Welcome to Writing Forums, one of the fastest growing writing communties on the web.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions, articles and photo galleries. By joining our free community you will
be able to talk with other writers, get feedback on your work to improve your writing skills, discuss ideas, share tips & tricks, network and make friends!
Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact support.
| Short Stories Short Stories, usually between 500 and 2000 words. |
05-08-2005, 08:07 PM
|
#1
|
|
Scribe
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Michigan
Gender: Private
Posts: 59
|
No Title.
Her skin was beginning to decay, she could feel it slowly tearing into her. It had already become a disgusting pale-green color and felt like rubber. She noticed her eyes as she walked past a mirror, her reflection seeming nothing to her anymore. The eyes she once had always got her compliments, big, blue eyes with green in them. Now though, her irises were no longer so pretty. Her eyes filled with an ugly off-white color, showing only her pupil, making it hard to keep eye contact with anyone. She kept walking down the hall, dragging her feet for they felt heavier than ever, as if someone had tied bricks to her them. Her nightgown smelled foul and had stains on it which she could not trace the source of. The smell disinterested her into trying to find out. She could taste the 1.) stench of her breath, feel the abnormal cracking in her bones, and could sense she wasn't alone in what she thought was only her body.
Around the corner came her mother, and although she was happy to see her mom, it didn't seem like her mother was happy to see her.
“Michelle! What...? How did you get out of your room?!” She stood and looked at what was once her beautiful daughter for a moment, shook her head in disbelief, and Michelle saw that her eyes were filled with carelessness and disgust. Her mother ran back into the kitchen to get away from Michelle.
Michelle heard her mother talking and tried listening through the door.
“Father Callahan, she's out. I don't know how she managed it but she's out there right now! Please help me, please go get her! Please just take the demon child away!” Michelle couldn't see them, but she could tell that there were tears of distress on her mother's face. She was a burden for everyone near. She hated knowing her mother was suffering and in pain but didn't know how to make it stop. She was only fifteen, she wasn't supposed to know what to do in this type of situation. So she decided that there was only one thing left she could do, to rid herself and everyone else of the evils that had overcome her. Michelle knew she had little time to accomplish this, however, as the demon could return at any second and take over her body for good.
She listened into the kitchen once more and heard footsteps slowly approaching her. The priest! she thought. Time was getting short, she could feel her mind beginning to wander like it had so many times before. The demon was trying to get back in, trying to over-ride her mind. She wouldn't let it happen though, not yet. And the priest, he was almost around the bend. Who knew what he would do to stop her dead in her tracks? She spun around quickly and took off running down the hall where she had originally come from. At the end was a staircase that she ran up three levels of, onto the roof.
The wind was blowing strong and rain clouds were beginning to form. Michelle stepped forward to the end of the roof and looked down. She understood that this was now her fate, she had to end what she unknowingly started. She raised her arms out to the sides and closed her eyes. Before taking her final steps she swore the demon inside her back to Hell and prayed the lord would forgive her for this sin she was about to commit. In the background were cries of pleas from the priest and her mother, but she forced them as far away as she could from her mind. Finally, Michelle grimaced, took a deep breath, and let herself fall.
|
|
|
05-10-2005, 04:22 AM
|
#2
|
|
Prolific Writer
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Aus.
Gender: Female
Posts: 269
|
Critiquing
Quote:
|
Her skin was beginning to decay, she could feel it slowly tearing into her.
|
This sounded odd to me and I became rather confused. I did not realise that one felt their skin decaying, tearing into ones self?
Quote:
|
The eyes she once had always got her compliments, big, blue eyes with green in them. Now though, her irises were no longer so pretty.
|
Sentence structure needs to be looked at. You could possibly put; "The big blue eyes, with green in them, that once got her compliments, where now ruined by........" and you could put whatever you liked in the ......
Quote:
She kept walking down the hall, dragging her feet for they felt heavier than ever, as if someone had tied bricks to her them.[/qoute] This sentence also lacks structure. Try rewording it.
|
She could taste the 1.) stench of her breath, feel the abnormal cracking in her bones, and could sense she wasn't alone in what she thought was only her body.[/qoute] Why is there a 1.) here?
There are several other grama stuff-ups that need to be checked out. Perhaps you should just read over your story and give it a title too? 
|
|
|
05-12-2005, 06:18 PM
|
#3
|
|
Scribe
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Michigan
Gender: Private
Posts: 59
|
The "1.)" is there because I wrote it for an English assignment and had to have certain types of sentences and have them numbered. I took out the rest of them but I didn't realize that was in there still until after I posted it.
|
|
|
05-14-2005, 01:59 AM
|
#4
|
|
Member
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2
|
Re: No Title.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by SycoKitty6
Her skin was beginning to decay, she could feel it slowly tearing into her.
|
You should probably put "pulling away from" versus "tearing into" since when things decay they fall apart. Otherwise it makes the reader's brain go ow.
Quote:
|
The smell disinterested her into trying to find out.
|
That into should be from, I do believe. Interested her into vs. Disinterested her from.
Quote:
|
She could taste the stench of her breath, feel the abnormal cracking in her bones, and could sense she wasn't alone in what she thought was only her body.
|
I'm none too sure about this, but you might want to italicise the "her" of "her body" to emphasize that is is, indeed, her body. Without italics the "only her body" makes it seem like it is something of little consequence. It was only her body; it wasn't as if it were something important.
Quote:
|
Her mother ran back into the kitchen to get away from Michelle.
|
You started the sentence off with "her" so calling your character by name at the end of the sentence makes it seem like you are talking about a third, and new, person. If you want to have her name in there, it should probably come first. For that matter though, you already have used her name twice in the paragraph. Repeating the same word too many times has a tendency to jar the reader out of the flow of the story.
Quote:
|
She was a burden for everyone near.
|
Near where? Near her? Near the house? Near earth?
Quote:
|
She listened into the kitchen once more and heard footsteps slowly approaching her.
|
Normally you look into, and listen at. I don't think the into is technically wrong, but it is a bit awkward.
Quote:
|
Time was getting short, she could feel her mind beginning to wander like it had so many times before. The demon was trying to get back in, trying to over-ride her mind.
|
You might want to change the second instance of "mind" into "will".
Quote:
|
Before taking her final steps she swore the demon inside her back to Hell and prayed the lord would forgive her for this sin she was about to commit.
|
For some reason, the swearing the demon back to hell is just boggling my mind.
Quote:
|
In the background were cries of pleas from the priest and her mother...
|
Cries and pleas together sounds really awkward as they do convey the same meaning. It's like writing "they yelled out calls." It's a little bit redundant and doesn't really tell you what was being said.
And now for the part where I'm not being nitpicky.
I actually really enjoyed this story a lot. It had an interesting premise, you clued us into what was going on with a decent amount of speed, and you always provided new and interesting tidbits with each sentence. While I like the fact that no concrete reference is made to how she got posessed in the first place, I would like to see the scenes with her mother fleshed out a bit more. It might need just a touch more emotion, since it is capped by paragraphs that have such a strong tone to them. *nods* I really do like this. ^_^
__________________
Aluvran vanasuul anuaner nazaruun
Tashtiri sa-dier sa-ensavran toran
Adeduunshi duravran devureshenan
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:17 PM. Powered by vBulletin, Copyright ©2000-2007, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
LinkBacks Enabled by vBSEO 3.1.0
|
|
Newsletter |
 |
|
Subscribe to Majestic the official newsletter of Writing Forums and lit.org
|
|
Link to Us:
|
|