First, darkness. I realize I have eyes, and open them tenderly. A swarm of bright light floods my vision as a blurred, shadowy figure picks me up and hands me off to another body. While the other felt rubbery, this one is warm; it caresses me and emits muffled, soothing tones in attempt to ease my discomfort. I don’t like it.
Time passes, and I realize the world is not what I expected it to be. Everything is simple — something that doesn’t sit well with me. So instead, I become something that others lack; I become the person I know myself to be.
Some people are modest. They accomplish something great, then minimize their pleasure by downplaying their achievements. I don’t do that. I will use in excess, because I can. I will display my sexual desire as it was meant to be shown. When I feel a firing rage build inside my body, I will make sure the world knows. I will be selfish, because everything you do in life you do for yourself. I will be jealous of those with qualities and possessions that I am unable to have. And when all that fails, I will do absolutely nothing.
I live a good life. People who meet me disagree. They see my qualities as deadly sins, which makes no sense. I do not force my way upon others. Others see my freedom — my life choices — and they decide their own fate. I will admit that no one is ever the same once they’ve met me. My deadly sins effect everyone I come in contact with, and there is no turning back. After being exposed, you participate in the act of sin in one way or another. Those that use me in excess are psychopaths. Those that shun me entirely are boring. Those that see me as bad or unjust or immoral are quick to judge, just as I will when your guard is down and I consume you myself.
I’m Evil, and do I have a story for you…
————
My intent with this story was to keep it relatively short, simple, and technically untold — as King does in his telling of how witches brought evil upon the world (9). Seeing as King withholds the story itself and focuses on the details surrounding what one would assume would be the bulk of the content, I chose to do something similar by introducing the concept of “evil” at the end of the story, from none other than Evil’s own reflective perspective (as its own character). From King’s one-page-story, I incorporate what I take to be the salient message (10): that once a story — or in this case, Evil — is released into the world, there is no means of retraction.
I will not pretend that I am an experienced creative writer. I did my best to integrate my own beliefs of “evil” with what the general public would also associate with it. I presented this assignment to my mom; after many stutters and an embarrassing over usage of the word “um”, I concluded my story. Her reaction was a predictable one — she waited to hear the rest of the story. She understood my actual story to be some sort of introduction to a larger tale at hand, when in actuality it was to express that words (or Evil) cannot be revoked once it is spoken.
In case you were wondering, the idea of the seven deadly sins was sparked by a television episode of Charmed called “Sin Francisco”. If you like cheesy romance, poor special effects and graphics, and a little bit of magic, this 90’s-early 2000’s tv series is for you!
Works Cited:
King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Peterbough:Anansi Press. 2003. Print.
“Sin Francisco (1).” YouTube. YouTube, 18 July 2008. Web. 25 Jan. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8GUZeqv8tA>.
“Starpulse.com.” Starpulse. Web. 25 Jan. 2014. <http://www.starpulse.com/Television/Charmed/Summary/>.
Neat concept and well written! I especially like the way you set up for the final line… “do I have a story for you”.
Do you think that using negative space in storytelling (such as leaving the actual story out as you did or as King does) free us to fill in the blanks with our own creativity? I think that mystery adds a level of suspense and an aspect of danger… danger in that when our own minds are free to run rampant they can focus on what we fear or think of most and in doing so transforms the fill-in-the-blank-story into a choose your own adventure where we the reader (or listener) become the author. In this way it becomes incredibly personalized, as I think you have shown with your own description of evil. In any case, thank you, I never would have seen the negative space the way I have if I had not read that. All the best!
Hi Deanna,
I must agree with @duncanmac above me that the line “…and do I have a story for you” was a great way to end your story. It just brought sense of playfulness and suspense that we usually associate with the concept of “evil” and it make the entire thing more unsettling as one finishes reading it.
Did you read this story to audience by chance? While I enjoyed the way you italicized certain words, I’m curious how that translated into the form of orality; whether the emphasis came naturally to you, as writer and a reader, or were they points that you felt like you had to enforce regardless of format to get your overall message across.
Thank you for a great read,
Edward.
Hello Deanna!
I enjoyed your story very much, especially the way the pace picks up after the birth of Evil. I never suspected what was going on until I got well into the story!
I’m curious about how you perceive the role of evil in society— firstly, as something that sneaks into our lives in the most innocuous ways possible, in an otherwise ordinary “birth.” This seems very appropriate for the types of evil we might meet in intolerant and prejudiced communities, where exclusionary words and behaviour often appear from subtle and slow beginnings. Many other faces of evil might appear this way, I suppose, just as you describe the role of good things taken to excess in Evil’s progress throughout life.
I also appreciated the mixing up of Evil in everybody’s life. This fits with how I see evil too, as something that gets wrapped up with everyone rather than being a black-and-white state of being. Is it really a self-serving entity, though? Or has it more to do with ignorance than deliberate selfishness? I guess it could involve both, too 🙂
Thanks again for the entertaining read!
Hey Deanna,
I like how you turned the concept of evil into a character and how this Evil is not even singular per se, but a being that is contained within (most) of us. Now that I think more about what I just said, is this first “evil” (the specific Evil you tell about) supposed to be a singular case or like suppressed within everyone?
I also like the open endedness of the ellipsis at the end. Like King (as you said you referred to) you introduce a character’s traits and then deviate away from that character into a new vein of thought which creates suspense. I can imagine your next paragraph could incorporate some result of Evil’s action upon a victim without outright explaining what Evil did, and then the third paragraph finally getting to the story Evil shares which ruins that victim.
Thirdly, I like that the image for this story looks evil and resembles the Hogwarts Forbidden Forest, making the hooded figure Voldemort, who happens to be a singular character in the series who embodies evil and your Evil’s traits!
– Jessica
Hi Dianna – wow, what a story, what a perfect ending; nicely accomplished. In a sense your story makes me think about evil as temptation; the temptation to hear the story, to take the risk despite forewarning of the consequences. Excellent dialogue around your story a well: nicely inspiring for your classmates: thank you so much.
Hi Deanna,
A commonality among the stories I have read is that evil is reflected through qualities such as a lack of empathy and selfishness, the latter appearing in your story. While this may seem trivial, I think it raises some questions. Was the emergence of evil simply the blending together of preexisting qualities that do not alone constitute evil? Did these qualities emerge only with the birth of evil? And is there something unique to evil that cannot be found in any thing else?
I think it would be interesting to see how King would adjust his story based on different answers to these questions,