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My most recent of thoughts

Sententious Writ

  I stared at the screen with a sinking feeling worse than any I’d experienced before. It was worse than seeing I’d failed linear algebra 2. It was worse than seeing the message that Harry had killed himself. It was even worse than the message from Enid saying that she wasn't interested in dating me, and would I please respect that and leave her alone. A wash of shame passed through me at this having hurt me more than Harry's death, but there was no use lying to myself. What I felt as I stared at my computer monitor this time was somehow worse than that. It was a short comment on my latest blog post, titled “Why we care (and don’t care) about Football”.  The contents of the comment was simple and cutting, as hard a blow as any I could imagine: I think I’ve seen enough. You’ve never had any readers. Only me. Let's talk. At the top right of the window was the little notification bell, a big red 1 by its side to indicate a private message. Ordinarily I'd have jumped at the...
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Crow of the Ocean - EPILOGUE

 The following is an epilogue to 'Crow of the Ocean', a book I have written on the train to and from army over the course of my final year of service. This epilogue is in no way mandatory for understanding the story and its themes. It might even occlude some of them! Nevertheless, I felt the ending a bit abrupt. Enjoy. CROW OF THE OCEAN EPILOGUE It was just as Anneli had feared; her grandmother had demanded she account for herself. Previous occasions when this had occurred had seldom been pleasant. She had been questioned about Cantiza’s virtues as a companion, she had been grilled over her disinterest in the sciences, and she had been scolded about her obsession with celebrity poets. She’d ably acquitted herself on these past encounters, or at least so she thought: her grandmother had always conceded some vital point, had admitted that Anneli’s perspective and actions were, if not quite correct, at the very least defensible. And still, despite such concessions, Anneli had alwa...
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Crow of the Ocean - Part 3 OF 3

The following is the third part of a story I've been writing on the train this past year. It is done, just in time for my release from the army. This is fortunate, as I'll have no reason to attend the train every day once I'm released! If you've read the previous two parts and have come back for a third helping, I am rather grateful. Enjoy. CROW OF THE OCEAN PART 3 There are a plethora of possible sensory assaults by which one might be awakened: the pleasantries of birdsong; the pungent smell of fertilized fields; the warm blemish of creeping sunlight. The ballads all started with something along these lines. Anneli thought the trope as fantastical as the rest of a ballad - real people were awakened by their conscience, or at least their work ethic. Anneli was unbothered by this - ballads and poems, plays and novels, all were enhanced by the sense of unreality about them. By beginning with the merely strange, the wondrous and supernatural could blend in without a jarrin...
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