“Patterns in our Ways.” #amwriting #shortreads

aerial shot of buildings
Photo by Benjamin Suter on Pexels.com

What do your behaviors say about you?  Who really cares?  Someone does.  Humans are inclined toward making patterns, setting boundaries to their land to say what is theirs.  Other humans want no less than what you have.  These imaginary boundaries sometimes can be seen from outer space.  They make the place look ridiculous and make humans quite predictable.

“Merv, you’re being pretty ominous.  I really don’t think you want to share thi…”

“Stop second guessing me, Philbert.  You always do that; you’re just as predictable as a human, just like that one in the cage over there.”

“Sorry specimen, he.  Definitely needs a mate.  Of course, he was always alone on Earth.  Showed up at work at 7:35 after stopping by Smoothie Champ.  Home at 5:30 after shopping for dinner and his next day’s lunch.  What a boring fellow.  No wonder he’s sweating back there.  Something new has happened in his life!”

“Philbert, focus.  We need a second specimen.  How about that one that stops in the bodega every Weds. morning and heads to the bookstore every Thurs. night.  I’ve been watching for four weeks; it seems pretty reliable.  We should swoop in during our current 24 hour period.  I like these patterns.  It’s a good compliment to that turtle of a man back there.”

“It’s worth a try.  You’ve done well, Merv.  I think this will get you promoted!”

A smile cracked a million crevices in Merv’s face.  It had never looked as beautiful to Philbert.  He closed his eyes to memorize the patterns in the cracks.  Certainly Merv would not let something like a smile repeat itself too often.

Posted in response to the daily prompt at https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2019/05/18/rdp-saturday-patterns/

Advertisement

Malachi’s Zodiac Sign-Aquarius. #characterbuilding #WIP

men-1276384_1280

They don’t bear their soul, they trust no one.  Malachi is a side character in Undercurrents in Time who is hired briefly to help Dr. Milt Braddock secure some of his scientific secrets by scoping out the competition.  Why?  Because Malachi is good at being sneaky and fitting it everywhere.  He doesn’t bear his soul, what he bears is a made up fiction to fit any given situation.  Malachi is also now the main character in my work in progress, tentatively titled, Malachi.

I’ve used Zodiac details to flesh characters in the past, such as Tabitha in Detours in Time and its sequel, Undercurrents.  It really helps me get into the character and imagine them as a flesh and blood person.   Malachi is an excellent actor and well, a good liar.

From  https://www.yourtango.com/2016285888/fascinating-way-you-tell-lies-per-your-zodiac-sign   WHo lies best?  “Like Geminis, Aquarians are creative and witty storytellers. Their lies may be too good to be true, but they deliver it so flawlessly that people end up believing them.”

From  https://maripiermorin.com/en/2018/02/12/aquarius-kids-are-too-cool-for-school/

“If you have an Aquarian in your life, you know how goddamn independent they are. Supposedly, they need space to love you back – pfff. So if you let them have their personal freedom, you’ve won half the battle.”  Malachi totally relies on himself but finds himself in a financial, emotional, and moral battle in his youth which has the possibility to create a turning point.  Not to mention, when someone is so dishonest with the world (and perhaps, himself), relationships are either a struggle or non-existent.

Aquarians, in the above article, are termed “Too cool for school.”  “To put it simply, they just have this je-ne-sais-quoi without even knowing they have it. Cool-kids like these come with a knack for starting and entertaining conversations with people of all kinds of walks of life. If I can give you a tip: Beware of the moment they switch from entertained to bored. It does happen quite suddenly if you’re a little too square for them.”  Malachi has an excellent gift of gab.  He wows all of his professors and puts on an excellent Hamlet.  He wows everyone until the day of mid-term exams.

Weaknesses- “You shut down your emotions like you shut down your laptop, right?”  Again, Malachi avoids his family because of the drama that surrounds them, and he has lied to most of them since childhood.  He rarely shares his feelings with anyone.  He’s a young man living in a new town, failing out of college because having deep discussions with your professor is not enough to pass, and struggling to find a new life plan that also provides food and shelter.  He knows he must survive on his own, so indulging in his emotions is a luxury he can’t afford.

Another Aquarian weakness:  “Idealistic because you think it’s the same as being realistic.”  I wasn’t sure if that fits Malachi.  Though people change in times of scraping to survive.

You’ll have fun reading about Malachi, and maybe you’ll be familiar with his struggle for identity as he finds himself in a world of deception.   I even enjoyed remembering being in my young twenties, looking at myself through a new lens, trying not to judge myself and others as I was taught as a child.  This book is not sci-fi per se, but Malachi  is linked to many characters from my sci-fi series, Detours in Time.  One example is Ellie, whose identity and place in the space–time continuum is slowly being revealed, even to me.  Characters can tend to do that.

Overall, this book is devoted to the character Malachi, and the people he comes across, the development of ihis identity, and his struggle to discover just what kind of person he is.

There will be more behind-the-scenes hints in the next few months.  This one is going to stew on the stove, as I slowly fit it in with many other goals I am seeking this year.  Look for it in 2020!

%d bloggers like this: