Den følgende tekst skrev jeg på mit creative writing kursus på uni, og den er derfor på engelsk.
Vi blev givet til opgave at skrive vejrjournal i en uges tid. Dette var resultatet af min.
I bunden af indlægget finder du en refleksionstekst, der hænger sammen med den lille historie.
Concerning Weather-Diary
of a Cloud-Enthusiast
Vi blev givet til opgave at skrive vejrjournal i en uges tid. Dette var resultatet af min.
I bunden af indlægget finder du en refleksionstekst, der hænger sammen med den lille historie.
Tuesday:
The whole world has been absorbed by a cloud this morning.
There is no sky, only a thick layer of floating H20.
Maybe it is going to rain later.
Then there will be a sky, but the earth will be swallowed in the rain,
and we will have to sail or swim instead of walking.
Or maybe the cloud will never go away. Slowly the earth will freeze, as
there is no way for the sunshine to reach us. This cloud is our whole universe now.
What remains on the other side does not matter. The cloud decides our fate and
thus it is our faith.
All hail the great cloud.
All hail the great cloud.
Wednesday:
The cloud is still there.
At first it wasn't taken seriously by most, even a lot of the people who
worshipped it.
But soon the doubters will learn the truth, and they will despair.
Only the righteous shall live in the world of the cloud, when this one
ends.
So it is.
More people turned up to listen today and listened they did.
Some with criticism, some with the mockery of the uneducated
intellectual.
These people don't understand, and most of them never will.
Not only it is too late anyway.
It is colder today.
The end is near, but we worry not.
The cloud will take us to someplace better, once we pass our test.
Those who do not will be left here, in the remnants of this false and
dying world.
Left here to freeze.
Cloud protect me.
Thursday:
The temperature has fallen almost ten degrees.
By now, there is no disputing that the Cloud is a force to be reckoned
with.
The rain is heavy and has been pouring for hours, and yet the Cloud is
still as strong as ever.
No one has seen the sky for days.
The first of the non-believers died today.
I did not want it to happen, but they provoked it.
He showed up at our biggest meeting yet, five thousand gathered, and
started a fight.
Started it himself. The apprentice ended it.
I did not want it to happen, but there was no alternative.
Not all of us can go, when the Cloud gathers us. Not all of us can pass
the test.
We have to protect the people, who have a chance to. Who know the truth.
And now our enemies know, what we are ready to do.
Cloud protect us all.
Friday:
There was a moment of doubt this morning, but it turned out to be
another test.
The sun shone for a moment and then it disappeared forever.
Some people left us. Now most of them have come back again.
We have more followers than ever.
The Cloud is darkening. The rain is pouring down.
A river of sin will destroy most of the non-believers.
In the end, only the followers of truth remain, it is known.
The apprentice has found a place for us to stay, a proper sanctuary with
space for all of us to stay.
The building used to belong to a bunch of businesses.
Now it is ours.
He really has proven himself to be a loyal follower.
Cloud protect us all.
Saturday:
Another test of faith today, but most of us passed, as the Cloud became lighter
for a moment.
Now, we all await the end.
Until then we say our prayers and make the necessary sacrifices.
All images of the false faith, of the sun, the wicked deceiver, will be
removed and drowned in the tears of our protector and our guide.
The rest of us will have to be cleansed, before we are ready for the
departure.
All that is unworthy shall be washed away.
Still more people want to join us.
Some have seen the truth for what it is.
Others have simply seen our supplies and our secure position in this
city of chaos.
All of them will be tested, or they will be left out in the rain to die.
Even amongst our own ranks we will have to do these tests. It is not
fair, not justice, if we turn away people of ill intent while also hiding them
amongst our ranks.
The apprentice will see to this cleansing.
Cloud protect the chosen and keep us pure.
Sunday:
The rain was light as a feather today.
It is a sign; the end is nigh.
Yet there is still time for cleansing ourselves and our ranks.
There have been a few problems so far, but the false believers are gone.
The apprentice is faithful and effective.
Unfortunately, not everyone is as dedicated as he.
Some tried to stop the cleansing, and they were removed as well.
It is cold outside.
Our scouts do not report much life in the nearby parts of the city.
There are settlements out there, but most of them are silent for now.
Except for the thieves and the so-called Church of the "Sun".
A bunch of heathens in denial, is what they are.
Their belief is that, the sun will return soon.
If only they pray hard enough.
Since we are the truth, they will
have to fight us all well.
We are heading out tomorrow.
The apprentice will be left in command, while I lead the charge.
The apprentice will be left in command, while I lead the charge.
Cloud guide us to victory.
Monday:
Was it all one big mistake?
I don't know anything anymore.
We headed out this morning.
Went to the site of the sun worshippers.
I am not sure, what I thought.
Maybe that we would scare them a bit.
Not what actually happened.
Not that much death and destruction.
Pointless death no less.
The cloud scattered a bit afterwards, and the sky became visible.
There we stood, amongst all the fallen, and for the first time in days I
had a moment to think.
A moment to doubt.
It was enough.
I could not kill the leader of the sun-temple.
The sky was a mixture of blue and white, when we returned.
The apprentice had made a few changes, while we were away.
Some people had been replaced.
We had specific plans for his
sacrifice.
I told him the truth.
Soon, I was replaced as well.
Oh, my pupil, did I do this to you, or have you always been like this?
I am writing these last words, while in my cell.
The journal will be hidden in a whole, where no one can see it.
Maybe once the cloud is completely gone, everyone will learn the truth
from it.
Maybe not.
Concerning Weather-Diary
of a Cloud-Enthusiast
My
secondary creative text (Weather-Diary of a Cloud-Enthusiast) I wrote
early in the semester, when the class was giving the assignment of keeping a
weather-diary for a week.
Each day we had to write down observations and reflections, while looking at the weather.
At first I decided to write speculations on how the Earth could end each day depending on the weather, but since it was cloudy for a whole week, I instead wrote this small, coherent story.
It would be fair to say, that I went a bit of the original assignment and did something pretty different, but I think it kind of works.
Each day we had to write down observations and reflections, while looking at the weather.
At first I decided to write speculations on how the Earth could end each day depending on the weather, but since it was cloudy for a whole week, I instead wrote this small, coherent story.
It would be fair to say, that I went a bit of the original assignment and did something pretty different, but I think it kind of works.
The short
story is written in first person from the head of a sect dedicated the “Great
Cloud”, which will, presumably, end the whole world. Such is the belief of the
cloud-worshippers anyway.
At first it simply contains observations and reflections, while narrative elements start appearing, and the tone becomes very fanatic. I tried to make it something a doomsayer would shout on a street corner, while using a few biblical phrases and even a reference to a “river of sin”.
In some ways this text contains parodical elements as well, although it is not based on one specific text. Instead it is closer to Rishel’s definition of the burlesque.
At first it simply contains observations and reflections, while narrative elements start appearing, and the tone becomes very fanatic. I tried to make it something a doomsayer would shout on a street corner, while using a few biblical phrases and even a reference to a “river of sin”.
In some ways this text contains parodical elements as well, although it is not based on one specific text. Instead it is closer to Rishel’s definition of the burlesque.
While parody
is a humorous imitation of a specific work, a burlesque is a humorous imitation
not associated with a specific work. It’s an imitation of a general concept,
like a genre, tradition, style, historical period, or artistry. You can
burlesque almost anything that is a typical genre or typical behavior.[1]
The text is
meant to very satirical of people reading too much into stuff and taking
drastic actions as a consequence. The story ends with the narrator regretting
the death, that has been caused, while no longer having any control of the
sect, which was started by the very same person’s reflections.
The story is not funny in the same way as traditional satire, but more as an absurdity.
Its ending is very bleak with the narrator about to be executed, after having begun to doubt the events that have transpired, and yet its over-the-top nature is meant to poke fun at some very real historical events. This is demonstrated by the fact that the sect forms around a cloud, the very problem they are dealing with, instead of trying to figure out, what has really happened, or what they can do about it.
The story is not funny in the same way as traditional satire, but more as an absurdity.
Its ending is very bleak with the narrator about to be executed, after having begun to doubt the events that have transpired, and yet its over-the-top nature is meant to poke fun at some very real historical events. This is demonstrated by the fact that the sect forms around a cloud, the very problem they are dealing with, instead of trying to figure out, what has really happened, or what they can do about it.
I went back
and forth a few times on the amount of narrative apparent in the text.
In one version I wanted to have multiple characters but decided to scrap that idea to have the monologue and the reflections of the narrator take present. Instead only the narrator, the apprentice and the leader of “sun-worshippers” remain, all that is necessary for the story.
At the same time these three characters make up three literary archetypes.
The narrator is the one with a vision. Whether it is a prophet, an inventor or a mad scientist this sort of character thinks he understands how the world is supposed to be and does his best to change it. He almost thinks he is some sort of god himself, a new Prometheus.
But like the so-called other “modern Prometheus” Victor Frankenstein, the narrator is in the end killed by the very thing he himself has begun. His personal monster is the “apprentice”, a fanatic disciple turned murderer.
The final character of the story, and the one we know the least about, is the “sun-leader”.
This person has the sole purpose of being a rival, a reflection of the narrator himself.
One can imagine this opposing group doing exactly the same sort of thing as the cloud-worshippers. The narrator certainly does so.
When confronted with the harsh reality of what both groups have been doing, the narrator is left with a choice. To sacrifice the sun-leader and kill for a cause he no longer believes in, or to accept the truth and return home to be killed by the apprentice.
Either way the circle of violence continuous.
Before the narrator even discover the actual truth, he unknowingly predicts his own death.
In one version I wanted to have multiple characters but decided to scrap that idea to have the monologue and the reflections of the narrator take present. Instead only the narrator, the apprentice and the leader of “sun-worshippers” remain, all that is necessary for the story.
At the same time these three characters make up three literary archetypes.
The narrator is the one with a vision. Whether it is a prophet, an inventor or a mad scientist this sort of character thinks he understands how the world is supposed to be and does his best to change it. He almost thinks he is some sort of god himself, a new Prometheus.
But like the so-called other “modern Prometheus” Victor Frankenstein, the narrator is in the end killed by the very thing he himself has begun. His personal monster is the “apprentice”, a fanatic disciple turned murderer.
The final character of the story, and the one we know the least about, is the “sun-leader”.
This person has the sole purpose of being a rival, a reflection of the narrator himself.
One can imagine this opposing group doing exactly the same sort of thing as the cloud-worshippers. The narrator certainly does so.
When confronted with the harsh reality of what both groups have been doing, the narrator is left with a choice. To sacrifice the sun-leader and kill for a cause he no longer believes in, or to accept the truth and return home to be killed by the apprentice.
Either way the circle of violence continuous.
Before the narrator even discover the actual truth, he unknowingly predicts his own death.
Imbeciles.
They cannot comprehend what glory has happened and so they are determined to
fight the truth.
Since we are the truth, they will have to fight us all well.
Since we are the truth, they will have to fight us all well.
[…]
He asked where the sun-leader was.
We had specific plans for his sacrifice.
I told him the truth.
Soon, I was replaced as well.
He asked where the sun-leader was.
We had specific plans for his sacrifice.
I told him the truth.
Soon, I was replaced as well.
At first, he thinks he knows the truth and
kills for the cause, without thinking much of it.
But it is an easy path, and it requires no real sacrifice on the narrator’s behalf.
As such Weather-Diary of a Cloud-Enthusiast could be called a burlesque of lot of different things. There is the genre of religious text, the sect-like behavior, the aggressive tendencies of power-hungry factions in a fractured society and maybe just weather-diaries as well.
But it is an easy path, and it requires no real sacrifice on the narrator’s behalf.
As such Weather-Diary of a Cloud-Enthusiast could be called a burlesque of lot of different things. There is the genre of religious text, the sect-like behavior, the aggressive tendencies of power-hungry factions in a fractured society and maybe just weather-diaries as well.
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