Red Rain, 11/11, End

Welp, not where I thought it would go, but there it is. And, better for a lazy writer like me, it didn’t really “end” as we don’t know what happens one second later. However, all in all, it was an interesting exercise in allegory, even if heavy handed in a few places.

I’m already starting on my next and final project for my third collection. It will be much shorter than this but at least four times as depressing. I need to make book #20 into some kind of fun novel. There are millions of stories out there in hundreds of my characters; I just need to listen. Thanks, everyone, for reading along.

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Red Rain, 10/11

I’ve finished, but the last segment will need to be flogged a little bit more. In RealLife, still on semi-vacation, everyone else went out on the lake while I wrote, edited, and sent emails for the Lemur Throne Anthology, which I plan to publish on Christmas Day 2024. That’s fine; I don’t really like bodies of water and the sun turns me into a seeping blister.

Believe it or not, these last two parts, as Akky scales Building Three, was from an old memory of Bruce Lee’s Game of Death, and his fights to the top. There is nothing as remotely interesting here, but I take what inspiration I’m allowed to see.

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Red Rain, 8/x

A lot going on in this segment. Akky is true to herself in two ways: she recognizes she loves Nike and also that she’s willing to try anything to leave the Land Inside the Walls.

Following the mysterious conversation she has at the end, here, we start on something of a rollercoaster ride toward the end of her story. To quote Han Solo, “I’ve a very bad feeling about this.”

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Red Rain, 7/x

Last weekend was Imaginarium. It went very well and I need to write something about it. That will probably be in 1-2 poasts. In the mean time, I wanted to get this story back on rails as I’ve now a very good idea where it concludes.

Following her encounter with little Silver, Akky gets a tiny glimpse into her and her brother’s backstory. It stirs her own memories just enough to make her contrarian, if not deadly, nature, come to the surface.

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Red Rain, 6/x

What an astonishingly poor RealLife early morning. I woke up around 0200, confused; didn’t even know where I was. Fortunately recognized my wife and started asking: where are we? what’s the time? are our daughters here? Needless to say, she thought I was having a stroke, flicked the light on, and did a FAST check, which was negative. I was able to barely go back to sleep, but woke up when people were talking and playing music on our front street. Again, wife sits up; “there’s no one out there.” A somewhat rough few hours later, I texted DayJob I was in no condition to be dispensing meds and that I’d come in tomorrow. Personally? I think I did have a small brain bleed. Oh, well: getting old.

More importantly, Nike flirts a little with Akaiame, as he knows she likes him. The idea of the priests is re-introduced, followed by a non-specific warning about the Wall around this place. Two days later, she has an encounter with a Little Broken, who says something which causes her to have a breakdown.

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Red Rain, 5/x

Busy day, Saturday. Helped Daughter #1 get a car to replace the one she totaled the Wednesday before; while that was going on, Daughter #2 texts she’s at the airport and ready to be picked up. So, I was bouncing around everywhere. Did anything else happen Saturday?

With Akaiame, we learn a little more about the Broken and the town of humans. Several other things are mentioned but remain a mystery for right now. As this will be a busy week for me in the RealWorld, I imagine these segments will pause for the coming weekend.

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Red Rain, 4/x

People settle in to a daily routine fairly quickly, no matter what said people are made of. The quicker I can establish a “baseline” for Akaiame, the faster I can jerk it out from under her. Sometimes being a writer means to be a terrible person.

Their names are related to how they died. I mentioned Purgatory. They’re dead. This blog is a writing exercise; if you don’t like it, my apologies.

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Red Rain, 3/x

Names are important and now she has one, reflecting the title of this short story. Having characters asleep is a cheap way of covering a lot of ground with little typing; a bit like a montage in video. I’m able to have a 3rd person say what happened without spending 3000 words on what did happen.

Now that she’s awake, things shall begin to happen faster and faster for Akaiame. This is supposed to be short story, after all. I’ve already cut the entire “meet the priests” segment from twice now (yes, for once I’m that far ahead) to keep the camera focused tightly on Akkie. I want to see this world through her eyes.

We get our first hint that this is a very different place; time is not.

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