Writing Steven Savant from the Starlit Sky

[Shinmaru]

I've been going through some more experimentation lately...with this story, I went back to writing completely by hand. I'd been using the computer a lot lately, but with short stories it just felt a bit too...impersonal? I don't know, really, but it didn't feel [i]right[/i]. Even if it does make my hand hurt a lot, I seem to write a lot better and more creatively when I write by hand, compared to regular typing. I think this story turned out well, so I'll probably end up writing every short story after this by hand, heh.

And, now, onto the story.

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The world was spinning, whirling, tilting out of control. Trees were bent out of shape, buildings were falling out of their foundations, and clouds were swirling into a giant white vortex. Steven did not know what to do. He was running through and unrecognizable mass of land. He was quite certain that he had known this place once before, but could not remember it correctly. The vortexing clouds frightened Steve, because they were the only things that he recognized in this strange and unruly world. Steven fumbled his way across the land, tripping over every rock, bumping into every tree. He was desperate to find somewhere, anywhere, where he could get some peace; a sanctuary from the anarchy that was dominating the world and his mind.

Steven spotted a church in the distance. It was the only building that hadn't been ravaged by the wildness of the outside world. The church was very tall and seemed to rise unfailingly into the infinite reaches of the sky. The stained glass windows exploded with a myriad of colors set against the dark, drab colors of the walls, roof and columns of the church. Steven was crawling on his hands and knees towards this beautiful sight. He crawled up the steps with a grueling, insane fervor matched only by the wild thoughts currently cascading through his mind. Step by step, grunt-by-grunt, thought-by-thought, Steven struggled up the path to this monument of holiness. At long last, after much effort, he made his way to the entrance of the church.

He stepped through the massive doors and into the dark haven of this hall of religion. Steven's shoes rapped against the polished wooden floor until he made his way onto the bright red carpeting leading through the main hall and into the choir. The ambience of the church comforted Steven slightly, but it was not enough to tame the troubled thoughts racing through his mind. The painful, excruciating pounding of each and every thought against his fragile skull was almost too much for him to bear.

"please get out of my head," Steven moaned softly to himself. "i don't want you in here anymore go away go away go away!" Steven clutched the sides of his head, which was now pulsating, pounding and hammering away, in tune with each heartbeat, in rhythm with each shattered, numbing thought coursing through his mind. It was too painful to think, but Steven had to give in to the inevitable need to think. Steven groped his way over to the benches that lined the hallway next to the arcade and sat down, hands clasped together tightly in front of him. He bowed his head and began to mutter fragmented bastardizations of sayings and actions that he remembered that he had been taught.

Steven began to pray. He prayed and prayed and he prayed some more. To whom or what he prayed, he did not know. He could have been praying to Jehovah, to Zeus, to Vishnu, to Buddha, to any god in particular from any part of the world. He could even have been praying to his good friend Steven Savant from the starlit sky. Steven liked him because they shared the same name. Steven Savant from the starlit sky was a peculiar man, peculiar to everyone, that is, but Steven, whom held him in the highest possible esteem.

Steven Savant from the starlit sky was a skinny, pallid man with short, stringy brown hair and a wild look of pure life in his eyes. He sailed the diamond sea of stars in a boat built for two, though nobody else would ever come along with him. Steven Savant from the starlit sky would always tell young Steven of his journeys through the fantastic and his subsequent return from the furthest, most awe-inspiring reaches of the solar system. When told of these treks through the universe, Steven could always picture each and every aspect of the story, down to even the most minute of details, in his mind's eye. Sometimes, these stories were a bit much for Steven to handle because he rather enjoyed letting himself fall privy to the wondrous tidings of his imagination.

Steven Savant from the starlit sky had never truly left Steven, even after he witnessed him waving goodbye after he set off for his final journey into the frontier of space. At that time, the stories were far too much for Steven to handle and he could feel his mind ready to snap like a twig because it could not bear the burden of learning more than it was meant to understand. Steven Savant from the starlit sky had decided to leave because he, himself, could not bear the hardship of seeing young Steven fall prey to such mental torture and anguish.

Steven had fallen into a self-induced stupor and snapped out of it when he heard the deep droning of an organ in the far off corner of the church. The walls of the church vibrated in and out, perfectly in tune with the music of the organ. The walls tilted, stretched and contracted, going upside-down, inside-out and every which way possible. Steven unclasped his hands and staggered back towards the red carpet. The room turned upside-down and Steven grabbed onto a bench for fear of falling onto the roof and impaling himself on one of its many candlelit chandeliers.

A priest came out of the backroom. He was slightly hunched over and his garb was not adorned with the usual wares of priesthood. He noticed Steven holding onto one of the benches and immediately got curious as to why a boy would do such a strange thing. The priest walked over to Steven and addressed him politely.

"Young man," the priest said. "May I ask what it is you are doing?" Steven looked at the priest with wide, frightened eyes.

"i'm holding onto the bench," Steven gasped. "if i don't hold on then i'll die." This statement confused the priest very much.

"Why would you die if you let go of the bench?" the priest questioned softly.

"the room is upside-down," Steven yelped. "if i let go i'll fall and kill myself."

"That won't happen," the priest assured Steven.

"do you promise?" Steven asked.

"Yes," the priest replied. Steven let go of the bench and, sure enough, he did not meet a grisly end. This development made Steven undeniably happy and he ran to the window to stare outside. Steven saw a tall mulberry tree surrounded by a field of yellow grass. The mulberry tree was alive with color and the yellow grass swished and swayed like a bed of golden fire. The brilliant color made Steven's eyes swirl and he began to become afraid again. He whimpered slightly and the priest asked him what was wrong. Steven turned around to face the priest and screamed. The priest's face was distorted, his body was bent out of shape and he was speaking nothing but gibberish. The pulsing, groaning pain in Steven's head was getting worse by the second, so he bolted away. All this left the priest even more confused than before, as he had only wanted to help the poor young man.

When Steven ran outside, he remembered a story that Steven Savant from the starlit sky had told him. He had traveled out to the furthest reaches of the galaxy and had believed he had reached the single most beautiful point in the universe. The stars were at their brightest just before huge explosions ceased their existence. Entire planets were juxtaposed against the black void of space in a stunning display of color. Galaxies swirled to and fro by forces and held together by other forces that Steven could not even begin to comprehend. His mind was wrought with pain just thinking about it.

Steven Savant of the starlit sky had called it the "nexus of the universe". It was a place where everything was bound together, woven with the stitching of time and space. Steven had thought that such a thing would be impossible, but believed him, anyway, because he wanted so desperately for it to exist.

Steven continued his jaunt from the church into a grove of wheat fields and cypress trees, all of which bombarded the eye with fantastical displays of vibrant, exotic color. Steven was overwhelmed. The wheat fields swished with the wind and attacked Steven like licking flames. The cypress trees, which were varying shades of red and green, loomed overhead like skyscrapers, threatening to crush Steven at the first misstep. Steven screamed with horror. He could feel the intense heat of the fire burning and melting his flesh. He could sense the intimidating nature of the cypress trees, ready to squash this intruder when he made a mistake. The turbulent vortex of clouds continued to tornado across the sky, ready to suck Steven into their endless void, making certain that he would never again see the outside world. He was ready to abandon his life at the hands of this predatory piece of nature; the music, the colors, the pulsing, pounding pain, they were all out to get him.

A pair of men dressed completely in white found Steven in the middle of the wheat field. He tried to run from these strangers, but his mind would not cooperate with his body. He fell repeatedly and the two men caught up to him.

"please," Steven screamed. "please don't hurt me i want to be left alone i don't want to burn i don't want to die i want to be in peace!" The two men nodded solemnly.

"We promise to help you," the first man said.

"do you really promise?" Steven asked.

"Yes," said the second man. Steven calmed down and the two men grabbed him. The first man held down the kicking and thrashing Steven, while the second forced a white straitjacket onto him. They grabbed Steven forcefully and threw him into the back of a car. Steven cried with fright and rammed repeatedly into the doors of the car, but the two men paid no heed to this. Their job was finished.

And from above the stars, Steven Savant from the starlit sky watched the demise of his beloved friend's tortured mind.

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As always questions, comments, critique, insight, analyzation and just about anything you can pull out of your hat are appreciated ^_^

[Mimmsicle]

[font=Verdana][size=1][color=darkred]Wow.... I could barely breathe as I was reading this and at the end I was actually shedding tears. This was an utterly stunning excursion into your writing abilities.[/color][/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana][size=1][color=darkred]The scenary is so beautifully crisp and perfectly outlined, Steven's anguish seeps into your mind and you can [i]feel[/i] how tormented he is. It's easy to feel incredibly disturbed and amazed at how vividly you've captured his journey.[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][/font][size=1][color=darkred] [/color][/size]
[font=Verdana][size=1][color=darkred]There is so much [b]life[/b] in this story (and no, I'm not saying your other stories are flat).[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=1][color=darkred][/color][/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=1][color=darkred]*gestures* [/color][/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana][size=1][color=darkred][b]I love it.[/b][/color][/size][/font]

[Shinmaru]

I'm glad you enjoyed the story. Truthfully, this is the type of story that I really enjoy writing...one that delves into the depths of human emotion and thought, one that I can really [i]feel[/i] when I'm writing it. I like writing stories that challenge me to think when I'm writing them, that challenge me to reveal myself to my audience through my writing.

What you said puts it perfectly into perspective: The story has [b]life[/b]. That's the main goal, in my mind. The story has to be living, breathing, happening around you as you read it. You have to see the characters, feel the characters and [i]become[/i] the characters. I'm glad that my little story was able to do that for you, heh.