevealing, in fact, you don't hear anyone's name till chapter four. but chapter four tells quite a bit, and it will reveal itself. just remember that this is only a few pages into the book.
You use another bracket later on to tell us the young man is the one we met in part one. Don't so this. Show us, somehow. =P Good luck.
Otherwise, good! But be careful, you make the reader ask alot of question by not telling them things...normally that would be okay for such a small amount of text, but here you've done it on both 'chapters' and people might feel frustrated that they still have no answers to things they wanted to know early on. Perhaps chapter three will be more revealing?