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OP
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"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 3,800 Likes: 30
Pulitzer
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Beautifully, hauntingly written.
More later.
Morgana
A writer's job is to think of new plots and create characters who stay with you long after the final page has been read. If that mission is accomplished than we have done what we set out to do, which is to entertain and hopefully educate.
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Joined: Apr 2010
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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OK, its later and I'm going to write down all my impressions of this amazing part. Honestly AnnieB, each time I read a section I think your writing cannot get any better, than another great section gets knocked out of the park! There was plenty of light above the clouds — the sky was blanketed with stars and the moon was full and looked unusually large, a phenomenon known as a super moon, which was always prized by District 9 farmers during the planting and harvest seasons because it allowed them to work much later than usual. I have heard the term harvest moon, but never super moon, very different. It most have been unusally bright for the District Nine farmers to work by. There was a fine layer of dust on the table and the few other pieces of furniture — something Martha had never allowed while she was living there. The floors were unswept, and there was the occasional sound of rodents skittering across the floor and hiding in the walls, the eyes of the ones brave enough to venture out while Clark was there sometimes reflecting the lantern light. Apparently they are no longer living at the farm, Martha would never allow the house to get that dusty!  Though Clark had intended to stay at the farm for the night — his excuse about flying somewhere else had been mostly to ensure that Martha wouldn’t go out in the storm looking for him — the longer he spent inside the house, the more restless he became. He didn’t know what to do about the farm, whether to sign it over to his friends or take the risk that he wouldn’t be able to provide enough help for his mother to keep it productive. He needed to think, and he couldn’t do it inside the cold, abandoned place where he’d grown up. Just what he needs, time to think and clear his mind, which is something he hasn't been able to do since returning from the games. Flying, will be the first step towards this 'new' normal. Or would it? Clark froze in place, thinking. It was easy to contemplate murder — for murder it would be, if he killed Snow — but the actual consequences were hard to predict. Clark had been brought up to show kindness and empathy to others, to help where he could, and killing another person went against everything he had ever been taught. He couldn’t forgive himself for Lysander and Lois’s deaths, regardless of the circumstances. Would he be able to live with himself if he killed Snow, despite all the things the man had done? Clark is human. Completely and compassionately human. I have to wonder if there really are tapes of Clark. As well as are there really people who will expose his secret if he does anything to Snow. Snow is too much a of control freak to place that kind of power in someone else's hands. What if they were to use Clark against Snow? Admitting to himself that he’d loved Lois — and still did — had opened the floodgate to all the other emotions Clark had been suppressing since the Games. Grief for everyone and everything he’d lost because of the Games rushed through him.
Tears blurred his vision. He started to blink them back, then changed his mind. Out here, there was no one to see him, no one to ask if he was okay or tell him that he should be grateful for everything he’d gained as a victor.
Burying his face in his hands, Clark finally wept for everything he’d lost to the arena. Out of the forges of adversity a new man has been formed. Smiling tenderly, Martha stepped out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her and leaving him to rest. Martha's son, older than his years and very different, has finally returned home from the games. I await the next installment with quiet eagerness. 
Morgana
A writer's job is to think of new plots and create characters who stay with you long after the final page has been read. If that mission is accomplished than we have done what we set out to do, which is to entertain and hopefully educate.
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Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,114
Top Banana
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OP
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Posts: 1,114 |
OK, its later and I'm going to write down all my impressions of this amazing part. Honestly AnnieB, each time I read a section I think your writing cannot get any better, than another great section gets knocked out of the park! Thank you. I do my best.  I have heard the term harvest moon, but never super moon, very different. It most have been unusally bright for the District Nine farmers to work by. The harvest moon is the full moon in late September or early October, right around the time of the harvest. A super moon occurs when the full moon coincides with the moon's closest approach to Earth, making the moon appear unusually large and bright. (It also can occur during the new moon, but you can't really see it then.) A super moon does indeed reflect more light than usual, making it easier to see at night. Apparently they are no longer living at the farm, Martha would never allow the house to get that dusty! Martha has been living in Victor's Village with Clark, where she can keep an eye on him. With the fall work done and winter beginning, they don't spend much time on the farm, thus allowing the house to get dusty. Just what he needs, time to think and clear his mind, which is something he hasn't been able to do since returning from the games. Flying, will be the first step towards this 'new' normal. Or as "normal" as things can be for someone like Clark. Clark is human. Completely and compassionately human. Yes, though he has trouble convincing himself of that. I have to wonder if there really are tapes of Clark. As well as are there really people who will expose his secret if he does anything to Snow. Snow is too much a of control freak to place that kind of power in someone else's hands. What if they were to use Clark against Snow? Then it would be quite a power struggle between competing factions in Panem, with the world's strongest man caught in the middle and trying to do what is right (even if what is right isn't quite clear). Do the tapes exist? Well ... you'll just have to keep reading.  Out of the forges of adversity a new man has been formed. Yes, and he's stronger than he was before. Martha's son, older than his years and very different, has finally returned home from the games. And learned to live with himself. I await the next installment with quiet eagerness. It's in progress.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
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Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,114
Top Banana
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OP
Top Banana
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,114 |
An update on Panem: The next chapter has been written and is being beta'd. KenJ has advised me to hold off on posting until the Kerths are over and get several chapters ready so I can have a regular posting schedule again. I am taking his advice, so the next chapter will be posted as soon as the Kerths are finished.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 3,800 Likes: 30
Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Posts: 3,800 Likes: 30 |
Ok. I shall content myself with re-reading the story thus far....
Morgana
A writer's job is to think of new plots and create characters who stay with you long after the final page has been read. If that mission is accomplished than we have done what we set out to do, which is to entertain and hopefully educate.
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,147 Likes: 3
Pulitzer
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,147 Likes: 3 |
Just to add my tuppence to the pile, I'm eager to read the continuation of this tale too. I'm glad that Clark seems to have made peace with his memories and with his pain. He'll never forget what happened to him in the Arena, but now it won't haunt him every waking moment and it won't define who he is or who he will be one day. I know that Rachel isn't his destined mate in this universe, but I'd like to see them reconcile as friends, even if she's married now. (She did get hitched, didn't she? I think I remember that happening.) She needs to know that he'll be okay as much as Clark needs to show others that he'll be okay.
And Lois? My, my, my, you are keeping us on tenterhooks, aren't you? I'll keep reading if you'll promise to resolve that situation somehow.
Life isn't a support system for writing. It's the other way around.
- Stephen King, from On Writing
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Terry,
Rest assured, Anne is working on new chapters. There were RL issues, Flu and work and such. But she is back and writing again. We are looking at restarting to post after the Keith festivities.
Herb replied, “My boy, I never say … impossible.” "Lois and Clarks" My stories can be found herekj
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 3,800 Likes: 30
Pulitzer
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I for one look forward to reading the latest installments! 
Morgana
A writer's job is to think of new plots and create characters who stay with you long after the final page has been read. If that mission is accomplished than we have done what we set out to do, which is to entertain and hopefully educate.
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