Character Profile #3

I apologize for having not posted in a while, and I also apologize for making this post another post about writing. The simple truth of the matter is, I'm running out of planning time, and I'm so busy that my life is kind of falling apart. The first quarter has ended, and I plan on getting my life back during the second quarter. I want to regain the enthusiasm that I had at the beginning of the school year (and the beginning of this blog) and I want to be happy with myself again.
So I will power through with my writing, try to stay awake and get homework done, get organized, and stay focused and on task. I also want to start getting in better shape because everyone knows that a healthy body is the key to a healthy mind. Today, I give you the third character in my story, the student that Robert tells his story too. This character will have his own story as well, which will be coming shortly.

Name: Peter Jenkins

Meaning of Name: Peter is a very versatile name, and it means stone in Greek. I take that to mean that this character is the stereotypical societal male; strong and incredibly hardy, able to handle any situation with grit and determination...in other words, like Stephanie. His last name, Jenkins, was used as a sort of pet name in England, where his family is from, and it means "little John". Peter's father's name is John, and his last name kind of enforces the fact that all the members of his family are of small build That doesn't mean he's short, it means he has a thin and weak body.

Gender: Male. He is the typical male, as I've said already, and you'll learn throughout this profile that Peter is kind of a mixture of Stephanie and Robert, with a good amount of originality and differentness thrown in.

Age: 47. He is a bit younger than Robert, but he is a college student. His determination has driven him to return to college to earn a degree and spend the rest of his life doing what he really wants to...as to what that is yet, I don't know. He is also too old to be "cool" and he doesn't have the swag that Robert does. Another note...he is younger than Robert to emphasize the fact that he is slightly inferior to him. Peter is not a "cool" guy, and he also isn't a charismatic college professor.

Height: 5 foot 11. As I mentioned in Robert's profile, I am a short guy. Since Peter is only one inch shorter than Robert (another hint at Robert's superiority) he still towers above me. He is tall, but thin. He kind of hunches over all the time, and his body language suggests that he is very introverted. Don't get me wrong, he is supposed to be one of the most hardy and determined people you'd ever meet, but he looks frail.

Eye and Hair Color: Peter's eyes are colored sea-green. To me, the sea represents a wide-open environment. Peter is a man who has returned to college and is very eager to create new opportunities for himself. His hair is red, just like Stephanie's, to show his passion for life and his desire to get an education.

Character Traits: Charming. Peter, once you get to know him, is an incredibly perceptive individual, and he is very nice. He knows how to get people to like him, but his appearance makes people want to avoid him in the first place. The women that he is interested in dating come in one of two kinds; nice and accepting ones, who eventually learn what a sweet guy he is, and ones that think he's a creeper. The simple truth of the matter is, if Peter was an attractive guy, this second group of women would be attracted to his charm. Since he's kind of ugly, they automatically categorize him as a creeper. Committed. Peter, as I've said countless times, is one of the most determined guys you'll ever meet. He has gone back to college, and you can be sure that he will work his hardest and pass all of his classes with flying colors. Just like Stephanie, however, he can tend to be a bit of a workaholic, and some people think that he takes everything too seriously. Messy. One bad trait about Peter is that he is really disorganized and messy. He does not have a wife or kids, but would like to raise a family. The apartment where he lives now, however, is a total disaster area. He has no organizational skills whatsoever. His style is more impulsive than coordinated. Scared of the dark. Peter is frightened of the dark, and he actually sleeps on his couch where he can still see the streetlights coming through the windows. He is afraid of literal dark, but he is also afraid of the unknown. He doesn't like being mentally inferior to other people, and he is afraid of what he doesn't know. Thusly, while he is looking forward to having more opportunities in college, he is afraid of finding out that he is really behind compared to others.

So there is my third character. I am really running out of planning time, so I'll have to hurry up and plan a story for Peter. That should be up very soon. I will hopefully be posting more often from now on, so there's that to look forward to. This project is really coming together, and I personally can't wait to see my characters come to life. Until next time....

Robert's Story and Some Other Things

I have a couple of new details to add to "The Touch of Fear", Stephanie's story. Robert's wife is killed at night at an outdoor flower market. She decides to go pick up flowers for Robert's parent's anniversary, which is the next day. Right as Robert arrives at the flower market to meet her, her killer is running away, having just committed the crime. Robert follows him, but the criminal gets away, leaving his gun. Robert gets caught with the gun in his hand (as well as more "evidence" that points towards him "killing his wife") and he is imprisoned. The rest I explained in the last post.

Stephanie placing her false evidence is caught on camera, and the news team later broadcasts her crime on television. She is caught and charged as well. Her students end up raising a ton of money and bailing her out of jail. She is incredibly angry because they didn't bail her brother out (she was the one who actually committed the crime) but still agrees to fight for her brother's case. She proves her brother innocent but loses her job.

Robert's story will be called "Pieces of Time." This is, once again, a seperate story from Stephanie's. Stehanie's story will be told from the third-person, and Robert's will be told from first-person. Robert's story involves Robert telling a student about his life-changing experience that made him fear failure. It is called "Pieces of Time" because that's literally what he is relating to this student. In the story, Robert is about 18 and he has a gorgeous girlfriend whom he adores. He has just finished an argument with her over the telephone because she cancelled a date to the movies with him and he is about to hang up, until he realizes that she did not. He hears her talking to someone, and picks up a conversation that he really shouldn't be hearing.

His best friend and role model who is three years older than him, is at his girlfriend's house with her, and they talk about how cocky and jerkish Robert is. The two talk about how Robert's girlfriend is cheating on Robert with his best friend, and then they both decide to sneak out to make love in a secluded place. Robert becomes incredibly suspicious of his best friend and this obviously destroys their friendship. Robert wonders what else his friend is doing behind his back.

Once he learns where the two are going, Robert angrily goes there to see if they were serious. The place is a remote little meadow, and a big rusty van is rotting in the grass. They are inside the van, and Robert creeps up on them and notices them inside. Instead of bursting in with figurative guns blazing, he hangs back and decides to get revenge on his best friend instead. His best friend had spent a long time saving up money to buy an old airplane, and he spent a lot of time fixing it up. Robert goes and sabotages the underside of the plane, then leaves.

That weekend, his best friend, not knowing that Robert knows about him and his girlfriend, invites Robert for a ride in his plane. Robert freaks out, sort of regretting that he sabotaged it, but still goes with him. Since Robert damaged the underside, his bestie doesn't notice. They are up in the air, and suddenly, something goes wrong with the gas tank. Moments later, the controls explode in Robert's friend's face, instantly killing him. Robert has to take control of the plane which he has no idea how to navigate, and guide it to the ground. When they get back, the authorities determine that it was sabotage (duh) but they can't determine who did it.

Robert is severely traumatically scarred by this, blaming himself for it all. Robert's girlfriend is beside herself with grief, since she really loved Robert's friend, but not Robert. She breaks up with him and tells him she was cheating on him. Robert tells a middle-aged Stephanie about it, and somehow his dad finds out. His dad never treats him the same way again, and Robert's entire personality changes.

Well there ya have it, folks. That's the entirety of Robert's story. I don't see this changing much. The next step of my planning process is to create a brand spanking new character. This will either be a teacher or a student. If I decide it will be a student, it will most likely be the student that Robert is telling his story to. Until next time...maybe I'll do a post that's not writing related. See ya!

Character Profile #2 and Story Changes

Today I introduce a second character. This character is different than the one that I originally intended, and so he changes the entire storyline that I painstakingly typed out in my children's story post. I will meld together the story changes with this second character. Keep in mind that the story changes apply only to "The Touch of Fear" which is Stephanie's story. This character will also have a seperate story of his own.

Name: Robert Brown

Meaning of Name: I'd like to mention an extraneous detail and say that Robert and Stephanie are still related characters, and they both have English heritage. Now that that's out of the way, Robert is a name that means bright fame in German. I take that to mean that Robert is one of those popular, charismatic guys. He has spent his entire life essentially getting whatever he wants because he is so likeable. He's the guy that everybody wants to be every day. The last name Brown really isn't very significant. It is meant to be plain (just like Robert's physical appearance). While Robert is plain, that doesn't detract from the fact that he is every girl's dream guy...because of his personality.

Age: 49 years old. While Robert is not really in his prime anymore, he is still a relatively young man. Normally, people of this age have lost their "coolness" factor. Robert has not. All of his students think of him as one of their own...and that is one reason why Robert still struggles at his job, does not have his PhD, and is not Department Head like Doctor Winters is.

Height: 6 feet tall exactly. Like I said in Stephanie's character profile, I am a short guy, so Robert towers above me. One thing that I forgot to mention is that Stephanie and Robert are half-siblings. They share the same dad (since Stephanie's mom was killed in a pyrotechnic accident) but not the same mom. Why the big age difference? Well, you'll see. Robert is so tall because being tall kind of makes you popular with everyone. It is a sign of physical superiority, which Robert has. It also acts as one of many contrasts between Stephanie and Robert.

Eye and Hair Color: One thing that Robert and Stephanie do have in common is their eyes. They both have powerful blue eyes. Stephanie's eyes are more cold and calculating, while Robert's eyes are sharp and penetrating. They both inherit this trait from their father. Robert's hair is blonde, another symbol of his popularity. Everyone knows that blonde people have more fun, and this is true for Robert as well as for any other blonde person. Keep in mind that every trait that Robert and Stephanie do not share came from Robert's mother.

Character Traits: Gentle. Robert is popular because he is incredibly nice to every person that he meets. When people talk about Robert, the phrase "nicest guy you'll ever know" comes out a lot. His quiet and calm personality traits contrast with Stephanie's abrasive ones. Hard-working. Unlike Stephanie, Robert has to actually put in a lot of work to succeed. He knows that he isn't the cleverest guy around, and he spends many late nights working to be on task. He wasn't always that determined, though... Mean. Robert's only flaw is that his gentle shell can sometimes crack. When it does, he can become downright mean. It doesn't happen often, but the little bit of Stephanie inside of him comes out on occasion. Scared of failure. Because of a certain event that happened in his past, Robert is incredibly frightened that he won't measure up to what people expect of him. Sure, he's incredibly popular, but really he's just a big bundle of unstable nerves.

That's Robert's profile. He was originally supposed to be Stephanie's nephew, but in the development process for his character, he became her half-sibling. He was born when Stephanie was already fifteen, and his mother was a whore. Robert's and Stephanie's father, Mr. Brown, kind of let himself go after his wife died. He spent his money on drinking and prostitutes, and one day, a baby showed up at his door with a note from the hooker who birthed him. From then on, he treated Robert as well as (or better than) Stephanie, and this experience greatly affected his teenaged daughter.

Stephanie comes around 49 years later, however, and sacrifices her job to save Robert's. Robert is accused of killing his wife, but everyone knows that he didn't. His three children are just completely lost without their mom, and they are even more confused when the police says that dear old daddy killed her. Stephanie knows that he didn't do it, but evidence continues to come up against Robert. So she goes to an extreme and tampers with the police records to make it look like Robert didn't do it. She is caught and loses her job, and in the end, it is revealed that he didn't do it after all. One thing to note. The story about her nephew getting drunk at a party is SCRAPPED. This is the new "The Touch of Fear." Sorry to change it on you, but these are the kind of things that happen during planning.

One more thing I'd like to touch on before I end this post. Robert Brown will have his own seperate story as part of this collection, and his will be about the fateful experience that changed him from a cocky young kid into a gentle man who is scared of himself. I'm not sure exactly how that story will work yet, so stay tuned and I'll have something for you eventually. Until next time!

I Can't Think of Any More Ways to Play Off of the Word Grimm...

Hello all. School is getting incredibly busy as the first quarter starts to come to a close. The teachers are all piling on the work so that they have an ample amount of grades to use for the first grading period. Beyond that, Homecoming is tomorrow, and I just landed the lead in the fall play. Things are going to get much busier as the second quarter kicks off, and I need to refresh myself and recharge my batteries a little next week. Today's post will be the second and last part of my Grimm fairy tale, and after that, I will post heavy planning and stuff for my November project. I have changed up the story after generating the second character, and the project is now quite different than it used to be. So here's the ending.

The most astonishing thing about this room, however, was that it was filled end to end with paper boxes. There were so many of the unmarked containers that it seemed impossible that they could all be full. Ganesh, curious as ever, picked up a box and tore it open. Inside he found gold. Gold everything. Gold goblets, gold plates, gold silverware, gold necklaces, bracelets, and arm bands, gold clothes, gold rings, and pretty much every item you could imagine made in gold. There were also pearls and jewels and other precious stones, as well as many other things that looked incredibly valuable.

                Ganesh picked up a golden goblet and a golden spoon, and then replaced the box where he found it. He was in awe of the vast amount of treasure that was in the gigantic room, and he figured that the contents of this room were more valuable than all of his brother’s wealth. Ganesh headed back towards the iron door with goblet and spoon in hand, and he once again commanded the door to open. Stepping back out into the real world, he quickly headed home with his golden treasures tucked under his shirt.

                From that day onward, Ganesh began to live the life of the wealthy. The first thing he did was give his family a nice, filling home-cooked meal with food bought from the market. After debating what else to do with his cash, he eventually decided that he should help others like himself. He gave money to homeless shelters and hand-delivered food to starving families. After a while, however, the money that the spoon and goblet brought him began to run out. Ganesh had to plan a return trip to the Bazenji Bazaar. He went to his brother, who was very suspicious of the sudden surge of money that his brother had got, and he asked him for a burlap sack. Ganesh had run out of money and could not afford one for himself. His brother obliged, but his suspicion of Ganesh’s overnight success grew.

                The next day, Ganesh returned to the alleyway where the Bazaar was located, and to his relief, it was still there. After saying the magic words, Ganesh headed inside with his burlap sack. He went to the same box that he had been at before, and only took a couple of items with him, even though he had a large bag this time. He didn’t want to appear greedy to whoever ran this place. After he had taken just enough to get him by with the charities for a little while, he headed back towards the door and opened it.

                Ganesh fearlessly walked back out into the alleyway and headed towards home. After he was about fifteen feet away from the door, the twelve thugs suddenly came around the corner behind him. The lead one pointed and yelled something at his eleven friends, and all twelve rushed towards Ganesh. He was so afraid that he could do nothing but stand stock still and shiver. What could one man do against twelve?

                “Who are you?” the lead thug asked. “And why are you here?”

                Thinking on his feet, Ganesh replied, “I was simply exploring this alleyway. Is there anything against that?”

                “No, I suppose not.” The thug said suspiciously, “but this is our territory. I do not want to see your face here again.”

                “I understand perfectly, my good sir. You won’t see me again.”

                With that, Ganesh rushed out of the alleyway and started heading home. He didn’t even look to see if the twelve men were watching him. If he ever wanted to enter the Bazenji Bazaar again, he would have to be very cautious indeed. Time passed, and Madhav got more and more suspicious of his brother’s actions. When Ganesh’s money ran out again, he began to brainstorm a new way to get to the Bazaar without being seen. First, he asked his brother for the bag again. Madhav kindly offers to bring the bag over to Ganesh’s house. Thinking this strange, Ganesh patiently waits at his house for the bag. Madhav brings the bag, and does not tell his brother that he has covered the bottom of the bag in a clear adhesive substance. Madhav wants to know what his brother does with this bag, and he is driven to finding out the secret to Ganesh’s success.

                Ganesh takes the bag and makes his way to the Bazaar at sundown. He is incredibly cautious, as he has been watching the twelve and learning their patterns for days now. He realized that they like to raid the Bazaar at midnight, and that is why Ganesh traveled at sundown instead of at night. Finally reaching the Bazaar, he whispers the code words and enters carefully. After checking to make sure that the twelve were not inside the Bazaar, he takes only a few more golden items. Satisfied and a little cocky that he did not get caught, Ganesh sauntered back out into the alley.

                “There he is! I told you that he was stealing from us!” the lead thug yelled as the twelve came out of a side alley and caught sight of Ganesh. “Get him!”

                Ganesh instinctively panicked and ran like a gazelle away from the twelve. He blasted back into the main street and powered his legs to run as fast as the wind. The twelve thieves were right behind him, and Ganesh took a cue from the action movies by grabbing a cart of fruit and shoving it down behind him. The twelve thieves had to stop and maneuver around the commotion that Ganesh caused, and Ganesh managed to get back to his home safe and sound. He went into his room and emptied the gold into his special hiding place, and suddenly a hand grabbed his shoulder. Frozen solid, Ganesh knew that the hand probably belonged to one of the twelve. He was relieved to hear his brother’s voice instead.

                “Let me see your bag, brother.” Madhav said with a grumble in his voice.

                “W-why would you want to see your bag? It’s empty.” Ganesh said in a trembling tone.

                “That matters little. Give me your bag.”

                Ganesh handed over the bag, and Madhav looked inside of it.

                “Ah-hah! I knew that you were hiding something from me.” Madhav pulled a single gold fork out of the bag and waved it in his brother’s face. “Where is the rest of the gold you had in this bag? Where did you get these valuable items?”

                “The fork was the only thing I found. I was…picking up trash on the street when I found it.” Ganesh could not keep a straight face while he told the blatant lie. Madhav caught on to his bluff instantly.

                “You did not just find this trinket in the street. TELL me where you got this from.”

                Under pressure, Ganesh cracked and told his brother the truth. He told him about the Bazaar, where it was, and how to open it. He told him the riches that were inside, and what it had done for him in the past couple of weeks. The verdant light of greed filled Madhav’s eyes, and he immediately headed towards where Ganesh said the Bazaar was. The only thing that Ganesh forgot to tell his brother was about the twelve thieves. The grandfather clock in Ganesh’s house chimed midnight as Madhav left the room.

                Going along the route that his brother Ganesh told him, Madhav quickly arrived at the neon sign for the Bazenji Bazaar. Unfortunately, however, he had almost forgotten the name of the place. The sign remedied that problem immediately, and he opened the door with the secret words. The same calm, quiet elevator music poured out of the room, and Madhav smiled. This music reminded him of the environment in his own office building. It was a tune that exemplified the life of the wealthy. He strode inside unafraid, and he saw the riches that were ripe for the picking inside the Bazaar. With none of the humbleness that Ganesh had, Madhav took the most valuable items and filled his entire bag. With this money, he would be able to buy many more wonderful material things. When he went to leave the Bazaar, however, he could not remember the name of it, and there was no sign inside to help him out.

“Benji, Benji, open up!” he cried, but the door would not open. “Benji, Benji, open up!” Still the door would not open for him. The name Bazenji had completely left the recesses of his mind, and he sat down on the white ground, his newfound riches now completely worthless. He began to think about how worthless it all was, how his brother might just have been right to give the money to charities. Material possessions were such a part of his daily life, however, that he could not seem to exist in any other way.

“BENJI, BENJI, OPEN UP!” he yelled, and suddenly, the door opened.

He had not opened the door, however. It had been opened from the outside. The twelve thieves ran in, having heard Madhav’s yell, and the lead thug immediately pulled a very large and intimidating knife on Madhav.

“So, peasant, we have finally caught you. After stealing from us twice, we have cornered you this third time. You made a grave mistake, coming here twice in one night. Now you will pay the price.”

“What?!” Madhav screamed. His brother hadn’t told him about this. “I have not stolen from you twice. It was my brother! My twin brother!”

“Like we are fools enough to believe that story. Now, men, let us dispatch this dirty peasant thief.”

And just like that, the large knife swung towards Madhav’s neck, and an instant later his life ended. The ruddy stain of blood washed over the once-pristine white floor, and Madhav’s severed head dropped to the floor with a thump.

For Little Eyes Only

As promised, this post will consist of the entirety of my children's story, Qenny the Koala. I used strange spelling for the character names, and please keep in mind that this is a CHILDREN'S STORY. I don't pretend that this is a mind-boggling prose masterpiece. With that being said, here is the story.

Qenny the Koala was a very special koala. His mother was a kind, loving koala named Loary. Qenny the Koala wasn’t like other koalas though. Most koalas ate special leaves that kept them healthy and sleepy, too. When Qenny was born and his mamma first tried to feed him a special leaf, he coughed it back up. “I don’t like this, mamma. Get me something else!” he cried. “Qenny, you have to eat this leaf. It makes you healthy and sleepy, too.” But Qenny the Koala just couldn’t eat the special leaf. One day, Qenny was swinging on top of the trees in his forest, when he suddenly found a strange animal. This animal was black and white, with a big, chubby face. “Hello.” The animal said. “I am Penni the Panda. Would you like to eat some of my special leaf?” “No, I cannot.” Qenny said to the panda. “I cannot eat any of the special leaves that normal koalas eat.” “Oh, but this is not a koala leaf. This is bamboo, a panda leaf. Try it. You might like it.” Qenny gratefully accepted the bamboo leaf, and he enjoyed the taste very much. “Mmmm! This is much better than the koala leaf!” Qenny said happily. Qenny and Penni began to see each other more often, and Qenny took home many panda leaves for him and his koala friends to eat. The panda leaves were different from the koala leaves, though. Koala leaves made you sleepy, and all of the koala grown-ups slept for most of every day. The panda leaves made you feel like shouting and jumping up and down and being crazy all the time. Because they ate the panda leaves instead of the koala leaves, Qenny and his friends jumped around and disturbed their parents sleep for days on end. Eventually the grown-up koalas got angry at Qenny because he kept them awake. “You need to stop eating the panda leaves, Qenny. Why can’t you eat koala leaves like all the other koalas?” “I don’t know, mamma.” Qenny replied. “My friends like both koala and panda leaves, but I only like panda leaves. What should I do?” “If you can’t eat koala leaves, then you can’t be a koala.” Qenny became very sad because of what his mamma told him, and he went to see Penni. “How can I become a panda, Penni? I keep waking up all the koalas where I live. My mamma told me that I cannot be a koala anymore. I want to be a panda like you.” “I know how you can become a panda!” Penni said. “Here, come with me.” Penni took Qenny to a muddy swamp. “Here, roll around in the mud, and you’ll get black spots on you like a panda!” Qenny rolled around in the swamp, and when he came out, he looked like as much of a panda as Penni was. “Now I’ll take you to where the pandas live!” Penni and Qenny came to where the rest of the pandas lived. Penni’s father, Nikell, welcomed Qenny as a son. Qenny and the pandas lived happily ever after together, and the pandas threw wild parties every night.

DRUGS!

So there you have it. Seeing as this post will be a little short because of the short story I had, I will relent and give you all a couple of details on my November project idea. I have determined that the entire collection of stories will involve a single fictional college environment, and the stories will revolve around important events between teachers and students. Sounds cliche, I know, but I hope that I can use the plot device of the students' newfound independence to create some interesting storylines. Stephanie Winters (Professor Winters, that is) is going to be the Department Head of whatever she teaches, and her story will involve her making a sacrifice and losing her job. The topic that I am going to touch upon throughout her story is...when you are under suspicion and/or you know you did something wrong, I believe that your everyday behavior changes drastically.

When Stephanie is put under suspicion for doing something, she struggles with the morality of the situation and eventually decides to resign and save the career of one of her students. Her specific story in the collection will be called "The Touch of Fear", which I think nicely explains what I'm trying to say with the piece. As for what Stephanie is actually fighting for...she has a nephew (a character I have yet to invent...) who has a very unstable mental health condition. He goes to the college that Stephanie teaches at, and the only reason that he hasn't been kicked out yet is because Stephanie promised to watch over him.

Her nephew decides that he wants to go to a party that he got invited to, and he pleads with the usually stone-cold Stephanie to let him go. She relents and allows him to go to the party, and the nephew gets drunk there. In his drunken stupor, someone provokes her nephew and the nephew seriously injures that person. The administration blames the nephew (obviously) but Stephanie eventually reveals that it was her decision to let him go. Since the nephew technically did not break any rules, he stays at the school but Stephanie loses her job.

One more thing that I'd like to mention. All of these short stories will have a common element to bind them, and that element is a set of deck chairs that lies on one of the courtyards of the college. This is a popular leisure area that virtually all of the students use at one point or another, and the teachers are sometimes seen there as well. The stories all revolve around these deck chairs and what they symbolize; the comfort of leisure in a busy daily life. As some of you may know, the phrase "rearranging the deck chairs" is a phrase that means that certain things have changed only in appearance. Think of it this way. You have a set of deck chairs. They are purple, blue, and red. If you change the order of them (AKA rearranging them) to blue, red, purple, then you have changed the deck chairs...but they themselves haven't really changed. So it shows the fact that while drastic changes may be happening somewhere, things are still essentially the same. And that is the theme that will be apparent throughout my November project. I'll post again soon with info on Stephanie's nephew.

Why So Grimm?

So today, I post the long-awaited first part of my modernized Grimm fairy tale. I know that you have all just been dying to read my unedited version of Simeli Mountain. If you like my rendition of it, tell me in the comments below. I may use some of the key concepts of it for a future story. Oh, and one last thing. It's a Creative Writing update. We are currently writing short little children's stories with pictures, and I will be posting the no-picture version for my next post. I hope it will entertain you all. Without further ado, here is the fairy tale.

Now, children, let me tell you the ancient and timeless story of the Bazenji Bazaar. The Bazenji Bazaar was an incredible place of wealth and treasure that made its home in the back alleys of the city of New Delhi. Only a few people knew about it, and even less people knew how to access it. Today, you will hear of the story of twin brothers who found the place by accident. One brother received wondrous riches from the Bazaar; the other met his end in the there. But first, both brothers had to find the Bazaar…

                Ganesh and Madhav were two brothers who were both born into a very poor family that lived in the slums of New Delhi. Their father sold telephones for the smallest telephone company in India, and he was not a very successful businessman. When the eldest son, Madhav, became an adult he vowed to move to America to learn the ways of the famous entrepreneurs there. He also vowed to come back to India a wealthy man. Within four years, he had achieved this goal, and he came back to his home of New Delhi to manage the largest telephone company in the country.

                During this time, the younger brother, Ganesh was patiently waiting for his turn in the spotlight. Although he also really longed to go to America and be rich like his brother, their family could only afford to send one son to America. Ganesh’s father pleaded with Madhav to let them borrow money to send Ganesh to school as well, but Madhav did not want any competition in the business world, so he refused to lend his father money. Madhav was a very greedy man, and he used all of his money on material possessions, giving nothing to charity.

                After it was decided that Madhav would not be giving any money to Ganesh, Ganesh applied to be a salesman for Madhav’s company. Madhav reluctantly gave him the job, and Ganesh began going door to door selling telephones, just like his father did. Ganesh was about as successful as his father was, but he was still married to a lovely woman and he managed to have 5 wonderful children. Eventually, however, Madhav started reducing Ganesh’s pay check, and Ganesh was soon struggling to support his family.

                One day, while Ganesh was out making telephone sales, he passed by a dark alley, and something caught his eye. Doubling back to see what it was, he noticed something that he had never seen before in that alley. It was a brightly colored neon sign. The sign read “Here lies the Bazenji Bazaar.” The sign was decorated with a genie coming out of his neon-yellow lamp. Ganesh found the sign intriguing, and he took himself and his telephones over to investigate. He noticed that right below the sign was a gigantic, imposing iron door.

                Before he could take a closer look, twelve men turned the corner and started heading down the alley as well. Ganesh stood still for a moment, until he realized how rough and mean-looking these twelve guys looked. Suddenly panicking, Ganesh took his telephones and darted down a side alley to hide. He waited for about a minute, and then peeked his head around the corner to watch the men. One of the thugs stepped towards the door and said in a loud voice;

                “Bazenji, Bazenji, open up!”

                The huge iron door swung open as quickly as though it were made of cardboard, and it slammed against the surrounding brick wall with a huge, satisfying thud. From inside the door, Ganesh could hear the faint sound of American elevator music. The tones that escaped from the room beyond the door were sweet and soothing, but also slightly empty-sounding and creepy. The twelve men looked at each other and grinned, and then they stepped inside. The door slammed shut behind them.

                Frightened, but also curious, Ganesh walked up to the door and stared at it for a while, wondering what could be inside. He decided that curiosity in this matter may not necessarily be safe, so he and his telephones walked away, back where he had come from. At that moment, the iron door swung open again of its own accord, and the twelve thugs came back out into the alley. Still afraid of the scary-looking men, Ganesh dashed back into the side alley and waited for them to leave. He took note of the fact that each of them was carrying a burlap sack that was bulging with odd-shaped objects.

                “Bazenji, Bazenji, close!” the same thug said, and the iron door swung shut with a bang.

                Now that the thieves were gone, Ganesh decided that maybe he could risk investigating this door after all. He walked up to it cautiously and looked at the neon sign again. The sign flickered, and he could still hear the faint sound of the relaxing music behind the door. Taking his cue from what the lead thug did, he stood before the door and said,

                “Bazenji, Bazenji, open up!”

                The door opened for Ganesh just as it did for the twelve thugs, and Ganesh cautiously stepped inside. Immediately he was hit with a rush of sound. The tinkling of the bells that played the elevator music was much louder inside the actual room, and it had quite a hypnotizing effect. The entire room was painted white, and it was so bright that you couldn’t tell exactly where the ceiling met the walls and where the walls met the floor.

Part 2 to follow after my children's story.

Character Profile #1

Hello all. I apologize for what I'm about to do. For the next couple of posts, you are going to get some choppy short little snippets about either my planning for my first writing project, or postings of what I'm doing in Creative Writing. The Pertinent Life Questions series is most likely ended. I will try to post an occasional post about something other than writing, but this blog is called "The Write Place" after all.

As I begin planning today for my first official writing project, please keep in mind that all of the things I write for my Creative Writing class are all off of the top of my head. That means that they are random spoutings of words which I do not plan in advance. I do not expect any of that crap to be good. I just use that class for practice. With that being said, I will post my modernization of a Grimm fairy tale after a couple of days.

For my first "Short Story Planning" post, I'd like to post a profile of the first character I've created for my story. I do not know how they will fit into the story yet or even what the story will be, but I have devoted this day to fleshing out this first character.

Name: Stephanie Winters

Meaning of Name: Stephanie is the female form of Stephen. Stephen means crown in Greek, which I take to mean leader. Saint Stephen was also a biblical figure who was stoned to death after Jesus died. He is widely regarded as the first Christian martyr, and so, I take Stephanie to also symbolize martyrdom. So far, Stephanie Winters is a leader and a martyr. Winters was a last name that used to be given to farmers who had to send in their taxes during the winter. That, to me, symbolizes hardships that the farmers took to do their duty. So Stephanie Winters is a leader who is willing to go through any hardships and any sacrifices to succeed at what she does. Although she is female, I picture her as a character who goes against the stereotypical female. Stephanie reminds me more of a male character at this point, having a mysterious past and having dealt with many a hard time.

Age: 64 years old, this reinforces the fact that Stephanie is an older (but not elderly) lady who has seen her fair share of the cruelties life can offer.

Height: 4 foot 9. I am a short guy, and the top of Stephanie's head comes right up to eye level for me. She is a short woman, which exemplifies even further the fact that she has dealt with bigger (and meaner) people.

Eye and Hair Color: Her eyes are steel blue. Stephanie is a character who is dead set on what she wants, and she will give up anything to see her dreams come true. But she also has another side to her...her hair is bright red (although it's starting to gray a little bit). This shows her passionate side. Just because she can be cold and determined doesn't mean that she is an emotionless monster. She actually CARES about the people that she works with.

Character Traits: Assertive. We've already beaten to death the fact that she is more man than woman. She has a confidence about her that sets her apart from the stereotypical literary woman figure. Imaginative. This is another aspect of her passionate side. Playing into her bright red hair, Stephanie is also very creative and clever. This helps her to succeed and really make a name for herself...in whatever she does. Moody. This is a downside of being a hard-shelled person. Stephanie can occasionally get REALLY crabby. She definitely has her bad days, and she is for sure a person who will snap at you if you get caught on her bad side. Scared of fireworks. Not quite sure about how to implement this one yet, but I'll figure it out eventually. I think that I may have her have a traumatic childhood experience involving a death because of a firework accident. The death will definitely involve a major female figure for her, since that adds to the lack of femininity that she has.

That's all for now, folks. Hopefully after I post my Grimm fairy tale story I'll be able to clue you in a little more on what to expect for my short story collection. I'll have a basic story line by next time, and maybe another character or two. Please comment below and tell me how you like Mrs. Stephanie Winters. I'm eager to read your reactions. Until next time...