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| The Bane of Man | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 26 2010, 10:48 PM (405 Views) | |
| JasonSage | Jul 26 2010, 10:48 PM Post #1 |
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The Bane of Man Part of why I was scared of night was because it made me feel so small. Was it the stars? Was it because when you looked up at night, your eyes met the infinite realm of space? Or was it simply the darkness of Earth itself? Was it that the shadow that crept over the world took away all sense of security? Was it because, despite all of man's technology, the night was the one thing that could never be conquered? The small glass door of our house had always been a barrier to this fear. On one side of it stood sanctuary, and on the other, night. The door was not only a physical barrier, it was an impassable line—a threshold that no amount of darkness could overpower. How could I live without it? Putting my childish fears aside, I pushed the door open and stepped into the cool, frightening expanse of night. The hinges shrieked loudly as I let the door slam shut behind me. The country night was a serene experience. Crickets chirped from within their own havens, and bullfrogs roared from the pond. The slight breeze carried with it scents of Easter flowers and freshly mown grass. I tried to let the tranquility and innocence of the environment wash over me, but my nerves remained on edge. I descended the two steps from the porch to our small sidewalk. I could vaguely remember its construction—building the molds and pouring concrete in the hot, summer sun. My tension eased a little as I strode down the sidewalk. When the house was behind me, I turned towards the garage, fully intending to run across the wide expanse of grass in the following seconds. But just before I was about to move, I caught an odd light in the corner of my eye. I turned to investigate. There—in the endless black of sky between our house and two trees—lay a shimmering white aurora. It was bright as lightening, but with soft edges and curves. The dancing lights were both terrifying and magnificent. "Dad has to see this," I breathed, overawed. I turned and sprinted. Like the sidewalk, I could remember when my family had built the garage. My father used it as a shop, working on car engines that he brought home from his day job. He welded, polished, and cut metal regularly. Tiny metal shavings littered the concrete floor where I entered. I navigated through the small shop and found my dad in one corner, cutting metal. But this work wasn't near ordinary. My father knelt before a moderately large, thick piece of iron—easily recognizable by its dark gray color and the orange splotches of rust. He wielded an air tool that was cutting through the iron following a line he'd drawn with a black marker. He saw me standing behind him, and began to shout in between the loud screeches of the cutting tool. "I'm making the plates for the top of the car." So I was right, I thought to myself. It had not been my idea to bolt iron armor onto our car, but I had been the first to realize that the top would need the iron plates too. I could see now that my father had thought it a wise assessment. "There's something I want you to see," I interjected, recalling the aurora. After one final grind, my father stood and followed me out of the garage. As we strode across the yard to the sidewalk, we both looked at the horizon opposite us, admiring the aurora. I admit it was more terrifying now that the shock had died somewhat. Then I looked up. A giant red orb dominated the sky. The perfectly spherical form was a drop of blood big enough to mock the moon. In sight, several enormous mechanical tentacles stretched from one horizon to the opposite. I presumed there were more that I could not see. The ship glittered with a thousand small lights. Or a million—the sheer size of the ship astounded me. It seemed bigger than anything I'd ever seen before, even the sun. A tear began to form in my eye. Nothing had ever made me feel as insignificant that massive, dark red vessel that assailed Earth. I stared in desperation and shock. No glass curtain would protect me from it. Night or day, death could take me whenever it pleased. Was it truly the infinite darkness that man had to fear? Would man's limited efforts in conquering space be the bane of his existence? Would the last generations of Earth be withered down to dust because of his incompetence? "Dad," I said, the pain evident in my voice, "Why is this happening?" It didn't take him long to respond; my father turned to me and said, "You knew man wouldn't be the first to reach out." |
| Please check out the development blog for Element3d, my high-performance browser-based game engine that lets you play 3d role-playing games on or off the internet. | |
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| Vivec's Tears | Jul 27 2010, 11:50 AM Post #2 |
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Beginner
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Very vivid. Nice work. |
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| Ambrose51 | Jul 27 2010, 01:12 PM Post #3 |
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The Resident Horror Enthusiast
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Ooh, very nice. Your wordings and descriptions are quite fluid and very colorful. Despite it not being particularly long, your writing has a way of drawing people in, and hopefully you will continue in that manner. |
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But mostly? The assorted plans at play here would be going very, very wrong due to the actions of a no-name, no-count, utterly talentless Magus by the name of Shirou Emiya. He had no magic worth mentioning, no combat experience of note, and no plan for or knowledge of the War he was about to enter. He did, however, have one trait that had derailed a countless number of such grand, far-reaching schemes throughout history. You see, he really, really wanted to be a hero. -(Best description of the start of a Fate novel ever.) | |
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| Redsrock | Jul 27 2010, 02:32 PM Post #4 |
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Beginner
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I read this a long time ago, Jason. You know how much I enjoy it. |
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| JasonSage | Jul 27 2010, 09:12 PM Post #5 |
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Thanks for reading everybody! I'm trying to not bog everybody down at once! |
| Please check out the development blog for Element3d, my high-performance browser-based game engine that lets you play 3d role-playing games on or off the internet. | |
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| Veck | Jul 31 2010, 02:38 PM Post #6 |
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Paranoid Android
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Nice and descriptive, and quite mysterious in ways. It was an enjoyable read. |
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| JasonSage | Jul 31 2010, 09:41 PM Post #7 |
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Thanks, veck. And to everybody that read this I'll be sure to repay the effort sometime soon. Thanks very much. |
| Please check out the development blog for Element3d, my high-performance browser-based game engine that lets you play 3d role-playing games on or off the internet. | |
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| ResewnThought | Mar 24 2012, 04:01 PM Post #8 |
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Beginner
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ERROR 404 |
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| first | Apr 4 2013, 12:18 AM Post #9 |
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Beginner
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thanks for publish such a great and colorful blog.muslim wedding.i like it very much..must say,very innovative ideas of your and its great implementation.daily columns..thank u again for publish it. |
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4:01 AM Jul 11