Published March 7, 2008
This was just something I was working on when I had a writers block. I don't think I did that well on this one. Hopefully it's not as bad as I think it is... I already have ideas for part 2, but I want to know what everyone thinks about it first. So please crit!
The Real Light
A cold breeze passed Genovese, her hands were stuffed in her pockets as she waited for her friend Donatello. They decided a few weeks ago that they would finally leave. Finally see what was passed the forbidden doors.
Genovese looked around to see if anyone was coming, her heart was about to jump out of her chest. She had no idea what to expect past the doors above her. It all began a year ago, the queen of the underground kingdom of Taron had her second child. The king had set a specific date that the commoners could come into the castle and see the baby, even all the guards were called to come. Once Donatello and Genovese heard that the date was set, they made sure they would have everything prepared to leave.
Genovese had asked two of her other closest friends to come along with her, but they declined the offer. They said that they didn’t want to risk being killed by the guards.
Her friend Sumi had said, “Yeah, like the king and queen will actually tell all the guards to come. I bet you that they will tell some of them to stay at the doors just to make sure no one has any ideas about leaving.”
But that was the thing, television, newspapers, internet… No one knew or had any ideas why the king and queen didn’t want anyone to leave. No one dared make any rumors for the fear that they would be sent to prison. Genovese’s idea was that it had something to do with the outside world, but how bad could it be? Living underground, cold winds coming from huge air conditioners, food that barely had any flavor. It was torture to her, she wanted to know what it was like beyond the dirt ceilings, to see what types plants would be above her if any, to see who or what would be up there. That was when she decided she would finally leave. Even if it risked her life, she was determined to see what was on the “outside.”
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Donatello dropped one of his back packs on his bed. He decided to carry only a few pairs of clothes and some nonperishable food to keep the load light. He looked around his room to soak it all in, just in case he didn’t come back.
“Oh Donny! Would you please hurry up, I don’t want to miss a once in a life time shot at going inside the castle!” called his sister anxiously.
Stuffing a couple more bottles of water into his backpack, Donatello wondered what he and Genovese would actually see past the doors. “Go on without me! I’ll be there in a few minutes, I want to look good when I greet their majesties.”
The passageway that led to the main road was filling up with people. The guards kept people in line, but every once and awhile things would start to get unruly. Guards and officers carried truncheons with them, striking anyone who didn’t stay in line. One bye one, Donatello watched his family leave the house and merge with the crowd.
Maybe I shouldn’t go… I’ll just tell Genovese that I changed my mind.
But then the thought of how Genovese would react made him decide not to bail out. She would explode if she found out that Donatello wanted to back out at the last minute. Now the only thing he could do was lay on his bed and wait till the main passageway cleared. It would be awhile, but he could be patient.
When Donatello was about to close his eyes and go to sleep to wait out the crowd, a thought came to mind. “The doors will be locked!” Donatello jumped off of his bed and ran to his father’s study. If he was right, then the answer to his problem would be solved. But if he wasn’t… Genovese would have to get out of there, and fast.
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Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night(whichever one it is in your part of the world),
Hi! I'm Knight Hardy here on a mission to ensure that all works on YWS has at least two reviews. You will probably never see this but....Imma do this anyway.
First Impression: Hmm...well this appears to be set in a fairly well established fantasy world of some kind and I think we get maybe just a little less than we need to fully process what's going on. I definitely like the fact this had no massive info dumps breaking up the story but it seems to be almost a little too vague because it isn't showing much of what's actually going on. Basically to much subtlety.
Anyway let's get right to it,
I think you pretty well on this one and I would certainly read a part 2 if I ever came across such a thing.
This is some great opening lines right here. Definitely does a great job of getting readers interested straightaway.
This one is slightly narrator like right here but its not breaking the flow to much so it can be allowed to slide through.
A little bit off right here like you are trying to mix indirect speech with that direct quote. I think it would better if you just went with 100% indirect speech.
Well this certainly sets up some possibly heavy scenes.
Some subtle referencing of the relationship these two share. That's nice.
Pretty nice little cliffhanger to end things on. Now I really want to go and try to track down this part 2.
Aaand that's it for this one.
Overall: This was a pretty simple and quite nice little story. It was definitely quite enjoyable to read. While the setting wasn't the clearest the characters certainly were easy to understand and the flow was really nice overall so that's a really good thing. I hope to one day run into a part 2.
As always remember to take what you think was helpful and forget the rest.
Stay Safe
Harry
There will be some conflict when I post the second part. I just wanted to start it off with this one so I can get on with the story that I had in my mind.
Moon14, I said in the story... they don't know. Plus, if I told you it might ruin a suprise if I decide to put it into the story later on.
Hi kittykat. Your story seems to lack any conflict, which is really what helps make a story exciting. There seems to be a little, but nothing too big.
I would also try and cut down on words such as "television, newspapers, internet" and "air conditioners" and "nonperishable food". These are things you wouldn't likely find in a fantasy story. In this case, it seems like it is taking place a long time ago (like most fantasy) so those items would not belong in that world.
Best of luck.
this was a very confusing story
why were they underground
what did the main characters look like
come on we need more imagery
but i loved the plot of the story
keep writing!!