The Pen is mighty indeed [YJA2017]

Ah, #! Well, looks like I went and died. And I really wanted to slay that dragon, was really gonna get me in with that princess and her father. I was gonna be set for life! Ah well. You win this time, Sir dragon, well done. Oh, look, you're eating my corpse. That's lovely, I really feel the love there, man. *mutters* Jerk.

Hmm, well, now what? I don't really feel any different, besides, you know, not having my body. And hey! Still got my- swords a pen now?! The heck am I supposed to do with this thing?!

*click~whoosh*

After clicking the pen I was sucked into it, merging with the ink inside, cultivating my mind and soul. Suddenly I was freed of partiality and limitation, and was taken back over the course of my life. Except this time, in the overview, the focus wasn't on my life, like i had experienced while living in it. It was on how my life fit onto the bigger picture and how my actions affected the stream of life as I made ripples in the pool. Suddenly the concept of honour whigh I had thought to fight for was switched around on me. It wasn't about making a name for myself it was about making lasting changes for the better.

I had a clear understanding of both the mind of the soul I had inhabited for a time a d the world around it, like giving myself over to a character in a story while still being conscious of the plot.Exactly like it, in fact. Only, since I was the pen now, too... I could see the grander scheme of things, I could see all the other characters and their stories. And, all of a sudden, as I went from character to character, I looked up and the plot cllocked me in the face all at once like a mental Haymayker. It was glorious, and tears fell from my face at the sheer wonder and honour of the experience. It was beauty in truth.

Now, I could really see, how the story was written: the characters themselves had the same tools the Author(me/you/The Pen) did! And how, by sinking into these characters using the soul as a vehicle... We could advance the plot or work against it... All in the interest of good narrative, of course. No story is good without conflict.

Indeed, from inside The Pen I could see how the struggle of the souls was at the exact same time both in significant and grand. And the one question I could have had, which I realized burned in my mortal chest without me ever realizing it then, was so painstakingly obvious: the mortals had to experience this knowledge for themselves to use it, it couldn't be given.

They had the tools at their fingertips(all too literally down the line with the invention of computers and smartphones), they had the ability. It was the difference of knowing the plot subconsciously, and delving inside to nurture the seeds to full consciousness. Sure, stories could be given in the fabric of their reality that could 'point' the way, and at several critical points The Pen itself took embodiment to provide guidance for a time. But the best any story could do was to influence, to awaken the will of the receiver, to trigger their curiosity to hopefully propel them forwards meaningful action.

The time had come for me to look away from the story, and gaze upon its recipient. And I had thought to fight a dragon! A mere worm, digging and playing in the dirt! I will save you the description, lest I be here for days, suffice it to say its fangs dripped poison its breathe wrought destruction, its very existence caused the fabric of the story to unravel at the seams, 'entropy' or 'evil' were but byproducts! The grand story I had seen before was but a dream in the dragons mind, the lingering remnants of consciousness in one given co pletely to abandon. If it were to have awoken nothing could have stood in its wake!

I suddenly had a vast appreciation for the power known as 'sleep'. Anyways in the very corner of this things mind existed a certain gem, that gem was The Pen, and in its slumber The Pen whipped up the most magnificent tale ever known, in the fragile hope that it might overturn the infinite iniquity. For when the dragon awoke from its slumber everything would be obliterated, the reconstructed again to be obliterated once more and so on so forth ad infinitum.

For itt was simultaneously both about the dragon, that the story was told, and about the characters inside the story themselves, i now understood. There was no greater thing, than consciousness and what is done with it.

Away, back to the Dream, I must now leap ahead millennia into the soul of a warrior of a very different kind, a wielder of the pen.
The End

That was interesting.

a reply to: RumLover

Glad you think so!
'Interesting' is a very indicative adjective, signifying, dissatisfaction of some sort while still being polire. Not wanting to be rude, yet rude by its very nature.
Could you possibly be a bit more descriptive?

What's this "YJA2017" thing?

a reply to: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

Psst!

a reply to: LucidWarrior

Keep writing with the pen. There should be more to this story.

Great mate ... woof!

Keep writing.

kind regards,

bally

a reply to: bally001

Thanks... There is more to the story but you see the warrior at the end, is me

a reply to: LucidWarrior

As the warrior should be sir!

Like your work.

bally

a reply to: bally001

Ill put the pen to the page again in the morning though, and see what's up

a reply to: LucidWarrior

May I suggest, you write a lengthy tale. My thoughts ? Well, I like these stories.

my regards,

bally

a reply to: LucidWarrior

Hi LucidWarrior!
Well that will teach you to mess with dragons!

I enjoyed your story very much. I loved the 'moral' of the story...about seeing the bigger picture, and also how our actions "make ripples in the pool" in "the stream of life". Thought provoking indeed.
(and as a writer I enjoyed the significance of...The Pen)

S&F
jacy

Wow, fabulous! You deserve writer's status!!!

a reply to: jacygirl

You would think, right!

Anyway glad you enjoyed it
Its definitely true what they say, at least as far as this contest goes- we get the afterlife we yearn for.

Oh, good thing I came back in here. I forgot to leave my star and flag. Ok, done.

a reply to: Night Star

Wow, thanks! There's so many good stories this time around I don't know if ill make it. But, I have this story now, so there's a plus.

Glad you enjoyed it, and that you came back!

a reply to: LucidWarrior

Interesting and entertaining.

I'll tell you where it took me (as if you would care LOL)
When I was young we wrote everything on paper, nearly. Of course, I had typing class but, stories were not 'penned' in a word processing program. Giving away my age here!

Over the years I have had notebooks full of musings and poems and stories...ramblings really and little scraps of paper and napkins and the backs of envelopes. Whatever I could find when a thought crept into my pea brain.

There was something cathartic to me about not getting the thoughts out of my head (almost like a blood letting, I know, odd description) but, the very 'act' of writing it down itself...the crisp blank page, the smooth roll of the pen on the paper. Studying the words and searching for the right ones...infinite pauses...the curve of the letters sweeping and flowing almost echoing the descriptive choices.

I truly enjoyed your story and it brought back fond memories.

a reply to: TNMockingbird

Hey, thanks for stopping by! I do care, btw. I feel a lot the same way about words, and I am honoured that I could remind you of such joy, the joy of a writer.

I enjoyed the humour in this, good work!

S+F

a reply to: heliopolis

Dry and witty

Glad ya liked it!

Second star and flag for another short story.

I was reminded of something I always say about this life: Pick your character and play.