This week, Chuck has us writing a Part I of a story - the first 1,000 words. I got up to 646; and my story has been left for another to complete.
enjoy.
The world is a
dangerous place.
So we all live in
our own little bubbles of protection.
Some of us like to
read.
Some of us like to
do gardening.
Some of us like to
do a collection of things – to keep that bubble around us; protecting us from
the awful things of the outside world.
In a way, we live in
our own little universes – little worlds of wonder and enchantment – so we don’t
have to deal with the real issues which are plaguing our planet.
Some of us are right
into saving the planet… when it’s doing its own thing really and it doesn’t
need saving, as the more we do try, the worse it seems to get.
Some of us take
drugs which make us lose control in such a way that when somebody approaches us
we have no way of knowing how we’ll react… it’s us pulling into our own little
bubble in a different way to most… the most dangerous way of all – because it’s
this way that does the most damage to the surrounding people on the outside of
that particular person’s bubble.
You see, the
drug-taker’s bubble isn’t really a bubble. It’s a prison. It’s self-built and
is a bubble which becomes smaller and smaller as they destroy their system with
the drug – or drugs – of their choice. As they do, they become more violent and
horrible towards people who simply wish to ask them a question about something.
They don’t even realise how destructive their bubble is until it’s too late…
and the bubble turns into a prison and they can’t escape from it. By then, the
bubble which is supposed to be protecting them has been turned into a real
prison created by the authorities.
However, people can
interact with each other’s bubbles and created great things. Artists do this is
the most wonderful way. They can detach their bubbles from themselves and
invite others in to work with them… it’s an interactive thing for them. It’s
fun, enjoyable and a kind of mind-meld which takes over their little universe;
as most artists are extroverted introverts. They have fun for a little while
with others, then have to withdraw and gather their energies on their own. It’s
the withdrawing which can have some great and positive things going for the
artists and their bubble.
Gathering their
energies (as it does for most) cleanses their bubble – their universe. But you
have to be alone to do this. Gwen’s
bubble hadn’t been cleansed in a long time, and she was hanging out to do some
meditation and good alone time. She had spent a lot of time with her friends
and out partying at gallery openings and working at workshops at her local
gallery… and after three months, she found she was exhausted. Her head was
filled with doubts, fears and problems she never thought were possible.
So, setting herself
up quietly, she pulled out her palate and cleaned brushes. Then, she unwrapped
a nice clean, new canvas. Doing a new painting was one way for her to cleanse
her bubble… she could put her worries, concerns and fears and doubts on the
canvas. It was little like writing a journal for a writer – she wrote her fears
in picture form on the canvas.
This time, it was
different.
The brushes moved
almost automatically, as she meditate on a picture in her head that had been
bothering her lately… a mental picture of something big, ugly and horrible
chasing her down, but… she couldn’t look at its face
“No, not at its face…
don’t look.” She muttered as the day turned to night and she felt for a light
switch behind her. As the light flooded the room, she stopped, staring at the
painting of her anxiety… amazed that the one thing she was scared of was
