Monster

[n_wilkinson]

So I thought about what I could do with this livejournal. And figured, hell, it really doesn't matter. I really do need a writing blog, so why don't I just go ahead and do it.

There ya go. That's my plan. Every day (that I remember) will feature me talking about one of my stories, finished or not. I'll try and alternate between fanfiction and original fiction. There may or may not be spoilers. I will try and make them if there are. What better way to break my writer's block than to try and reason out one of my fics? Sounds like fun to me!

I really need a writing icon.

So today I bring you Monster, the first complete original fiction that I ever wrote. It is, by consequence, a short story, and strangely enough, remarkably similar to The Village, a movie by M. Night Shlayaman, though there are marked differences. Especially since I hadn't even seen the movie at the time of writing it. It was only later, after watching the film, that I could see the similarities.
 

Monster tells the story of Hadrian, a young boy in a small village at an undisclosed location. He has been raised, like the rest of his peers, to be a hunter. And as he has not yet matured, his tasks are more or less to guard and keep the village safe while the true Hunters seek out game. What is most important here is the superstition that surrounds his village. At the furthest boundary lies a thick forest, deepset in a valley and ominous to even the most carefree. Dark and dreary, it reeks of ill intentions. And the people have populated a belief about this forest. That a monster dwells in its dark depths, a most hideous beast who enjoys making a meal of humans.

Hadrian fears the forest, but pretends as if he doesn't. His older brother has often taunted him with the superstition, and as a result, he avoids it whenever possible.

The choice is taken from him when Hadrian comes under fire for neglecting his duties. He is accused of leaving his post, allowing one of the younger boys to be killed by something. The village elder beleives it to be wolves, but everyone else thinks the same thing. It must have been the beast -- the Troblin.

Though Hadrian swears his innocence, the elder passes judgment on him. Hadrian is to be punished and his courage tested. He must spend three days in the forest, and only if he survives will his innocence be proven. Dismayed and fearful, Hadrian submits to the elder's punishment.

At first, nothing seems to be wrong. He spends two days slipping along the shadows, living off the forest, and never once spying a single living creature. The forest seems to breathe on its own. Hadrian thinks that the superstition is really just a myth.

On the third day, he comes across the creature. Mottled and ugly, truly a beast. Hadrian doesn't think. He grabs his sword, gifted to him on a recent birthday, and charges the Troblin. He only thinks of his survival, and that the creature must die. He slashes and stabs, his movements unskilled but deadly. And in the end, the Troblin's blood stains his sword.

He watches as it falls. Watches the blood spill from it's body. Watches the blood creep towards him, covering him as though it has a life of it's own. And the Troblin laughs, a vague portent falling from it's cracked lips as very human blue eyes close a final time.

Hadrian barely has a chance to scream before he is covered, and loses consciousness. When he next wakes, it is to a different world. The sight, the smell, the feel of his own body. He rises to his feet, noticing the sluggishness, and  sees a corpse on the ground. Human and rotting, the size of an adult. He reaches out and finds that his hand is not his own. The sounds coming from his throat are barely human.

He has become the Troblin. And suddenly, the monster's words make sense.

Hadrian dooms himself to a life of wandering the forest. He knows he can't return. And one day, years and years later, he stumbles upon a horrifying scene. Two men, raping and murdering a young woman, leaving her corpse behind. And he knows that it will be blamed on him. So when the huntress enters the forest, afraid and desperate, he sees his end. The cycle starts again.

By the end, I hope that readers realize the message that I'm subtly pushing (or not too subtly depending on who's commenting).

You learn that the real monsters here are not the Troblin, but the residents of the village. They blame whatever ill acts they commit on the Troblin, and assuage their conscience by blaming it on superstition. The Troblin that Hadrian killed was nothing more than another wrongly accused man who killed another wrongly accused man, so on and so forth. The Troblin's phrase, "the blood of the innocent is your betraying," is part of a curse. Those who kill those who have done nothing, in turn become beasts themselves.

Admittedly, it's probably not the most original of ideas. And it's not the best of my writing. But it does have its value and I'm rather proud of it.

I've considered a sequel to it, showing how the cycle has been broken and the curse lifted. I haven't yet decided on a firm course of action so it's still tentative. There may or may not be more. Until then, it's just a single piece.

Those interested can buy the entire story here: http://dracosdebauchery.tripod.com/id265.html