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Friday, October 13, 2006

Cleansing My Mind

I have the box of Caroline Myss Archetype Cards.

It's basically a box of cards with different Character Archetypes and short descriptions list of light and shadow attributes for each.

Today I felt like I needed to do a little mental exercise to cleanse my mind.
I shuffled the cards and dealt three face down.
The first was for my hero, the second was for my heroine, and the final card was for my villain.
I challenged myself to come up with a story based on whatever I turned over.

Well...it was a challenge. :)

The hero card was The Destroyer whose light attribute was: releasing what is potentially destructive. Preparing for new life.

I decided to make him an assassin.

The heroine card was The Scribe whose light attribute was: preserving knowledge and information.

I decided to make her a clerk in an information warehouse. People come in for information and she retrieves it for them. Perhaps like a research librarian. In her spare time she converts the information from ancient scripts into current language for people in town to enjoy.

The villain card was The Artist whose shadow attribute was: Using talent as an excuse to mistreat others. Posing as the Starving artist to elicit pity.

I made him a powerful and influential man in the town where he and the Scribe live. He was once a famous artist and because of that fame, he now enjoys a rich, comfortable life.
Here is my quick 1,500 word story:

The synopsis:
The Destroyer is hired by the Artist to kill the Scribe.

The Destroyer spends several weeks watching and studying the Scribe to determine the best time to eliminate her. Learning the Scribe's routine, the Destroyer discovers she is a very giving person. She works very hard at her job. She helps many others throughout her day with no thought for herself or her desires. She is tireless in her translation of ancient texts so that others may enjoy the stories and history of the town’s past. She works all day and into the night then goes home alone.

The Destroyer comes to admire the Scribe and for the first time in his existence, he questions the job he's been assigned. He's been paid to get rid of the Scribe. He won't go back on his word, but finds himself putting off the task in order to watch her and learn more about her. The more he learns the more reluctant he becomes to complete his task.

The Scribe hates her lot in life. She is stuck away in a dusty environment seeking answers for others all day long. She helps those around her with no thanks at all and she is utterly alone. There is no one to share her life. If she had someone in her life, the townspeople tell her, she wouldn’t be able to help them as much. Any effort to find a mate is discouraged. The only thing she enjoys is translating the ancient texts. Each day she discovers new stories and occasionally a work of art to share. She dusts them off and makes them presentable for the township to enjoy, but secretly resents her life more as each day passes into the next.

The Artist is panicked. He has a vile secret and the Destroyer isn’t eliminating the Scribe fast enough to suit him. If he doesn’t complete the task soon, the Artist may have to take matters into his own hands. If this happens, he’ll make sure the Destroyer is ruined.

The Destroyer has fallen in love with the Scribe. (I’m a romance writer, what do you expect?) He absolutely cannot kill her. He’s tried to several times, but in each instance, has been unable to pull the trigger. There is ample time in the Scribe’s lonely life to accomplish the deed, but the Destroyer wavers. He ponders alternate scenarios deciding the only choice is to take the Scribe away from all she knows in order to save her life.

The Scribe is visited by the Destroyer. He is a stranger, but she thinks he’s cute. Although she’s been cautioned against finding a mate by the townspeople, she flirts with him because she’s also lonely. The Destroyer informs the Scribe that he’s been hired to kill her which tests her attitude towards him for a moment.

The Destroyer also informs her he’s in love with her and wants to take her away from danger. The Scribe, while not foolish, wonders why anyone would want to kill her. The Destroyer has broken enough rules in his profession refusing to tell her who wants her dead. He never concerned himself with why, so he doesn’t know.

The Scribe declines his kind offer unless she can find out why the unnamed villain wants her dead. She’s devoted her life to the townspeople, shaped her life to their whims, and deserves their admiration. The Scribe tells the Destroyer to kill her if he must, but she isn’t leaving until she learns why someone has targeted her.

The Artist arrives just then to kill the Scribe himself. She is poised to discover his secret and he’s terribly impatient to get rid of her. As he peeks inside the place where the Scribe works, he catches sight of the Destroyer and the Scribe in an embrace. Thinking that the Destroyer is finally doing his job, he almost leaves, but decides to reprimand the Scribe for her flagrant flirtation. She knows she isn’t supposed to find a mate. The Artist interrupts their cozy clinch and pretends to make a request as he admonishes the Scribe for her indiscretion.

The Destroyer thinks the Artist is an idiot for showing up at the workplace of the Scribe when he should have stayed as far away as possible to avoid suspicion. The Destroyer pulls out the payment purse and tosses it to the Artist telling him the deal is off. He informs the Artist he’s taking the Scribe away never to be seen again.

The Artist is enraged. He wants the Scribe dead. He paid good money to see the deed accomplished and refuses to accept the purse throwing the payment back at the Destroyer. Kill the Scribe or you are ruined, he threatens before marching out the door.

The Scribe is furious. After forsaking any happiness of her own and giving her whole life over to her work for the townspeople, she’s rewarded for her sacrifice with assassination by one of the town’s most prominent members.

The Destroyer pulls out his weapon knowing what must be done. The Scribe is too angry at the Artist to be frightened. She tells the Destroyer to kill her if he must, but asks that she be allowed to find out why the Artist has targeted her. The Destroyer agrees because he’s in love, but tells her she has limited time.

The Scribe being very intelligent and a keen researcher goes directly to the ancient scripts to find a logical reason why the Artist wants her dead. Finding nothing in transcribed history, she searches through the soon to be translated ancient text and discovers the reason.

The Artist, cad that he is, stole artwork from the ancient scripts and passed it on as his own. The Artist’s lifestyle and riches were won with stolen spoils from a long ago generation. The Scribe begs the Destroyer for more time to expose the Artist for his crimes against the town.

The Destroyer tells her time is up. The Scribe places the stolen ancient art in prominent display in her work place for whomever arrives next, hoping it won't be the Artist. She closes her eyes ready for the Destroyer to kill her.

The Destroyer kisses her instead. While the Scribe is distracted, he nicks her arm with a small knife so that her life’s blood drips on the floor next to the previously undiscovered artwork which caused her life’s jeopardy.
The Scribe completely distracted by the Destroyer’s passionate kiss doesn’t see the sizable puddle of blood accumulating. Nor does she understand that she is becoming faint from loss of blood believing the Destroyer’s kiss is the cause of her dizziness.

The Destroyer stops kissing the Scribe as she faints in his arms. He binds her wound in time to save her life, then calls the Artist and lies to him about the deed being done. The Artist demands proof, so the Destroyer directs him to the Scribe's workplace and to the large puddle of blood. The Destroyer carries the Scribe to his get-away vehicle, but not before calling the authorities to inform them he just witnessed the Artist carrying a body out of the Scribe’s work place.

The Artist is found standing over a pool of the Scribe’s blood with an ancient artwork he’d previously claimed as his own clutched in his greedy hands. The authorities in town promptly jail him for fraud and assumed murder to cover his crime asking the Artist where he hid the Scribe’s body. The Artist foolishly tells them that the Destroyer he hired must have taken the Scribe's body away...for the rest of his incarcerated life.

The Destroyer heals the Scribe and takes her away to a world where her skills are finally appreciated. The Scribe grateful for a new and better life asks the Destroyer to share it with her because she thinks his passionate kisses are nearly to die for. The Destroyer, completely smitten with the Scribe, promptly changes his profession and of course they live happily ever after.
The End.

Now my mind is clear and I’m ready to edit again.

Anyone else do mental challenges to stimulate your brain?
L

1 Comments:

At 10:06 AM, Blogger Kristen Painter said...

I think it was awesome that you did this! I think this would make a great workshop with the cards.

Good job!

 

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