Rooftop

[curdin celeste]

I endeavoured to write a short story - actually, it's rather a short scene in English. It will probably still need to be corrected and revised, since my English is quite poor. Anyway, here we go...



Rooftop


„Forgive me, Joan...but I cannot share it with you, “Curtis said softly, answering Joan’s unspoken thoughts – thoughts she knew she’d never dared to speak out. „I want you to keep them in your mind and in your heart the way they were, when you saw them in these science documentaries and interviews…living...vivid...full of hope, enthusiasm and energy. “Curtis felt his composure slipping. He clenched his fists inwardly, struggling to detach himself from all these emotions that dwelled in a place of his soul he was only rarely ready to explore.

Joan’s voice was a mere whisper: „But what about you...you have to bear...“, she couldn’t continue, but simply tried to convey her notion in a look.

„It’s different for me, Joan. I had the chance to share my life with them for a while, to touch them, hear their voices and partake in all their daily joys and sorrows. This Impression is much stronger than...” his voice trailed off, “you know?”

There it is again, his brave, radiant smile, Joan thought, but to her, it seemed it did reveal more of his pain than he could possibly be aware of.

Curtis took a few deep breaths and let his gaze rest on a tiny fisher boat out on the sea. It was a common sight; but Curtis has always been able to take so much comfort from common things. Deep down, he was a common guy born into a most uncommon life, raised by three most uncommon beings. But this audacious combination widened his horizon of thinking, perceiving and comprehending way beyond the humanly possible.

Joan longed for Curtis to allow her in to his singular world, his past, his memories of the day, when Victor Corvo had extinguished the two brightest, warmest and most important stars in his sky.

Joan’s mentor and friend, Ezra Gurney, had once told her, that tragedy has the power to bring out the very best in people and make them strong and deeply compassionate. On the other hand, it can darken their souls and crush their faith for a lifetime. Joan had often reflected on these words of experience; and her own experience taught her that in the face of tragedy, choosing faith over desperation was an act of courage and strength. Curtis had surely chosen faith! But in this night, Joan could sense the sadness he so carefully tried to hide. It was such a fragile equilibrium.

The sun was about to set and immersed the sky and the sea, lavishly stretched out in front of Joan and Curtis, in a deep fiery red. Hand in hand, the young people stood on the rooftop of Curtis’ secluded little house on the beach, that once belonged to his parents. Reddish clouds slowly drifted past and revealed the crescent of the waxing moon. Joan secretly promised the moon to be patient and wait, until Curtis war ready to open up to her; she would wait forever, if she had to.

“Happy wedding day mommy and daddy”, Curtis whispered, and his love conquered the unsearchable veil between him, Roger and Elaine. He suddenly reached out and took Joan into his arms, not intending to let her go again anytime soon.

[DAOGA]

Yeah! Way to go, CC!     

[curdin celeste]

Thanks for the encouragement, Daoga, much appreciated! 

CC

[curdin celeste]

Daoga, I've always wondered, what your nickname might mean, but have never quite dared to ask. Does it refer to the game Dao, or does it derive from the Indian separatist organisation Dima Halam Daoga?

Snoopy regards

CC

[DAOGA]

The answer is, neither. I like to use the names of characters from my stories as nicknames so I won´t forget them so easily. Daoga for instance is a lion-like alien called Dahaney o´Ganadeon, which got shortened to Daoga, so that´s actually a nickname too. In my stories Daoga the alien is a close friend of Siwa Hendricks who´s the "original" of Tom Richards who´s a temporally "removed" clone/avatar (result of a misused time machine of alien origin... crazy stuff like that is always happening in my stories...)
But please, if you have more questions, ask away! I will try to answer them as well as my poor English will allow... 

[curdin celeste]

No, no, that's my line, my English is poor. Yours is just fine! 

Wow, that's very interesting. If only I had a quarter of your fantasy! Wonderful, how easily you can create whole worlds in your stories. With me, it's not quite like this; I need a strong connection to (my) inner and outer reality, in order to create scenes.

When do the ideas for your stories come to you? Do you read a lot and let books inspire you?

 

[DAOGA]

English language --> kettle, meet pot. Looks like we´re both dabblers at writing in a foreign language.
I started writing as a reaction to Captain Future, of course. I just loved both the TV series and the old pulp novels (the German versions in the Utopia and Terra series, badly translated of course) and wanted to create something similar but with my own ideas, and so Siwa Hendricks and his whole universe got born. I often re-use ideas or concepts from my original timeline of stories (not published yet, I hope they´ll see the light of day as properly printed books one day) for my fanfics, but also work out something new now and then. My inspirations I take wherever I get them, a great battle scene from a movie I´ve seen might work out later in a fight scene with my characters, and that´s also why I love to relate to the trivia (movies, books, comics and stuff) where I took my wisdom from. Geeks and nerds (like ourselves) just live for such treats, as you know, they have just as much fun in discovering such hints as I have in cooking them up. But very often the inspiration catches me unaware when I´m on my way somewhere and far away from any piece of paper or computer keyboard because I like to day-dream when in boring surroundings (another good source of inspiration) and then I have a hard time later to remember what it was about. And some scenes have a way to develop faster in your mind than you can write them down. I´m a convinced writer of scenes, you know, the best material is in stuff that just comes to you, and as soon as I have two or three good scenes the rest of the story will develop all by itself. I almost never design a story from the beginning to the end before I start writing, so I almost never know where it will lead before it´s actually finished, I´m always surprising myself. Together with my readers I think, because if I find my own story boring, I certainly won´t force it on my readers.
Does that help?     

[curdin celeste]

Yes, it does...it's very impressive to hear, how your universe of ideas comes into being. You know, one of my bosses, he's a doc, always carries a small old fashioned dictating machine in the pocket of his lab coat, and whenever he gets an idea on how to treat a patient even more efficiently, he quickly records it. Maybe such a machine would help you to remember your daydreams, too? It's a shame when such inspiration gets lots; and there is a chance that you can talk as fast as the scenes develop in your mind! Oh yes, I'm deeply into scenes, too. I find it hard to create a whole story, I'm afraid my limited fantasy just doesn't allow me to. I need my scenes to have a connection to my "real" life, be it my outer or inner life, otherwise they don't feel earthed for me.

You're so right, we are a bunch of geeks and nerds (love the very sound of these words)! 

Aloha and Happy Easter! 

[DAOGA]

Hi CC!
Using a dictaphone is no good idea because I´d freak out everytime I hear my own voice - it sounds just awful! You probably know that you never hear yourself in the same way other people do because the tissue of your mouth and throat (bones, skin and stuff) distort your voice on the way out. I "hear" my own voice as deep and almost metallic, but to others it sounds rustic-crude, and my fondness of dialect definitely doesn´t help there either, the first time I heard it thanks to some faulty telephone line (when you can hear yourself like an echo) I was definitely shocked. So I´ll have to keep on relying on my memory alone. Well, it has worked well more or less in the past, so I hope it will stay that way. I just have to write my ideas down as soon as possible, maybe still work a bit on them on the way to the next keyboard. And some of the stuff needs to be "cooked thoroughly" before it´s palatable. Meaning, sometimes patience can be a virtue. If you have comments to one or more of my stories, don´t be shy to add your opinion! I will try to answer as good as I can.
Vulcan salute from one nerd to another (not exactly the right smiley but it will do) 

[Number_1_Shippergirl]

Wonderful, thank you! Reading this, I could easily feel Curt's pain and Joan's compassion and quiet resolve.

And your English is fine - much better than my French! I've read stories from native English speakers! so full of mistakes it made me hit the "Back" button in a hurry, so believe me when I say you have nothing to apologize for.

Keep on writing!

[curdin celeste]

Hi Shippergirl! 

Thank you very much, you're being kind to me. Are you writing CF-stories yourself? You know, my "stories" are nothing but short scenes and not even connected to each other. I think I'm not bright enough to create a longer story with more characters involved.

Take care.

CC

[Number_1_Shippergirl]

I'm trying to write something, in fact. The good thing is: should the longer thread I have in mind fizz out, I could still publish a few short scenes. But right now my story practically develops itself and already goes further than intended. I sure hope I can finish it! Keep your fingers crossed that my muse doesn't leave me! *logs off and hops back to her writing*

[curdin celeste]

I sure keep my fingers crossed for you and your story!  Just treat your muse right and thank him for inspiring you; that way, he won't ever leave you!