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Monday, September 27, 2010

WHAT IS DEAD?


Alice here.

Am I dead?

Many of you have asked that of Roland. Am I?

Ghoul they call me. Am I?

I eat the living. But then so do many of you ...

and for far less pressing reasons :

for spite, for envy, for the sheer pleasure of it.

I was born after Princess Victoria and before grown men started wearing ear-rings.

In New Orleans, I was betrayed into a living death by Mother, jealous of my step-father's attention.

I had the cold comfort of watching her beauty wither, her loves leave her,

starting with my step-father ... who had only pretended affection for the two of us.

I gave her revenge,

and the only price was her sanity.

Watching the monster you made of your own daughter eat your beloved right in front of you

will tend to make your mind become just like your heart ... empty.

So what am I to do with Victor Standish?

I am an old woman in a girl's body. He is an old soul in a boy's frame. Hemingway once told me that it can never end well when two love one another.

And I find myself falling in love with Victor. Is what I see growing in his eyes love for me? I will destroy him I know.

I even forced myself to tell him so. And do you know what he did?

He laughed that gypsy laugh of his, kissing me on the cheek.

"Oh, silly rabbit," he said. "Captain Sam's enemies are gonna kill me long before that! Let's just enjoy it while we've got it."

"It what?," I whispered.

"Us," he whispered back, and this time he kissed me full on my cold, cold lips.

And he didn't flinch. Not even a little.
***


17 comments:

  1. This totally made me shiver! In a good way.

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  2. Love love love this! Her voice speaks to me on a whole other level. Nicely done Roland.

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  3. Now I feel sorry for her. Poor thing, a bad mother is a terrible curse.

    I liked the part about many of us eating the living for far less pressing reasons. So unfortunately true.

    Now to find out what happens to these two.

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  4. "I eat the living, but then so do many of you.." Compelling and true!!!

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  5. Thanks for sharing Alice's creepy thought process. And that was chilling dialogue at the end. The last couple of sentences are great, Roland.

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  6. Oh, that was a really nice window into your character, Roland! A little history, told in her voice, with her disturbed rationale, but also her knowledge that she doesn't really want it that way. Very haunting.

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  7. Excellent voice, vivid characterization.

    Most of your writing is in the form of teaching, but I love it when you write like this. Exploring your characters. These last two excerpts have been amazing; really showing off the breadth of your writing skills Roland.

    Thank you for sharing these.

    .........dhole

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  8. Love the voice in this. And what a picture!

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  9. ...the sensual female villain, creepy, yet unresistable.

    I'm reminded of the praying mantis. First comes love, then comes lunch...but only for her.

    Well done as always, Roland:)

    My work schedule has been similar to yours...run-run-run. Of my free time, I've been working on edits and coaching. Sleep? What's that?
    Striving for goals, exhaustion be damned! We'll get there my friend:)
    EL

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  10. Ohhhh! So cool. What a great charcter and interesting back story. I want to read that book! (=

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  11. Okay. Blogger is making me want to punch something....

    Anyway, I really liked being able to hear from Alice-her honesty and uncertainty make her more human.

    And I always thought of it as murdering people...but I like the 'eating them' better-it's more chilling!

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  12. Sometimes your pictures give me nightmares...but I LOVED this one! GREAT piece as well. I'm with Jenny...I shivered in a good way!

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  13. Oooh, Roland, thank you for linking me to this! I love it. This is moving and sweet and quirky! She's awesome.

    Question: in your comment you mentioned a YA novel with a 13-year-old protagonist? Unless he's older by the end of the story, I think that might not qualify as YA in the market - it would probably be MG. The rules are quite strict and annoying about that kind of thing. Just a heads up!

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