Thursday 20 September 2007

Come Unto These Yellow Sands

I feel really tired. I got home about an hour earlier than usual today, because Mrs. Smith, my Editorial Writing teacher, wasn't in. Even so, the time has passed very quickly, and I feel tired and cold. I think I may go downstairs to make a cup of tea in a moment.
Today's Wake Up Writing exercise was to set a timer for 20 minutes and write anything with the title 'The Sleeper' until the alarm went. I was bored enough to attempt this. Now that I read over my text, however, I can see how patronising it sounds. I tried to go for a little twist ending, but I honestly don't know how effective it was. I don't really care, though. I just need to keep writing until I'm ready to go back to my stories. Today, I thought of a few more characterisation aspects for Elayne and Dorcas that sort of just appeared, and I was moving some papers in my room this morning when I came across a sheet of information about Doreen, which I vaguely recall writing a few weeks back. Apparently she hates her handwriting, and has an older half-brother who is half-American. I didn't remember any of this, so I'm glad I found the sheet.
Wait, damnit! Doreen is supposed to be an only child. Does it really matter? Goodness, now I have to think all of this through again.

The Sleeper
The library was old and grand, and quite remarkable in an architectural sense. It was dusty too, though; not because it was unused, but because nobody could be bothered to clean it. Row upon row, bookcases were covered in thick, grey fluff that fell to the floor whenever books were pulled off shelves, and muffled the footsteps of those who walked down the aisles. Some parts of the library were visited regularly, others were utterly abandoned. For example, nobody knew what books were kept at the back, for nobody had visited there. Because of the area's seclusion, it was easy for strange things to manifest there without ever being noticed. All sorts of fanciful creatures rested in the dark, safe from the outside world where predators of all sorts lurked, before leaving to make a new home elsewhere. The Sleeper, however, had been there for a very long time, since before the library had ever been built, centuries ago. The Sleeper had crawled into a space and fallen asleep there, and when the humans had decided to build in that area, they unwittingly built around The Sleeper, unaware of its presence. The Sleeper was unique, unlike any other creature, and it had one marvellous ability; it created Dreams. The Sleeper was constant, unwavering, and always had been, and thus the world has never been without Dreams. Even when awake, The Sleeper transmits images to all sleeping creatures, showing us what has happened in the past, what will happen in the future, even what is currently happening in other worlds. The Sleeper has a sad story, though. Thousands of years ago, it started to lose a grip on its power. Some people had started to investigate the Dreamworld, analysing it, trying to pick it to pieces and discover how it worked. The more that was uncovered, the less mystery The Sleeper had, and thus the less power it had. It grew tired and weak, travelling at a slow pace for several centuries, unable to carry out its job as effectively as it once did. And so, eventually its only option soon became clear to it; The Sleeper would have to fall into a deep slumber so that it could feed off the Dreams of other creatures. It stopped moving, and fell asleep where it was, unconcerned by the changing world around it. And now, thanks to The Sleeper's great sacrifice, the World of Dreams is self-perpetuating, and each and every one of us is under the watchful eye of The Sleeper, guardian against Nightmares.


That is an example of how not to write a History essay.

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Now playing: Apocalyptica - Enter Sandman
via FoxyTunes

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