The kids asked me to write a story about "meeting a Ninja" for this month's newsletter. This is what I came up with. I wanted something like those Reader's Digest "angel stories" with a bit of a dark psychological bite to it. It's actually not my usual style at all. It is definitely not the whimsical Ninja yarn I usually spin, but I'm quite happy how it turned out.
The version I gave the kids was a little watered down. I downplayed the rum and suicide angle. It's a shame, though, because Judy's slightly pathological empathy for the girl is the only reason why this doesn't feel like a child kidnapping story. I also loved the imagery of rum. The dark smell made the scene very creepy.
I love this kind of sacreliciousness. It's kind of pathetic the way some people think "Christian story" means "literal retelling of actual events" or "American prairie story". I don't know why a story can't just be good but with an intentional Christian backdrop behind a complex story. One can take flack for finding Christian undertones in secular work, and for secularizing a Christian story too much.
I wanted Judy to seem real. I wanted her to cry for help in a way. God is not literally here. There are no angels. But there is a girl that hurts and has a need, and it is answered in a mysterious way. Plus, it's all wrapped up in a bizarre reciprocity moral. I'm not saying it's great, but I feel like I have to defend it, because it doesn't say "this is an angel and she called out to God specifically." That bugs me.
Why can't we teach our world view by creating stories based on a Christian mythos, without pounding "facts" into the reader's head?
Showing posts with label ninjas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ninjas. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Judy and the Ninja
Judy's heart sank when she saw the girl. Painful memories flooded back in photographic clarity. The little girl stood in front of the boat ride staring at the sign, "All children must be accompanied by an adult." Having never known her mother, and growing up with an alcoholic father, Judy knew the true cost of love because she never seemed to have enough tears to pay for a single moment. Some things should never be taken for granted. Her friends would be here in just a few minutes, and it might be awkward, but the emptiness in the girls face haunted her.
Hand outstretched with a big red balloon. "Would you like me to take you on this ride?" she smiles. Slowly the girl turns her head. Time stops as Judy sees herself in the girl’s eyes. The girl nods and clasps the balloon.
It was one of those boat rides with ghosts and pirates jumping out of treasure filled caves under the glow of cheap stage lighting. Pirates always scared Judy. The smell of rum and sweat reminded her of her father. It's silly, but Judy found herself gripping the seats a little.
"What's your name?" looking away from a pirate holding a bottle and tipped over a barrel. The girl just stares ahead.
We should have gone to Cupcake Land, this is too real, she clenches the seat tighter as two animated robot pirates walk towards the boat from the fiery remains of a plundered Spanish fort.
Turning towards the girl, "Hey, look at how realistic those pir..." But the girl wasn't there. Panicked, she jumps from the boat, but the girl isn't in the water either. Forgetting the pirates, she crawls, sobbing, onto the cobblestone fort screaming, "Little Girl! Little Girl!" Her knees begin to buckle.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she sees her. Standing atop the highest cannon tower, a dark silhouette amid the red inferno, she floats on a sea of flame. The ballet of red light flickering from her balloon on the cave walls pales in magnificence to the crimson orchestra beaming from her dark red eyes. Fueled by an angry fire from within, she floats untouched by the cool licks of flame.
Judy’s wrists ache as the smell of blood and rum burn in her nostrils. She's going to jump. She's going to... "Nooo..." But her scream is cut off as something hits her in the side of the head. She feels another blow and then only the hard stone against her back. The dark smell of rum is unmistakable as she sees her attackers. She recognizes the pirates standing over her just as another flurry of blows connect with her side and head.
She begins to black out, but manages to look up at the tower again, more worried for the girl than herself. But it was no longer the silhouette of a girl. It was a strange black outline of a man in tightly wrapped black clothing, but that same unmistakable fire burned in his eyes... the last thing Judy remembers is a puff of smoke, and a cool wind...
"Do you remember what happened?" the officer questioned Judy in she lay on the stretcher. She could see the boat ride behind him. It was a heap of smoke and rubble. A school bus lay on top in several pieces. Hundreds of bits of strange star shaped metal protruded from the surfaces of every building wall in sight.
"No, first the girl was there, and then she wasn't. I blacked out, and that was that."
"Yeah... the girl... where did you say you met her?"
"In front of the ride. Just ask the man at the ticket counter."
"I'm afraid I've already done that. He says you bought two tickets, but then went on the ride alone after releasing a red balloon into the air. This is all very strange."
"But I'm telling you, she was with me on..."
Judy saw the odd silhouette again standing on top of the fun house, a dark spot against the setting sun. His tightly bound black robes covered all but his eyes, considerably cooler and kinder than before. In his hand is the red balloon. He lets it go and she watches it just for a moment. When she looks back to the building, the dark man is gone.
Hand outstretched with a big red balloon. "Would you like me to take you on this ride?" she smiles. Slowly the girl turns her head. Time stops as Judy sees herself in the girl’s eyes. The girl nods and clasps the balloon.
It was one of those boat rides with ghosts and pirates jumping out of treasure filled caves under the glow of cheap stage lighting. Pirates always scared Judy. The smell of rum and sweat reminded her of her father. It's silly, but Judy found herself gripping the seats a little.
"What's your name?" looking away from a pirate holding a bottle and tipped over a barrel. The girl just stares ahead.
We should have gone to Cupcake Land, this is too real, she clenches the seat tighter as two animated robot pirates walk towards the boat from the fiery remains of a plundered Spanish fort.
Turning towards the girl, "Hey, look at how realistic those pir..." But the girl wasn't there. Panicked, she jumps from the boat, but the girl isn't in the water either. Forgetting the pirates, she crawls, sobbing, onto the cobblestone fort screaming, "Little Girl! Little Girl!" Her knees begin to buckle.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she sees her. Standing atop the highest cannon tower, a dark silhouette amid the red inferno, she floats on a sea of flame. The ballet of red light flickering from her balloon on the cave walls pales in magnificence to the crimson orchestra beaming from her dark red eyes. Fueled by an angry fire from within, she floats untouched by the cool licks of flame.
Judy’s wrists ache as the smell of blood and rum burn in her nostrils. She's going to jump. She's going to... "Nooo..." But her scream is cut off as something hits her in the side of the head. She feels another blow and then only the hard stone against her back. The dark smell of rum is unmistakable as she sees her attackers. She recognizes the pirates standing over her just as another flurry of blows connect with her side and head.
She begins to black out, but manages to look up at the tower again, more worried for the girl than herself. But it was no longer the silhouette of a girl. It was a strange black outline of a man in tightly wrapped black clothing, but that same unmistakable fire burned in his eyes... the last thing Judy remembers is a puff of smoke, and a cool wind...
"Do you remember what happened?" the officer questioned Judy in she lay on the stretcher. She could see the boat ride behind him. It was a heap of smoke and rubble. A school bus lay on top in several pieces. Hundreds of bits of strange star shaped metal protruded from the surfaces of every building wall in sight.
"No, first the girl was there, and then she wasn't. I blacked out, and that was that."
"Yeah... the girl... where did you say you met her?"
"In front of the ride. Just ask the man at the ticket counter."
"I'm afraid I've already done that. He says you bought two tickets, but then went on the ride alone after releasing a red balloon into the air. This is all very strange."
"But I'm telling you, she was with me on..."
Judy saw the odd silhouette again standing on top of the fun house, a dark spot against the setting sun. His tightly bound black robes covered all but his eyes, considerably cooler and kinder than before. In his hand is the red balloon. He lets it go and she watches it just for a moment. When she looks back to the building, the dark man is gone.
"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing, some have unwittingly entertained ninjas."
Hebrews 13:2 KNV (Ken's Ninja Version)
Sunday, September 9, 2007
A New Blog
I wonder as I'm writing this how many of you will read this in the near future, or if you're all just going to get it way late because I forget to tell any of you about this blog.
The truth is, I have been really wanting to start a new blog because I don't like being so out of touch. I can email/IM a few of you, but I'll bet very few of you really have any idea what I'm up to. The little bits you know are often tirades involving getting married. That's probably not good enough. I would like to stay more connected than that.
The last blog wasn't cutting it. If you've been keeping up, I haven't maintained it in ages. The maintenance itself was just taking too much time, and I was too tempted to tweak rather than write. So I decided to go with a simpler solution. Blogger is simple, and I use just about every other Google tool, so it plugs in nicely. Then I couldn't decide on a name. That stalled me another month.
Finally I remembered an old name I use for some video game sites I subscribe to. Ninja Gaijin is totally awesome. It's kind of a play on the old NES game Ninja Gaiden, which is awesome. It's also a creation of pure sinister evil, and far more likely to induce sociopathic bloodbaths than Grand Theft Auto for the pure malice it's programmers have encoded into every game in the series.
But that doesn't matter. What matters is that...
bat wielding ruffian explode by slashing him with his sword. Below, Muhammad Ali is trying to to explode a whole building do death with his fists (which he wears all the time) because he realizes his odds are better doing that than attacking the Ninja like his friend who is wishing he'd listened to Mr. T, and stayed in school.
The point of all this is, Ninjas are awesome, and I have attempted to tap some of this awesomeness by invoking the spirit of the 8-bit video game ninja as the patron saint of this blog. The Ninja Gaijin intercedes for us all by slashing through the divide of east and west to reveal pure awesomeness underneath.
I hope to share some of my interests, make you laugh a little, and challenge you to think about new things. Hopefully this will happen on a semi-regular basis, which brings me back to my first post. There isn't much of worth here right now, and I don't want to get you all over here just to be disappointed when I don't post frequently enough. So I'm trying to get the habit started regardless of who's out there listening.
That's another thing that's different this time. I'm going to open things up. Anybody should be able to log in and comment. It would be nice to get a bit of a readership to fuel my desire to update. We'll see. Most likely I'll quickly slip into c-rated blogging obscurity.
Either way, I still haven't figured out what kind of restrictions I can set up, but if you join up and I know you, let me know over email. I may restrict posts of a more personal nature to people that I know personally.
That's enough for now. If you see this right now, school starts Monday and I was hit with a few surprises this week that have added up to a lot of work and not a lot of sleep. I probably shouldn't even be writing this now, but I need to have a few minutes to myself even if I feel like I'm getting sick.
I hope to see you all online soon. God bless!!
The truth is, I have been really wanting to start a new blog because I don't like being so out of touch. I can email/IM a few of you, but I'll bet very few of you really have any idea what I'm up to. The little bits you know are often tirades involving getting married. That's probably not good enough. I would like to stay more connected than that.
The last blog wasn't cutting it. If you've been keeping up, I haven't maintained it in ages. The maintenance itself was just taking too much time, and I was too tempted to tweak rather than write. So I decided to go with a simpler solution. Blogger is simple, and I use just about every other Google tool, so it plugs in nicely. Then I couldn't decide on a name. That stalled me another month.
Finally I remembered an old name I use for some video game sites I subscribe to. Ninja Gaijin is totally awesome. It's kind of a play on the old NES game Ninja Gaiden, which is awesome. It's also a creation of pure sinister evil, and far more likely to induce sociopathic bloodbaths than Grand Theft Auto for the pure malice it's programmers have encoded into every game in the series.
But that doesn't matter. What matters is that...
- It's about a Ninja.
- Ninjas are awesome.
- You get to slash people with your sword and then they explode
bat wielding ruffian explode by slashing him with his sword. Below, Muhammad Ali is trying to to explode a whole building do death with his fists (which he wears all the time) because he realizes his odds are better doing that than attacking the Ninja like his friend who is wishing he'd listened to Mr. T, and stayed in school.The point of all this is, Ninjas are awesome, and I have attempted to tap some of this awesomeness by invoking the spirit of the 8-bit video game ninja as the patron saint of this blog. The Ninja Gaijin intercedes for us all by slashing through the divide of east and west to reveal pure awesomeness underneath.
I hope to share some of my interests, make you laugh a little, and challenge you to think about new things. Hopefully this will happen on a semi-regular basis, which brings me back to my first post. There isn't much of worth here right now, and I don't want to get you all over here just to be disappointed when I don't post frequently enough. So I'm trying to get the habit started regardless of who's out there listening.
That's another thing that's different this time. I'm going to open things up. Anybody should be able to log in and comment. It would be nice to get a bit of a readership to fuel my desire to update. We'll see. Most likely I'll quickly slip into c-rated blogging obscurity.
Either way, I still haven't figured out what kind of restrictions I can set up, but if you join up and I know you, let me know over email. I may restrict posts of a more personal nature to people that I know personally.
That's enough for now. If you see this right now, school starts Monday and I was hit with a few surprises this week that have added up to a lot of work and not a lot of sleep. I probably shouldn't even be writing this now, but I need to have a few minutes to myself even if I feel like I'm getting sick.
I hope to see you all online soon. God bless!!
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