That thought may still have some kind of merit if I was still actively writing new things to this day, but unfortunately a two year LDS mission to Ohio got in the way of that, and then I never managed to get back into the habit. I regularly kick myself in the metaphorical junk over it, I promise.
If I were to make a list of things I desperately want to accomplish someday, writing a book, or even a novella would be very, very near the top. But, being so out of practice makes me very hesitant to try and jump back into that world. Having a blog helps, but let's face it, that really isn't the same kind of writing.
Anyways, to get to the point, I dug out some of the few writing pieces I still have from my more youthful days and thought it might be fun to share some of them. So, today we'll start with a short piece I wrote for the Creative Writing 218R class I took at BYU as a freshman. As a result, this post will be pretty long, so continue at your own risk. The piece deals with me trying to keep myself under an instructor-imposed word limit of 1500 while trying to be what at the time I thought was rather creative.
See if you can't figure out what the piece is actually about when you are finished, it shouldn't be too hard if you give it a little thought. So, join me after the jump.
Color of Rule
For three hours, passions raged, and the heat rose. Each of the four had established a base of power, and worked frantically to keep and expand them.
Red, the most vocal of the four with his persistent challenging and trash talk, occupied North America and South America, giving him the freedom to attack and rest as he planned. His taunts were loud, his gestures exaggerated, his manner was plain obnoxious. He had a penchant for bold, outlandish attacks that spread his forces thin, leaving him open to a sudden counterattack, but he believed his confidence would keep him safe.
Black kept his mouth shut, preferring to let the others do the talking. He was a watcher, taking everything in, spoken or otherwise, constantly calculating his options of attack. His tactics were unconventional and drove Red berserk, but Black simply stayed quiet, tending to his position in Africa. He was quite content to let Red think he knew everything.
Then there was Brown, more powerful than the rest, holding Australia and all but one country in Asia. He did his own share of taunting, but it was calculated and directed for a specific purpose. Brown kept everyone on edge as his tactics varied from small probes in all directions to bold offensives. The others, especially Red, desperately tried to second-guess his motives, but they failed miserably. Brown was accustomed to coming away with the victory. He worked his armies to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies.
Finally was Blue, who made up for a lack of power in Europe by bluffing. He made hints and overtures of what he would be doing next, trying to goad Red, Black, and Brown into making a mistake. His attacks were cautious as he hoarded his armies for one push at victory, trying to make the move that would be the end for three of the four.
Blue stalled, but finally made his move.
Brown watched as Blue made a jab into the center of Asia, but he had no worries. Blue's gesture was futile and would easily be overcome by Brown, or if not, by Red in a few moments. Besides, Blue had never really had a chance. He was trying to protect himself too desperately, and he had to know that Brown, Black, and Red were not going to waste their time with him; they wanted him gone, wiped from existence.
Then Red made his move. He ranked second in strength at the moment. Brown was easily the strongest; nobody was in position to knock him around besides Red, and that was only because Red hel a corner of Asia that kept him in check. Brown's eyes scanned the field; if he planned it right, Black would be the second to go. Blue was dead already; like a tidal wave he had swept in to demolish the core of Brown's holdings, but then just like a tidal wave he would disappear. Blue had mere minutes to live, and Brown could see the desperation in his eyes.
Red continued his unpredictability, he always did, but what happened next surprised even Brown. Suddenly Red swept out of Alaska like the Red Death and pummeled the eastern coast of Asia.
The battle was fierce as Red crashed into Brown. Brown held his breath with each and every attack thrown at him by Red's forces, hoping, praying for a miracle to come to his defense. Time after time, Red slammed at him, but every time Brown whittled him away in defense. Red became feverish with anger and threw everything he had towards Brown, desperate to overtake his position. That never happened. Red's attacking forces were doing their best to dislodge the defending pieces of Brown, but they were not as strong and soon Red was forced to relinquish the battle; he had run out of men to press the attack with.
Brown forced a breath into his lungs. He stood victorious once again. Time and time again, his enemies—Black, Blue, and especially Red—had hammered at his sides, fighting to dislodge his stranglehold on Asia and Australia, but he refused to let them, and his reward had been power beyond their naïve dreams. They were fighting to stay alive while he was patiently waiting. His next move was to send Blue to the grave.
That chance never came though as Black descended upon Blue with a terrible vengeance. Blue tried valiantly to stay alive, but in the end Black was the victor. Then the unexpected happened. Black stopped; freezing dead in his tracks, he showed complete disregard for any conventional tactics. He refused to push any further despite the pleas of the other three and instead settled for waiting to see what Red and Brown would do. It was a risky move.
Over time, Black had established himself as stubborn, but not very powerful. Like the Black Plague he sequestered himself deep in the bowels of Africa and refused to come out. Nobody wanted to deal with him for they thought nothing good would come of it. He way lying in wait just like a disease; waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
It was a time for risks. Brown moved to take the advantage as much as possible. All the while, Red smiled in triumph. Brown, however, had other ideas and called in his reserves that Red had not known of. Sixty strong came to reinforce Brown positions on the borders with Black.
Brown slammed into Black's side like a horde of locusts, flying through the Middle East and scouring Africa for its holdings. As he pushed deeper and deeper into Africa Black defended with everything he had. By the time Brown had reached Madagascar the fighting had been raging for over ten minutes, the number of forces deployed by both sides was enormous; more than had been in one place the entire afternoon. Madagascar finally fell, leaving Brown with an avenue straight into the heart of southern Africa. He wasted no time and pushed on. Black made his stand, forcing Brown to deploy more and more forces to take the continent. A battle like this one had never been seen by any of them before.
Just like his namesake, Black stayed true to his form and hung around until he had no hope, but then Brown realized that he had been depleted so far during the battle that he had no hope of conquering Black. It was all over; there was nothing to stop Red now.
Brown hoped against hope for another magnificent performance from the white cubes, but they failed him this time, and Red called in his own reserves to flood across the world. He took a moment to calmly wipe Black from existence, and then proceeded to flatten Brown.
Brown fought bravely, countering Red's every move. He reinforced key positions, and fought to the very last man, but he was no match. Red streaked across Europe and Africa, then pummeled his way through Asia and finally Australia. Red in the end was victorious.
Brown sat back in astonishment. He thought he'd had the victory within his grasp, but in the end he had been bested. Perhaps he wasn't the master after all.
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