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Young Writers Society


A Country on Edge-Chapter 1



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Tue Aug 09, 2011 5:22 pm
Noelle says...



Spoiler! :
It's been quite a while since I updated this novel. Honestly, I got distracted with other stories and such. If you haven't read the prolouge, you probably should.


Arthur awoke to his alarm clock blaring. He sighed and rolled over, clasping the pillow over his ears. his nose was smashed against the sheet. He took a deep breath. The sheets smelled of daisies. He had washed them four days ago. Why did they still smell of daisies? He was a guy, guy's don't have things that smell like daisies.

He suddenly heard his door open. Footsteps tread across the carpet.

'Damn neighbors,' he thought. 'Why'd we all have to live in this stupid apartment building? Couldn't Max have kept tabs on us out in the real world?'

Arthur debated getting out of bed. He decided not to, however because he had not gotten to sleep until 2 in the morning. He didn't even lock his door he was so tired. He had been sent on some wild goose chase to find one of the Main's highest members. It had taken at least three hours just to track him down. Then there was the fight to keep him quiet.

An angry hand slammed down on the alarm clock making Arthur jump.

"Damn it, Arthur. I've been calling you all morning and now you let your alarm ring forever? Some of us find it quite annoying!"

Arthur knew that voice. He threw the pillow off of his head and sat up, untangling himself from the blankets. He stood up and came face to face with Max, his boss. "Sorry Max." he said. Max's black eyes glared at him.

"Sorry ain't gonna help our campaign now is it? Get your lazy butt ready and meet me in my office for breakfast."

Arthur watched his boss leave the room. He yawned, picked up his phone and pushed the center button. Nothing happened. He looked at it curiously. Was the battery dead? He had most definitely left it on while he was sleeping. He must have turned it off without remembering.

He pressed the power button and waited as it powered up. It was taking longer than usual so Arthur began to get ready. He looked into the mirror and cringed. His curly brown hair was a mess, the right side sticking straight out as if it had been sprayed with hair spray. The wide tooth comb was cold in his hand as he ran it through his hair. There were bags under his deep brown eyes and he had gained wight. Not a lot, but enough to make a difference.

Turning to look at the shower he pondered whether or not he should take one. He sniffed his armpits in turn and grabbed a stick of deodorant. He didn't smell too bad, he could get away without a shower. He went back into his room and after grabbing the phone off his bed, and slipping on his shoes, he walked to Max's office.

Seeing that Arthur was Max's personal assistant, his room was on the first floor of the building, close to Max's office. He was also the only other person, besides Max, who knew the passcode to their boss's office. Max trusted no one. He only tolerated Arthur.

Once Arthur had typed in the last number, the door swung open.

"Arthur," Max boomed as the door swung open. "Come in, sit down, have a donut." Arthur wandered in and sat in a chair across from his boss. He eyed the donuts, but didn't take one. He had to stay in shape.

"So, right to business," Max said as he stuffed a donut in his mouth. "How'd it go last night?"

"Well, it took us forever to find him," Arthur started. "You had us tracking down a professional spy. I hope you understand that."

"Yes, but you're one too! You should've been able to find him faster."

"I'm not a spy. You seem to forget that," Max simply shrugged. Arthur sighed and continued. "Anyway, when we finally caught him he was rightly annoying. He wouldn't stop screaming and clawing at our faces. He claimed he was going to call the cops, but it was an empty threat. We had confiscated his cell phone as soon as we had a hold on him. But we finally got him to stop fidgeting and--"

An obnoxious ring tone filled the room. The phone in Arthur's hand was vibrating in rhythm with the ring. Looking down, he saw something on the screen that suprised him. A young girl, looking to be in her twenties, was standing on the beach, hugging a guy. He stood taller than her and was leaning down for a kiss.

"Who's calling you, Arthur?" Max demanded.

"Don't know," Arthur responded as he quickly pressed the end call button. Turning the phone on silent, he shoved it into his pocket. Whose ever phone that was, it wasn't Arthur's. But whose was it? Better yet, who had his?
Last edited by Noelle on Thu Aug 11, 2011 10:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Tue Aug 09, 2011 6:53 pm
silentpages says...



"Arthur awoke the next morning, his alarm clock blaring." Since we've changed perspectives, it sounds a bit odd to say 'the next morning'. I think you could just as well say that he woke up at the sound of his alarm clock, and leave it at that.

This is better than the prologue, I think. Less infodumping, I feel like I know Arthur's character a lot better than I know Drew at the moment... I found it a little more gripping, and read pretty much the whole thing without noticing any big issues or plot holes.

Where exactly are they? A house? (That would mean Arthur lived with his boss... :/) A hotel? A compound owned specifically by the rebels? How do they afford this place, along with keypads by the doors and stuff like that? Is Max loaded, or do they make rebelling pay, or what?

While we're talking about attracting the Main's attention... It seems weird that everyone knows Max's name. Is he just the face of the rebellion, but maybe not as important as they all think? Or is he just cocky enough that he doesn't care if they know who he is?

I realize this might screw up your whole premise, lol, but aren't cell phones relatively easy to track? (I think there's a kind that's not, but... I'm no expert. *shrug* I'd do some research). They're going to want pretty secure, untraceable lines to communicate on...

Worst comes to worst, bring in the techie to modify their phones and make them impossible to trace. ;)

Anyway, like I said, this was better. Just needs a little more work. ;)

Keep writing! ^^
"Pay Attention. Pay Close Attention to everything, everything you see. Notice what no one else notices, and you'll know what no one else knows. What you get is what you get. What you do with what you get is more the point. -- Loris Harrow, City of Ember (Movie)
  





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Tue Aug 09, 2011 6:55 pm
shadowraiki says...



Wow, that's pretty funny! An ordinary person switching phones with a secret agent. Totally caught me off guard. I thought it was going to be something like, "Uh... so I'm part of this organization now. What do I do?" which might be the case, but this is a nice twist. Never would have thought you would mention the reciever of the other phone. I look forward to the next part. However, I don't feel like this is a complete chapter. It should be part of the prologue or more of a chapter 0.5 rather than a seperate chapter.

Spoiler! :
Arthur awoke the next morning, his alarm clock blaring. He sighed and rolled over, clasping his pillow over his ears. his nose was smashed against the sheet. He took a deep breath. The sheets smelled of daisies. He had washed them four days ago. Why did they still smell of daisies? He was a guy and guy's didn't have things that smelled like daisies.

This paragraph seems repetitive. You use he over and over. Don't be afraid to use Arthur again. Or you could rephrase the last sentence into a joke, "Daisies... if the other guys were here they would laugh at him until the day he died." or something like that.

He suddenly heard his door open. Footsteps tread across the carpet. Arthur debated the idea ofgetting out of bed. He decided not to, however because he had not gotten to sleep until 2 in the morning. Max had him on some wild goose chase to find one of the Main's highest members. It had taken at least three hours just to track him down. Then there was the fight to keep him quiet.

you need something where I put "the idea of" feel free to use that or something else but without a transition, it seems unnatural.

An angry hand slammed down on the alarm clock making Arthur jump.

"Damn it, Arthur. I've been calling you all morning and now you let your alarm ring forever? Some of us find it quite annoying!"

Arthur knew that voice. He threw the pillow off of his head and sat up, untangling himself from the blankets. He stood up and came face to face with Max, his boss, "Sorry Max," he said. Max's black eyes glared at him.

A question here is raised: how does his boss have access to his room? Where is he? Is he sleeping in a secret head quarters? A hotel?

"Sorry ain't gonna help our campaign now is it? Get your lazy ass ready and meet me in my office for breakfast."

For a grown man to say butt... it seems so childish. So I changed it to a swear, vulgar yes, but much more believable.

Arthur watched his boss leave the room. He yawned and picked up his phone. He pushed the center button, but nothing happened. He looked at it curiously. Was the battery dead? He had most definitely left it on while he was sleeping. He must have turned it off without remembering.

He pressed the power button and waited as it powered up. It was taking longer than usual so Arthur began to get ready. He looked into the mirror and cringed. His cruly, brown hair was a mess, the right side sticking straight out as if it had been sprayed with hair spray. The wide tooth comb was cold in his hand as he ran it through his hair.

This paragraph provides the description of Arthur. You may want to take it another notch forward and describe more than just his hair.

Turning to look at the shower he pondered whether or not he should take one. He sniffed his armpits in turn and grabbed a stick of deodorant. He didn't smell too bad, he could get away without a shower. He went back into his room and grabbed the phone off his bed. Slipping on his shoes, he walked to Max's office. When he got there he typed his code on the pad outside the door, the numbers beeping with each touch.

The third sentence seems conflicted. It is a bit hard to understand. A better way to say that is, "While he did smell bad, it wasn't overpowering enough to demand a shower." The way you put it is like two negatives. He walked to Max's office in the course of one sentence? So does that mean he was really close?

"Arthur," Max boomed as the door swung open. "Come in, sit down, have a donut." Arthur wandered in and sat in a chair across from his boss. He eyed the donuts, but didn't take one.

"So, right to business," Max said as he stuffed a donut in his mouth. "How'd it go last night?"

"Well, it took us forever to find him," Arthur started. "You had us tracking down a professional spy. I hope you understand that."

"Yes, but you're one too! You should've been able to find him faster."

"I'm not a spy. Anyway, when we finally caught him he was rightly annoying. He wouldn't stop screaming and clawing at our faces. He claimed he was going to call the cops, but it was an empty threat. We had confiscated his cell phone as soon as we had a hold on him. But we finally got him to stop fidgeting and--"

An obnoxious ring tone filled the room. The phone in Arthur's hand was vibrating in rhythm with the song. Looking down, what he saw on the screen was suprising. A young girl, looking to be in her twenties, was standing on the beach, hugging a guy. He stood taller than her and was leaning down for a kiss.

"Who's calling you, Arthur?" Max demanded.

"Don't know," Arthur responded as he quickly pressed the end call button. Turning the phone on silent, he shoved it into his pocket. Whose ever phone that was, it wasn't Arthur's. But whose was it? Better yet, who had his?
Dun, dun, duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!
If words are just letters put together, why do we decide on what they mean?

I step away from the grammar to review the story.

I don't do poetry.
  








You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into… the Twilight Zone.
— Rod Serling