For those who hadn’t noticed my title has been generously changed to “The Arch-Scribe” by @8BitCrab. As a celebration of sorts I have compiled some of my favorite stories/writings. Along with some annotations of my thoughts at the time.
With no further ado (this post will be long enough with out it) my first entry-the shortest story I have ever written.
The thud of an ax reverberating after a solid blow rung clearly into the valley. It was followed by many repeated sounds of the same nature. The tree shook and weakened with each blow. The branches scraped against each other. Their creaking seemed to cry and beg for the woodsmen ax to be stayed. Yet no sound of nature could stop the iron head of the determined woodsman. For an hour this struggle continued, wood verses man. Although the tree took years to develop, an hour of hard work felled it. The tree made one last cry as it fell to the earth leaving the valley in silence.
The woodsmen grunted in satisfaction. His wife and children would eat tonight.
The above paragraph was exactly 120 words. This was my second attempt at a 120 word story, the first had failed miserably. This one isn’t as bad. I obviously wanted to show the struggle of human versus nature, and the fact that it is not a black and white problem. In that aspect I feel that I did a good job, the entire first paragraph lays outs the pain of the tree, but the ending sentence turns the perspective around.
What I think I didn’t do as well at is the consistency of the writing. It goes from a sort of intellectual type of writing to more of a narrative. Most likely this is because I didn’t know exactly how I wanted the story to end as I was writing it. As I moved on through the paragraph it started to take shape. I really should re-write the first half.
Now for the second entry another very short one, this one is of a highly different nature. It is a traditional fable.
There was a beehive high in a prickly tree. Two bears, one brown, the other black, looked up and each wanted some of the honey. The black bear began to climb. The brown bear watched but made no move. The black bear was cut many times in the process of climbing the tree. When he reached into the beehive, bees came out and stung him. He shooed them off and finally got some of the honey. The brown bear had none.
MORAL: No pain, no gain.
In a traditional fable there is no embellishment. Every word should be necessary for the moral. The moral itself should be stated at the end. All of these I did rather well except for the color of the two bears. The reason I added it is simple, across from my school there used to be two huge hairy dogs. We used to joke they were bears, and incidentally ones fur was black and the other’s was brown.
My third entry is a rather humorous exposition that I wrote.
Are you attending classes regularly? If so, this guide is crucial to your success. The technique I’m about to share has been proven and tested by professionals. All you’re going to need for this method will be a ping pong ball, a marker, and a knife or scissors. Before going to school, cut the ping pong ball in half and draw a detailed pupil on each side. Now you’re ready for anything your teacher will throw at you. First, choose a seat in the back or the side of the classroom. You’re going to want to look prepared. Therefore bring the correct books, paper, pens, etc. After you sit down and make yourself comfortable, begin getting into the habit of nodding your head every few seconds. A subtle up and down motion is all that is necessary. Then, when you’re sure the teacher is completely distracted (when he/she is writing on the board is always a good time,) pop half of the ping pong ball into each eye. Finally, proceed to fall asleep in an upright and attentive position. There you have it. With this ingenious trick, all your educational worries are over. Until the test…
This entire thing was inspired by a Calvin & Hobbes where Calvin cuts a ping-pong ball so it would look like his eyes were open.
For now that is all, I likely will add other compositions to this topic.
-Yours truly-
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