Antecedent: Languor.
Premise: Calamity.
Instrument: Introspection.
Conclusion: ___________.
Cover art is A short time after forever by oneofnumbers. Sadly, their DeviantArt account is untraceable at time of writing.
Experimental entry to Bicyclette's A Thousand Words Contest II. Check out the other entries.
Huge thanks to Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.
What caught me off guard most when reading this was how many of those words I actually recognized. I think I only needed to look up what five of the words. but yeah this is definitely a good one keep a dictionary on hand when reading.
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I'm sorry it wasn't good enough. Thank you for the comment.
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Not good enough what foolishness is this. This story was amazing.
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Wait, you think it is? Thank you again. (Sorry, I've been having some issues recently.)
What.
i lasted this long, but finally had to reach for that dictionary!
ok, the first English (Ponish?) word i had to look up! really digging the effect here so far. reminds me of some chapters of “Eunoia”
ooh, getting meta!
first time?
oof!
oh, Twilight figures it out!
so true, and augh. upon realizing that we are characters in a finite story approaching its end, what else can we do but go to those we love?
and augh, this is how you do meta! and by breaking with that structure there is a break with the artificiality that the constraints of thematic writing can bring, of turning from the symmetry of narrative to the messiness of living, oh that is wonderful
augh, my heart! what an ending.
in a way, this story almost feels like an answer to the other Twilight-realizing-she-is-fictional story in this contest, and in a postmodern way, i am choosing to read them as such. this was a beautiful experience, and i absolutely loved it. thank you so much for writing!
Mordin Solus meets Joey Tribbiani. I can appreciate the artistic intentions in the contrast between the two halves (and one cheeky little extra) but that first part is still a nearly agrammatical nightmare of a slog. One that introduces and abandons potential story threads in turn until Twilight settles on what the story is actually about halfway through the word count. Yes, the point is that this focused on her rather than the end or nature of her world, but it only adds to the feeling of the story spinning its wheels for that whole first chapter.
A noble attempt, but the gimmick got in the way of the story for me at least as much as it helped. Still, it worked for the others, and that's why we have a panel of multiple judges. Thank you for the entry and congrats on the honorable mention.
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This.
Absolute garbage. Couldn't even bother finishing the second paragraph. It's not even gimmicky; the words aren't so obscure as you have thought, you know?
Hello! I read all the stories in this contest that won recognition, so here's a review. I had mixed feelings about this. I found the idea quite interesting, and it's the Experimental category after all. I just feel (as FOME did) that in the first chapter at least the balance between gimmick and story was maybe tilted a little too far in favour of the former. The second chapter appealed more, being more of a story.