Fly Free: A novel - Part 1

I have done, like, 8000 words so far. In five days. I'm aiming for 10,000 words today but I'll need to finish off my damned Chemistry presentation first. :X



Fly Free: A Novel
Part 1


Info: Fly Free

It was Daniel Aquila who had started the whole story with his craving for a flight, or dangerously, a fall. BASE jumpers were nothing compared to the poor youth. It was this case that led him to a truth that could never remain as a secret forever. In fact, no secret lasts.

Our story started at a chilly late October morning. The humidity was well low, at least according to the local weather forecast, and the wind was moderate.

Daniel had waked early in the morning, earlier than the sunrise, to sneak out his body and his BASE jumping equipments. It was not an easy job, as nobody would leave him alone outside, all for one reason – to prevent him from jumping off a cliff. Daniel had had more sense than not wearing proper equipments. He did not buy the canopy, neither the helmet, nor the protective pads. Nobody who knew Daniel in their right mind would give him a chance to own them. But someone did, and the very man was his deceased father, who shared a mad penchant in jumping off cliffs like committing suicides.

No matter how hard his mother tried to lock the equipments away, Daniel had managed to pick the lock (he had learnt the trick when he was in a gang, which later he was dragged out of it by his concerned neighbour). This time was the third time, and it turned out as successful as ever. Mrs. Walsh (who refused to be called Mrs. Aquila) considered selling the equipments but never did.

Daniel scanned for by passers before moving out from his cottage to the open field, pushing his mountain bike along. Hanging over his back is a satchel large enough to bear all the equipments he was currently not wearing. He had climbed over a wooden fence and half dragged his bike along. He had a moment on his bike before walking up to a peak - with a cliff - he knew.

The sun had rose. Daniel was overlooking the colourful picturesque view of English Lake District, though most leaves had fell. The grass field was a piece of golden turf. It felt like being the top.

Daniel grabbed a relaxing moment for deep breaths before started with his equipments. With his seven-cell Blackjack canopy, he stood at the edge. There was no fear, just pure excitement. Something of a type of instinct wanted him to ‘fly’ without the equipments. Daniel pushed the though away – he was still a human after all, no matter how much he thought of himself as a falcon.

In a single movement, he checked the line from the pilot chute, looked at the target and jumped. There was no fear; he had even performed free fall aerobatics before reaching the exact second to deploy the chute. Everything happened in a blur. It had ended as hastily as it had started. Daniel savoured the taste of adrenaline in his system while visualising the fall again. One fall was not enough, he thought.

Finally, he pulled the canopy back slowly, as though it was an operose task. He was complaining about the need to retrieve back his bike when a foot entered his peripheral vision. Daniel looked up and his heart dropped. The boy was clearly furious. Daniel was so struck by that expression on the other’s face. His steel grey eyes had made the effect of grimness too. Leaning against him were two bikes. One belonged to the boy himself; another was Daniel’s.

“Alan? How did you…?”

Alan glared at Daniel. “You are going to explain yourself, Dan. I pedalled like a mad bloke for miles.”

Daniel pushed himself up weakly. He was still experiencing the massive high – his leg muscles did not work quite well.

“But I did not make even one tiny scratch!” Daniel protested. “I had measured everything right, I had deployed exactly on time and landed fully equipped.”

“Please, this is not another argument about BASE or not,” Alan said as he packed the canopy back into the bag for Daniel. His steel grey eyes made no room for Daniel to shoot back. “Everyone is concerned of this matter. You had tried to jump off a cliff without these gears before and you almost did. Even BASE jumping is not any safer."

“I know! If you were in my shoes, could you suppress, like, ten more cravings for jumping off a cliff every day?”

Alan was momentarily puzzled by Daniel’s statement. Normally, Daniel would go sulking, but not this time. It worried Alan. “Had the cravings increased?” he asked.
Daniel nodded. “A lot, since like last week or so.”

“It has grown more serious, hasn’t it?”

“I think so.”

Alan flung the pack over his back and stood. “You need a session with Montello right now.”

Daniel did not pause to stop his groan. “Not the shrink again! I’m so cheesed off with her. I mean, she is nice, but there are no real progress, and I have to do nothing but to talk with her.”

“A shrink is just a temporary solution,” Alan assured. “There must be a cure.”

Daniel cast a weary glance at Alan. “And that needs a head to toe research on me. I know it, Alan. I don’t want to know what’s off in my body.”

“Don’t you want to escape the cravings?” Alan raised an eyebrow.

“I thought we have discussed this before! I want to live normally, but that does not mean I will allow something non-living operating on me.”

“It’s just a scan, no scalpels. Get a bottle, hawkie.”

Daniel shook his head. “Untrustworthy scans.”

Alan sighed. He could not understand why Daniel always did have a hard time surviving with anything concerning technology. In the end, Alan shook it off. He passed the bike to Daniel and the boys cycled slowly back to the little rural town they lived in.

To be continued...

Blog Polis Diraja? No comment...

@sixthseal @pinkytham: Polis Diraja Malaysia have a blog? No comment. http://tnbpolice.blogspot.com/

Can you believe it? At first I thought it would be all in Malay and full of dryness. And unbelievable. Sudahkah mereka turut menghadapi persaingan teknologi polis di England? But hey, not bad. Good stories and the best of all, the groovy cool profile picture.

Jangan Tensyen.

I look at the animation, then at the phrase: Jangan Tesyen. It actually made me grin. I wonder who are the casts. They are a funny pair - a white and a middle easter(?), I assume. Already my mind is creating a red riding hood tune.


I had a good read: http://tnbpolice.blogspot.com/2009/10/baran-panas.html

I'm not surprised to see someone would murder for cigarettes. Pity, that man looks like a good guy without fags.

Arrrrrr... Biollllooooooogggggiiiii Βιολογία δεν ειναι εύκολος! But, it's a good subject. Love it. I'm only having problems with PJK textbook. And I'm going to get polo-ed by physics tomorrow.

NaNo Month

1st of November, NaNo starts.
Don't know what's NaNo? Click Me.

I made a new cover for the novel I'm writing for NaNoWriMo. :D

Young Adult Science Fiction.
The only son of a late brilliant scientist, Daniel Aquila always thinks that he is a falcon. He never wants to know why he loves flying -or jumping from a cliff - so much.

But Alan and Uncle Sky will not leave Dan alone. When they find out about a Science Project and Dan was involved in it as a toddler, Dan couldn't ignore the surfacing secrets, and his urge to fly is putting his life into danger. He must either find a way to fly, or search for the cure that would lead him to a heart-breaking truth.

Footnote:
Book Cover Peregrine Falcon Image from http://bit.ly/3DJlvw
Lighting Brush from http://www.redheadstock.deviantart.com/
Silhouette done by my hand and I.

I woke early. I woke for the first time at 4:30 am, and then at 7 am. Because of dreams.

I had bad dreams. I remembered there are two dreams for seven hours. Maybe many dreams had interconnected with each other. Nevertheless, connect or not, I did not sleep well. Who still counts molecular formula in their sleep? AHH! But my brain just have to create a question, what is n? (Molecular formula, n = RMM/empirical formula).

The only difference with the reality is, I have to solve it no matter how pain my head is, and no matter how illogical it is. That damned question is Biology, Add Maths and Chemistry all rolled into one. It was a whole new formula, n= something something Bio+Chem+Maths. How was it supposed to make any sense?!

So all I could remember were the horrible 'n', frustration and a headache. Good sleep? No, not really, and could not complain much. I could not even blame the Biology Notes I made yesterday.



P.S: I DIDN'T GET STRESS IN EXAM! NO MORE THAN ANYBODY ELSE!

Polo-ed Splinter

Note: Polo is a nifty little replacement for swearing words, like shit or damn. First usage in Chemistry tuition yesterday.



Today I got a micro wooden splinter in my right foot sole. It's nasty when I'm enduring it for hours at school. Worse - the half of it, stuck deep inside, was left there when the top half came free.

I had used a needle to prick skin by skin, just to get deep enough to get the polo-ed splinter out. It's no better than having a strand of hair under the outer layer of skin, nor any worse than that. Yes, could you believe a strand of hair - clever and stiff enough- got into my sole?

Watch-a-thon

It all started when mum mentioned that I haven't watched any of Nee's DVDs except one, and my physics tuition teacher helped a lot, by cancelling the class. Quite an awful achievement. So I'm stuck with them today, albeit being in the final exam period.



First movie:



Overall, it's above average. I love the graphics and motions. It kind of grabs me, but not at parts where the polar bears fight - they roar too much, which is not the way how good fights should be (And that's my only me from what I gather). The story is nice, though left me confused at a certain part, leaving me reading the synopsis again. It still has room for improvement.

I can't believe my eyes when I watched the trailer. 2007. Wow, tempus fugit, I'm really late, or the film is old. Still, it's nothing compared to Shaggy the Dog (2006). I can't think of any earlier movies... Are Phantom of the Opera and Alien vs. Predator old enough? Yes, I haven't watch that.



Second movie:



Oh dear jolly barrow, a half piece of crap. I could have thrown in into a trash if not of the cool serpents and half of the graphics and suspense. I understand it's some kind of Korean legend, but lacks of a certain je ne sais quoi. Some parts are certainly fake - like the bullets won't hit the un-armoured flesh in the serpent's mouth, or when the tank shoots, it did not land. Fatal mistakes. It wouldn't have came from a mere novice author's work.

"The storyline: The entire story is full of plot holes from beginning to finish. The plot holes, of course, are complimentary with the cheese. This is probably one of the most clichéd, not thought-out, and outright dumbest stories I've ever seen put on screen." Quoted from JKristine25, IMDb.

I had started this show with high hopes, you know. Then it tumbled down, right at the so-so beginning. I'm fortunate not to walk into the cinema upon looking at the poster. Damn it, the posters were real cool and grabbing. This movie is totally for the brainless, or intoxicated. Point taken from IMDb comments too.



Third movie (In-progress):



Excellent movie. Way over the top for a stupid illogical comedy. For the points it lost in unbelievable actions Zohan did, with invisible strings, merely replaced by the humour, the acting and the what? Plot? I can't tell, cause I haven't finished watching it. It will absolutely make you dumb for the whole night.

This is one of the time I can sit back and enjoy the film without rambling too much on logics. It's a comedy, all right, and is there to make you laugh, allowing me to glean a portion of craziness before I get back to Physics or Maths. The art of crap is vital in a comedy after all. Beware of naked Adam Sandler. Fortunately, it saved most of my soul by showing only the back. I was still laughing when I paused the movie for my sister and her TV Series. I don't know much about Adam Sandler, by the way. So it doesn't affects my point of view too much.



Images mostly from IMP Awards .


.

Late Post

I finished editing my blog skin from a simple Minima on Monday and Tuesday.

Sometimes, I'm awed that peoples, like my sister, can blog out whatever they want. Like Jean, even when time passes, she remains blogging. I was a blogger. But the liking died as time passes. Like Pn Chong, even as a teacher of hectic teaching life, she found the interest to upload pictures. I guess the laziness got the better of me. Nevertheless, I should blog. Twitting is easy - you will need less than 140 words and that's one post.

One novel excerpt today, for fun. It's kind of like a word prompt. You get a phrase or word, and you write an excerpt impromptu. At least novel writing can keep me blogging. I'm planning the blog post 'Blogger vs Twitter'. It sounds pleasant.



Word Prompt 7 October 2009. "I want to go home"

Aquila sat on the chair he was offered years ago, facing the barren room. The wall surrounded him was old - the paint had fallen off, moss grew over it, and was definitely unpleasant. He wondered how he survived living here for years, facing the wall while having meals. Sometimes, when he was lucky, he got to rant at a common house spider.

But he could not leave. There was nowhere left for him to go. He could not bear to look at his wife, or his son. After all, the very last time he had seen his wife, his wife had tried to kill him. Aquila sighed deeply and sank deeply into his chair, waiting for a knock on the door.

A moment of silence later, the wooden door opened without the expected knock. An old man poked his head in, turning to look at Aquila. Age pulled his skin down, and the old man, whom Aquila called him Stephen, looked more like a shar-pei dog. Aquila smiled wryly at Stephen. “As usual, five thirty every day.”

Stephen did not change his expression. His features reflected light at the same time, and there was no emotion beneath it, only a thought of pity, only a thought. “You know my habits well, Curtis. You really do not wish to leave?”

Aquila sighed deeply. “I’m Aquila. Curtis was my last name.”

“Doesn’t matter for a man who does not wish to return to his family.”

Aquila glared weakly at Stephen. “I want to go home,” he muttered. At the same time, his eyelids fluttered. “You understand that, Stephen. I want to go home, but home can be my deathbed.”

“Don’t you care about your son?” Stephen asked. He leaned against the door rim and scratched his back. His tank top hung loosely over his bony anatomy.

His son’s face appeared on the canvas of his thought instantly. Aquila remembered the face of his son, whom he loved as much as he loved a falcon. The feeling of guilt rushed through him, like an upstream, gushing cruelly. At the same time, he thought his son was wailing, wanting his daddy to return. Aquila shut his eyes tight. “Don’t bother me!”

Stephen blinked once and straightened himself. “As you wish,” he said, turned around, and walked away mechanically.

17 minutes. 384 words.
Next aim is 15 minutes 400 words.
Grammar not checked. Sorry. Jolly good show old barrow!

It's Adult Torticollis, I assume

Fine. I post. That's once in a blue moon. Just trying to cure my writer's block.






That's neck bone, of course. Hover your mouse and it'll tell you. That image is gotten from Backpain blog. Well, it could be nicked out anywhere in Google anyway, but a credit is important. Oh well...

Try spending 5 hours with Piano Theory Homework - GRADE 8. Peoples like me (like the crochets, hate the paper) know how tedious is that. And my piano teacher is back next week. The horrible truth is that I just started to do the homeworks two days ago!

For some reason, I couldn't fall into a nice sleep. I was just closing my eyes for 2 hours or so. So I rotated and turned myself, twisted my body and eventually, falling asleep. I guess I got the wrong position when I woke for the second or third time. Turn my head to the right and it'll be pain, only better than leg cramp. In the end, got it googled and luckily, it's only Torticollis. I wonder who named the type of neck pain. It sounds like 'Tortoise coils'.

If you read the long essay in this blog, you'll know it lasts between 4-7 days (or 5 to 7? ). It's a relief that Torticollis is temporal without doctor. But that's a week. I beg you naughty (helpful but not this time!) supportive muscles of the neck, relax!

Tagged

1. Besides your lips , where is the favourite spot to get kissed ?
Um, whatever?

2. How did you feel when you woke up this MORNING ?
ARGH! 5 MORE MINUTES!

3. Who was the last person / people you took a photo WITH ?
Er, sister?

4. Would you consider yourself SPOILED ?
No.

5. Will you ever donate BLOOD ?
Yeah.

6. Have you ever had a best friend who was of the opposite SEX ?
Yeah.

7. Do you want someone to be DEAD ?
No.

8. What does your last text message SAY?
I reached Shogun.

9. What are you thinking about right NOW ?
What to do after this tag.

1o. Do you want someone to be with you right NOW ?
Dunno, I feel lost.

11. What was the time you went to bed last night ?
2 AM. Hey, that's awesome.

12. Where did you buy the tee you are wearing now ?
Given by cousin.

13. Is someone on your mind right NOW ?
No? My mind's blank. I'M LOST I TOLD YOU.

14. Who was the last person who text YOU ?
Nee Cole?

15. What food you love the most?
Ice Cream, apple....

TEN Lucky Person to do this quiz . You do not want to know who little choice I have.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

16. Who is no.2 having a relationship WITH ?
no 123.

17. Is no.3 a male or a FEMALE ?
I guess she's a female.

18. If no.7 and no.10 get TOGETHER , would it be a good ?
Um, that's their choice? Ney?

19. What is no.1 studying?
Most probably Form 3 syllabus.

20. When was the last time you chatted with THEM ?
Weeks ago, days ago, hours ago, minutes ago.

21. IS no.4 SINGLE ?
Must be.

22. Say something about no.2.
Who's no.2 ?

23. What do you think about no.3 & no.6 being TOGETHER ?
May be interesting.

24. Describe no.9
I think he/she will be... cool?

25 . What will you do if no.5 and no.7 FIGHT ?
Oh, I can do nothing. No one and nothing can stop them, not even a tank.

26 . Do you like no.8 ?
Uh, yes?

27. What is no.1 favourite colour?
I give up.

28. No.9 changed his attitude 360 degree.
Okay... hi?

29. What is no.6 currently doing now?
Breathing.

30. Do no.10 wear spectacles?
Most probably.

31. No.4 and no.5 decided to dump you so that they can go for a movie.
Sleep is nicer.

32. No.8 ask you to teach some maths question.
I'll try. =D

I'm like a human black hole. ( whhhaaatttt? )

Life is still the same. I'm procrastinating still. Add-maths and physics exam tomorrow. Yet, what am I doing??! Restaurant City, Pet Dragons 2, Mafia Wars, Deviant Art, Twitter, Story Writing. Thankfully, no serious drawing plans, which just saved my report card.

I don't know why my sister can spill out everything to her blog. I seem to have this type of 'deficiency', whether it's Twitter, Blogspot, Deviant ART journal et cetera. I always type one whole page of blahs and end up selecting all and press the delete button. I felt miserable, to see that sis can type something even if it's just a normal part of the life. Miserable, can think, can't spill. HECK?!

Occasionally, I found the right confidence to 'publish' and there was my short, so un-juicy blog/journal update.

Peace out. I'm already de-socialised. I day-dreamed about being charismatic just now. Oh boy, this is so not me!



P/S: Feels shitty about my current blogskin. Am I ever feeling not shitty about every of my blog skin?! I should just stick to the basic blogger skin, I guess. Or maybe... Shh, plans are secret!