Pure Writerly Moments 2 (Short Stories, Essays, Book Reviews, and More)

Pagewalker - Chapter 1 (Rough-Cut)

Hello everyone,

Here is a rough-cut of chapter 1 of a new novel I am working on. I will probably only write a rough draft of it and stick it in a drawer for a while. But it's been fun to write so far.

Synopsis

One night Daniel is visited in his dreams by his middle school crush Natalie and his childhood teddy bear Gragery and told that he is the key to saving the future. Natalie and Gragery are ministry agents from the future where a figment of Daniel's imagination has become real and is threatening the fabric of existence.

Agent Natalie has been trained to resemble Daniel's middle school crush but with adult features. Thus, she is only "playing her part" by being this character. Gragery is a bear, but is also a tactical combat robot. He has the attributes of many of Daniel's friends, but is also programmed to deal with any dangerous situations that might arise.

In order to save the future, Daniel must dig deep into his past to understand where and when he created this monster. The novel takes him through his early childhood, into his college years, into the depths of his imagination, sends him to alternative realities, and eventually on a path to meet his older self.

In the background is the threatening presence of Noculus, a mad titan who wishes to save the world by undoing realities and holding the world hostage through a deadly nuclear-armed spaceship known as the Leviathan. Only Daniel, Natalie, Gragery, and other versions of Daniel can save the universe.

Opening Quote:

"But we would-be novelists have a reach as shallow as our skins. We walk through volumes of the unexpressed and like snakes leave behind a faint thread excreted out of ourselves. From the dew of the few flakes that melt on our faces we cannot reconstruct the snow storm."

John Updike "The Blessed Man of Boston"

Natalie and Gragery

They pull me into a dream. Where am I? I ask in my head. Then I ask the question out loud to the two presences. For a brief moment, I am frightened. I know nothing...the background begins to clear. I'm on Pompano Beach. We are alone. The water is frozen in time, a pause in a pre-recorded background...then it moves. A rhythmic tone. So many times in my early 20s, when I was a poor university student I used to come to these shores. Romantic times. Pompano isn't like Ft. Lauderdale Beach or Miami Beach. It's smaller, more humble, and slightly easier to find parking. I suppose there is nothing particularly romantic about this beach, other than that the water is deep and pure, the sand a golden perfection, and that not too far offshore dad has found a place where lobsters like to hide.

But today, in this dream, I am not here to catch lobsters. I am here to write a novel...I was always writing a novel. 18. 19. I was in love with the world, even though dark clouds seemed to always hang over me. But today, the sky is clear.

The water moves...it is coming to the shore to meet me. They have come to meet me.

A beautiful girl in a combat vest with black cargo pants approaches me. At first she is just a vague figure, but soon she comes into focus. Next to her is a robot...somehow it looks like a robot bear! But with tactical gear and a big gun. I feel calm. I feel as if I know them. I look more carefully at the girl. I feel...uneasy...the last time I had felt this uneasy was in middle school. I'm not anxious...I'm a little queasy...no, worse...I'm in love.

"Good, he recognizes me," she says.

Now, for some reason the sound of the ocean has stopped. The waves stand still. I can no longer feel a breeze on my neck. My eye-sight begins to blur. I try to hold on to the vision of the girl. Even when I cannot see, I remember that I was once intensely in love.