Ozymandias

*pounds palm on desk* I... am... twenty... bloody... stumping... seven! What... happened... to... the... magical... age... of... eighteen... when... zits... were... supposed... to... dis... appear? WHY... ARE... THESE... STILL... HERE??? ... *adds desk*

You carry on a fine tradition. One much older than this keep we sit in now. One much older than books, even than writing. Storytelling. Make no mistake; that's what it is - that's what it all is. To understand why the sun rises in the east and falls in the west, men had to make up stories. Where other people lived, IF other people lived, what the stars are, how does a fish live, the mysteries and mazes of the heart...before we could have any idea of what tools we would need to understand, before we knew how to get there, before we had the faintest idea of where to begin the search without aimlessly wandering for a lifetime, we made stories. We needed them. We still do. Today, we know the way of our journeys of understanding, our searches, but like any path, it can be snowed under, wandered away from, even completely obscured. So now the stories light the way, and keep us on the path. Luke Skywalker, Hercules, Faithful John, The Ugly Duckling, Superman, Anansi, Odin, Paul Bunyan, Atreyu, Sherlock Holmes, Morrie Scwartz, Steve Irwin, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jesus, they and more point the way. Many of these make their own stories, many do not. Either way, the power they have and shall have, comes from us talking about them. It comes from us telling each other the story. So be proud. Be persistent. Be true. Even if you never know when, or who, your audience is out there. And you give them something great. Mardrax, Kikuyu Black Paws, and Degorram, you're now Pages...and hey, who knows? Maybe one day you'll be running the place. Congratulations. :>)

The man once known as Ramses slumped back in his chair, face contorting in agony. It was a bizarre scene in his normally serene office: amid the trickle of sunlight peering through the last of winter's clouds outside, the cozy warmth of the granite architecture thanks to days of such long-missed heat, and gentle creak of his oak furniture, a steel vise seemed firmly fixed in midair while slowly closing its absolute and lethal grip on the old man's head. Small noises of gurgling and gasping were all Ozymandias could manage as his skull creaked once in protest. The vise tightened. His arms hung listlessly over the arms of his chair. His legs kicked feebly. A faint, sobbing scream found its way to the back of his throat, where it quickly clambered out as a rising shriek. Ozymandias' hands convulsed upwards as if in supplication. His bones groaned. Then as mysteriously as it had begun, the ordeal was ended as the old Egyptian fairly shot to the floor seat first, and collapsed in a heap. The vise snapped shut and vanished. Ozymandias lay like a fallen marionette for he knew not how long before finally regaining consciousness and strength enough to haul himself back into his seat. Putting oh-so careful fingers to his temples, he rubbed gingerly, leaning back in the chair. He sat up quickly, dropping one hand and dabbing in bewilderment at his scalp with the other. His fingers went from head to nose, and he took two long sniffs. With confusion and wonder, each finger was tasted, one by one. "...mysterious ways...", he mumbled to himself. With a wince and a slow, wry grin Ozymandias took up his quill. He shook his head. "Butter", he laughed. He unrolled a sheet of papyrus, dipped his pen, and began to write. Oz's note: Sorry this is incomplete; my weekend is being spectacularly nonconducive to creative writing, so I need to wait a bit longer before I can properly finish promotions. For now, I thought it only fair to give y'all what I have so far for waiting so patiently. It's really the least I could do. To all of you who have already noticed that mysterious change in your member rank, and according board permissions, congrats. To all of you: I'll have the rest by tomorrow night, if not sooner.

Mynx: #3, most definitely... Cerry: O_O Your poor, poor GI tract.

I think she's right; maybe a reference to stopping the dark? I also agree that this is very kewl. Third stanza especially. :>)

Realized the punctuation marks were fairly extraneous, so I took 'em out. The italicizing on the first "just" seemed silly now that it's not 4 AM, so I took that out. "sky's" felt off-kilter, so I changed to sky; did the same with "velvety" to "velvet". They still convey the same ideas a bit smoothly...don't they? Changed "as dusk has just begun" to "and dusk has just begun" because it felt like a better flow with the rest of the wording as well as giving more of an impression that all of the lines about the sky were simultaneously occuring. "-lights were, especially" just looked wrong, and so became the more complete sounding "lights were especially so". "as we imagined what they were thinking" became "imagining what they were thinking" because ten syllables just seemed too many, and even though the new version is still nine, it at least *feels* two or three shorter. And it's all about perception, isn't it? ;>) "but it was only me", may or may not drive me insane - I've not had long enough to find out. I like it quite a lot, and still feels like an appropriate closer. I'm not sure if that's true only because that's where the thoughts that led to this poem abruptly ended and trailed off into inarticulate longing/ wistful contentment, or if there's more to it, but does that really matter? \:>\ It keeps seeming right and as though it could be replaced with something that so far escapes at the same time.

Good point. 'revenge' was the only alt I could come up with. Any suggestions?

predators prey upon ourselves we pray and pray for solace our souls are torn our minds are worn at the tree of ultimate knowledge

Have I taught you anything? I don't know I don't learn too quickly Do you understand anything better now? I don't want you to go through what I do to find the answers You don't have to suffer. Have I taught you anything? I don't know I get so confused in my own search for the way That's a lie, it's true I give you truth and trip myself with falsehood Does that make any sense? I don't know sometimes I confuse the issue so completely I can't see.

Egads, I'm tired. The sun rises, I do not. The bell rings, chasing dreams away. There is singing, there is sighing. There is love, there is dying. There is blood, there is revenge. There is joy, there is fear. There is a cash register. There is beer. Egads, I'm tired. The sun rises, I do not. The bell rings, chasing dreams away. There is beauty.

gone grocery shopping in the 7-Eleven Big Bite topping bar? peed on your school?

CERRY!!!!! *glomp* Thankee, one and all. Wyv - marching was actually exactly what I was doing while experiencing that. Well, walking down the highway, but otherwise, yah. Cer- Don't know why I have that closing line, exactly. I looked at the end again, after relaizing what you'd worte, and saw that the second to last line could be a closing line as well, but something just makes the line that's already there work better to me. *shrug* Mira- Be careful what you wish for.... ;>)

I rather like the gentleness of the wording, and word and line flow. Love is passionate, true, but isn't it also one of the gretatest peaces and balms in our lives? You reminded me more than a bit of Kevin Max (formerly of DCTalk)'s lyrical style in this one, Spar. Well played. :>)

What I thoroughly enjoyed about this piece was how fluidly Z and Yui-chan's writing mixed together. The change in voice was just enough to delineate the two different character personalities without breaking the sense that they were telling two separate pieces of the same story. The only thing I didn't like was that I was left feeling like this story had no resolution. Rather like the plot of the whole piece would read "The Dreamer's realm suddenly manifesting a portal to our realm in the hallway, Yui enters seeking answers to the riddle that is the Dreamer. After she talks one out of him, the Dreamer-" You know what I mean?

Who knows? Maybe a "fourpeat" is in the cards. Go, rev!!!

The sky was a perfect gray the clouds looked just like a giant cotton ball blanket Wish you'd been there The air was just the right kind of cool enough to soothe the skin without making one shiver Wish you'd felt it The time and the weather made for that eye catching sort of dark that only happens when all of the sky blue is covered up in velvet tufts and dusk has just begun grays looked grayer whites and greens and browns were deeper more meaningful lights were especially so It was the perfect time to sing marching songs while walking down the road to smile and wave and laugh at people who drove by imagining what they were thinking about the two crazy people Walking down the road It was the perfect time the perfect place for the two of us but it was only me

/me tips his hat to all and sundry. Kewl. I'm inspirational. Seriously, my highest regards to all of you for taking nothing more than my mind wandering at work, and making it into something meaningful. Here's a dollop more for my list: mother isn't always right. before you turn thirteen, always bring your money to the store. never get a checking account. hold out against getting a credit card until your mid twenties by any (legal) means necessary. after you turn thirteen, always bring just enough money to the store. it'll get worse. it'll get better. life will alternate from better to worse in no humanly discernible pattern. P.S.- Vene, I had focus very hard to keep from laughing and thereby waking up the people upstairs. No worries. :>)

(Actual addition this time) gotten dental floss stuck in your teeth? had thoughts of suicide immediately followed by thoughts of Cadbury Creme Eggs? ...immediately followed by thoughts of a naked vampire? lost your underwear at work?

Listy time! No, no, no, yes, no, no, no, yes, yes, no, yes. In that order. No, yes, yes, no, yes, no, no, yes. God yes. :>) Yes, yes. I love when I can do that. It's like telling myself a story I've never heard before... Yes, yes, no, no, no, no. My dreams tend be...unique (and *highly* improbable).

make eye contact shake hands firmly never look at porn do not hold a lit match upside-down never drink boiled beer do not keep your pet in your pocket exercise. read often. speak clearly. speak firmly. speak politely. hold doors open for women. when you feel like doing something silly, do it. never, EVER stop writing something if you want to. Only do so if you *have* to. drink cool water every day. if you can't do chocolate, try coffee. if you can't do coffee, try tea. if you can't do tea, try hot chocolate. don't lie. save money as early in life as possible. change your car's oil every three months or three thousand miles. never hit a woman. don't curse. ignore your hormones. listen to your heart when your head can't make up its mind. take naps.

One thing that only occurred to me as I read this: why are they in black and white, never color? 'taint like the badly photoshopped picture-over picture borders would show up much more clearly...

dauna: Yes, what Katz said. All: Glad you liked it.

Happy Brewthday guys. \;>) (Eva- Glad Mitchell's safe.)

Many happy returns of [squints suspiciously at the calendar]... Uh...Thursday!

/me dons a toga, laurel crown, and sandals. A chorus assembles and begins to hum (with much emphatic swaying and arm movements). Laetus natalis, tibi Laetus natalis, tibi. Laetus natalis, tibi. Laetus natalis, care, Laetus natalis, tibi. ...and many morrrrre! :>)