Narrator/ Tutor………. the lodge: it only ever existed in an imagination. It could have been anyone’s but I was certain whose it wasn’t: it wasn’t mine. They had come from miles around/ away to learn how to create and control; and even though they had never met before strong feelings were found to draw them together like an invisible net capturing lost fish. It was up to me to find the right thread to pull; to see if all I saw could be slowly tightened shut or come undone.
It was written and had been for a while: “Notepads open with anticipation and pens full of ink. Heads cocksure; they thought they were ready to create something better. They weren’t ready: nobody could ever be that ready.”
Sat before Narrator/ Tutor- who looks as out of place as we feel= we listen but never learn
‘Not what fiction is but what it one day will become= writing says on black board/white board
Narrator/ Tutor taps at it twice with chalk/ felt pen
Narrator/ Tutor……………What is real?
The small group looks around at each other, almost searching for permission to be able to answer the question
One student finally says……….Anything that wants to be
Now the silence is broken there can be a beginning
Others follow, words are spat at Tutor. What follows is a short selection………
The new
The old
Choice
Silence
Freedom
Feeling blue
Power
Endings
Tutor smiles and nods; but not in agreement
Finally from Tutor………… Your confidence and certainty, well- I really couldn’t make it up
The woods, the lodge: they only existed in an imagination
Tutor…………………………………………………….Pens ready. Exercise 1
Write about the day ahead
Tutor circles the room like a vulture (as a metaphor too over the top? Can reconsider if needs be)………………………………………………
(Remember: Find the others)
Al to Su…………………‘What’s your name?’
‘Su.’
‘Al.’
Tutor…………………..‘Oh dear… no names… we are all nameless here. You really should have read your membership pack fully before arriving- the instructions were as clear as day.’ (Is this a strong simile? Others that would be more original= Clear as glass, Clear as crystal, Clear as water, Clear as light)
Su & Al………….. ‘Sorry.’
Tutor………….It’s just that… well it could be a problem later on.
Both nod even though they don’t agree/ understand/ care (delete where applicable).
Tutor circles room………………………………………………
Al… What are you working on at the moment?
Su… It’s called ‘The Science of Snowflakes’.
Tutor circles and lands………….
……………… Make sure it is no longer than three pages and a half.
Su……………..Why?
Tutor…………………… Because I will wield my authority even in the face of talent- if there is any here.
The student nodded in agreement. The nodding was bare faced lying.
Tutor…………………………………………………………..Exercise 2
Quickly write a description of the room- but leave out the wall- board.
All does as Tutor says……………
The wall-board had never been there
Su… It’s gone.
Al… What has?
Su… I don’t know.
Third exercise: the class is full/ there are only two of you/ or are both statements correct?
I.e. – there was only two places to begin with (the tutor does not make this clear as he moves onto the next exercise [we are then left to presume])
Tutor…………………Fourth and Final Exercise………….How should all this end?
Al turns to
Su
Su turns to
Al
Al asks Su is she ready………………………………………………………………………………..She decides to pack light
Outside- is it a sun or moon? Car lights or stars? Suppose it depends on how you look at it. How do you look at it? Do you let it wash over you like unexpected rain or do you read into it far too much?
The car feels real, Al feels in charge, Su feels like they are not quite there yet
Su to Al……..Damn-
-She suddenly realises (or does she?) I never finished my story
Tutor… Sentences crossed out, words negated, a past no longer in the past
He takes their application forms and rips them into two, and then again, over and over & over + where were The Others?…
The Science of Snowflakes is that they congregate by attraction not need and then … it’s all downhill from there and… crash
By the stone covered in snow- snow that covers ice- by the two bodies that lay in/out of the car that was on/off the road that was by/in the tree- it read on an engraving with clear markings:
R.I.P.
Ripped
Into
Pieces
taste. chew. spit out
malleable art 