And We're Off

The road meanders on and on...

A conversation begins here. I don’t know where it leads. I don’t know what it will be about. It will be a back and forth between myself and E T A Nemo about writing primarily. It will also be a rant, a re-telling of a dream, a query, a random firing of tired synapses. At some point it will be a shopping list. It will be honest though. Or as honest as honesty gets..

When I was young, I shared a bedroom with my older brother. Occasionally, he would come over to my bed and tell me stories. A window was across the room from my bed, and when the moon was bright, its light would spill onto the wall beside me. This became the canvass for many of the stories. My brother would cast shadows with his hands, arms, or whatever cast aside toy was in reach. These shadows came to life on that pale screen and meandered from tale to tale. He narrated the stories. Sometimes I would sit and listen to him, silent, my eyes wide. Sometimes though, his voice would fade away and I would breathe story into the images myself. The shadows rarely looked like the things he described (especially the bald-headed, electrical, tree sitting newt). It didn’t matter. I remember one night in particular when magic sprang from the elm tree outside the window as the spring whirlygigs (a scientific term) drifted down and cast their shadows on the wall, a snowy backdrop for the creatures leaping about.

What is this road and where does it go? Where will it take me?

I don’t know where it ultimately leads. I’m certain at some point, I’ll take a side point and wander down another road leaving this one to continue without me. I think the road will turn out to be like those shadows dancing about on my childohood wall. Our conversation will cast the shadows, and if anyone happens to be lying under the window, they will make their own story from it.

Let’s start walking.

[For a little bit more about the genesis of this project, read this POST, or you can read them in order and come to it on your own. Either way, enjoy!]