As I sat by my desk at work today, listening to the sound of silence coming out of my headset, it struck me that I am here writing a blog about my journey to become a Professional Writer and have yet to actually post up some of my writing!
Sacrilege!
Well, okay. I'll admit that it has a lot more to do with rabid perfectionism than it does with not having anything to put up. I got plenty on that front - honest!
This rather stunting need to have my work as perfect as I can possibly make it before letting any eyes other than my wife's see would have held true, had it not been for a rather fun week of posts done by the awesome, amazing, enigmatic INTERN . All this week she has been running 'International S**ty First Draft Week', celebrating the wonderful properties of the not-always amazing first draft.
It encouraged me to make a first draft or two of my own see the light of day.
So, without further ado. Let me introduce you to an excerpt from 'The Day the Sun Stopped Shining' - about a man named Cory Wilson, a tightly-wound salesman who wakes up to find the sun has been extinguished overnight. With the temperature plummeting, he embarks on a treacherous journey across his self-destructing home state of Montana to find The Doomsday Dome - a place he heard about on the local radio.
With only a cryptic riddle for directions, Wilson will need more than just sharp wits to survive in a world where Law and Order has ceased to exist.
We pick up just after Cory has escaped the clutches of the twisted Johnson family, who tried to make him their slave/maid at gunpoint...
Wilson spotted the 'low energy' light flicker into life on the dashboard. His heart leaped into his mouth while questions along the likes of 'now what?' ran at the speed of light through his mind. It didn't even cross his mind to look up at the road until he almost drove off it.
The he saw it, a tall neon gift from heaven drawing closer by the second. A big red and white sign was announcing the fact this was the last chance for 'Gas' in a hundred miles. Despite his profusely thanking the stars above for this stroke of luck, he found himself smugly smiling at the fact that the last Gasoline driven vehicle had been scrapped over fifty years ago. These days Gas Stations sold vehicle batteries, which at the size of a Coke can, could be clipped into place with ease. Thanks to the advent of air-fuelled battery technology, a single battery could be used to drive for hundreds of miles before ever having to be replaced.
Yet even after fifty years, Gas Stations refused to change their names.
Five minutes later, he pulled into a parking space and glanced nervously down the way he'd come, comforting himself by noting a distinct lack of vehicles on the road. Darkness and silence that way was good. It meant he wasn't being chased.
Nearby a hawk-faced woman stood in the bright glow of a spotlight, talking loudly into a mobile phone. She paid no attention to the world around her which Wilson, recent events considered, didn't mind a bit.
The station attendant was working from a Night Window, watching a small plasma TV to distraction. As he approached, Wilson was not even offered a polite greeting.
“One personal car battery please,” Wilson said whilst searching his pockets for his wallet, “And a can of Caffeine-O.”
The attendant, a rotund balding man in his middle years, did not even move his feet off the counter. The name 'Hal' was embroidered onto his shirt.
“Hello?” Wilson tapped the glass, “You have a customer here!”
“Shh!” Hal held a finger to his lips before leaning forward to increase the volume, “Listen to this!”
Wilson sighed impatiently, checking the highway again before leaning closer to the window so he could listen in.
“...Again, it has been confirmed that an International Consortium of Scientists have assembled at the Kennedy Space Centre in an effort to reverse the effects of the Ra Mission catastrophe,” The newscaster announced, “We don't know how long this effort has already been going on, nor which Scientists are present. In a statement made just a few moments ago, Vice President Marsh went on to say that efforts will go on around the clock until this crisis has been resolved...”
Hal turned the volume back down again, leaning back to grasp a green coloured battery, “I knew they would not just sit back and let us all die,” He said as he placed the object on a rotating shelf, “That'll be five hundred bucks.”
Wilson almost choked on his own bile. A car battery was only worth 39.99, “What?!?”
“Where have you been pal?” Hal shrugged, “Electric companies have jacked up their prices and threatened to cut off anyone who don't pay. I wanna stay warm. So five hundred for the battery or you're walkin' wherever it is you wanna go die.”
“You've got to be kidding me!”
For the first time since they met, Hal met Wilson's gaze, “Do I look like I'm jokin' around here?”
“Fine,” Wilson opened his wallet and started counting bills. His heart started pounding as it hit home he was short, “How about three hundred and fifty?”
“Looks like you're walk-” Hal's eyes suddenly widened as the ghostly reflection of Wilson's car came barrelling towards the attendant's booth, “S**T!”
Both men scrambled to get out of the way, the white saloon came crashing through the shop's wall like a cannonball. The woman who, just moments before had been chatting away on her phone, followed in its wake, climbing over the debris to scoop up as many batteries she could find.
“What are you waiting for, an invitation?” She yelled at a dumbfounded Wilson, “Give me some help will 'ya?”
Hope you enjoyed!
(Language edited for universal readership)
