Excerpt from "Hollow Reverberations"
Title: "Heaven is a Place for You and Me"
World: Hollow Reverberations
Characters: Edward, Alissa, Sarah
Prompt: NaNoWriMo is all the prompt I need!
Word Count: 703
Rating: PG-13 (light gore)
Notes: I noticed I hadn't updated the site in almost two weeks! That's insane! So I decided to toss this out there, to let you guys know I am still writing, and I do still plan on updating this site. Hollow is a rather experimental piece for me, using a different variation on pronouns (explained in the World Synopsis), so I hope you guys enjoy it.
Hollow Reverberations takes place in a world called Ayberanthe, where every human is born with a phonograph-esque music box in their chests. These boxes begin to play music at the cusp of adulthood, and the reverberations (mostly internal) grow with each passing year. The louder the music in each person's body, the harder it is for them to classify it as white noise- leading some to a mental breakdown.
The sure-fire fix for that is to find the keymate for your music box. Each box contains a keyhole, and each person is also born with a chained key around their neck. Because the chain is submerged in the collar bone, with the key being the only protrusion from the chest, it is near-impossible to remove the key without damaging the person's collar bone. However, each human has a rare amount of potential keymates, and nobody knows, on birth, who those people will turn out to be. The only clues to what person you might be mated with is that they'll have the opposite sound of your own music box.
Gender is based on the speed of the rhythms of your music box, and is a markedly different point than a person's actual physical sex. The two categories are legato and stacatto, and both categories contain a fairly equal-amount of people per physical gender (depending on the universe's ratio of women to men, of course).
Because Gender is a different concept to the people of Ayberanthe, this novel will be written using Gender Neutral Pronouns. These can be a bit jarring at first, so here's the general run-down on their usage:
he/she: ey
him/her: em
his/her: eir
Preview: "Even as ey threw the key, Edward’s green eyes were shifting once again towards the mirror, taking in Alissa’s stiff form and eir casual elegance. Ey hadn't moved to grab the flying object, and it clattered off of the armchair and onto the floor."
---------
Eir mother stood hovering over em, white hair primly arranged with hundreds of pins holding it back. The typical cigarette holder was perched between eir fingers, mouthpiece never hovering too far from the thin red lines of eir unforgiving lips.
"Sarah's ill," Alissa sniped. Eir gravely voice rained down on Edward, repeating things that ey already knew. Ey shifted in eir chair, which was stuffed to the point that it felt hard and uncomfortable beneath its smooth exterior.
Snorting, Edward glared past eir mother and into the mirror, watching the back of Alissa’s head bob as ey smoked. The hazy train of toxins floated past Edward’s own blonde head, swiveling away into the painfully high ceilings. "Don't shed too many tears over it. Someone might almost think you cared."
"Don't speak to me that way.” Despite being halfway across the room, ey was raising eir hand as though to strike em. Edward knew ey'd never really hit em- after all, Ward’s skin might damage eir precious rings. True to form, ey was already lowering it, returning the errant cigarette holder back to eir mouth.
Alissa eagerly resumed pacing back and forth along the parlor, smoke slithering inside of eir mouth and then billowing back out of it. "Sarah murdered someone, you know.” Alissa paused thoughtfully. “Of course ey must have been confused. Agitated. Sarah’d never do anything like this otherwise. "
Edward's blood slowed. Ey’d known it had to have been something important to draw eir mother’s attention. Alissa hadn't been bothered by any of Edward's own reports on eir sibling’s well-being. In fact, Alissa’d refused to even discuss it for months.
In the end, Ward had been the one watching eir sibling’s steady decline, while their mother had simply wasted money trying to keep Sarah locked away where prying eyes couldn’t reach.
So when eir mother had called for an appointment, Edward’s nerves had dropped out. Ey'd spent the entire morning in the bathroom, vomiting away all eir fears -not that eir mother could ever be bothered to notice that, either.
"Murder?" The echo hadn’t sounded real, even as ey heard it coming from eir mouth.
"Edward! Not so loud.” Swiftly eir white hair swiveled around em, checking for their privacy. It was a ridiculous precaution; even the queen's guards wouldn't have been able to penetrate their mansion, and eir mother loved to keep it that way.
"I- what happened-"
Another puff and eir cigarette was out, being shoved in a glass ashtray in the corner. As ey did so, Alissa peered into the hallway, shutting the door and making a face at the apparent effort.
Turning back towards Edward, ey explained with clipped words. "Tore the fool’s heart out. Clawed away the valve to eir music box, and yanked out the key." As ey spoke Alissa was removing a chain from inside her suit-jacket's pocket. Holding it distastefully away from eir, the chain swung along it's short girth. Edward watched it twirl in the light, revealing the yellowed and red bone hanging near the chipped key.
Edward's stomach jerked. "Gods, mother, in your pock-"
"Might as well try it yourself," ey interrupted eim, tossing the key to eir child. Even as ey threw the key, Edward’s green eyes were shifting once again towards the mirror, taking in Alissa’s stiff form and eir casual elegance. Ey hadn't moved to grab the flying object, and it clattered off of the armchair and onto the floor.
"Miserable child.” When Edward still hadn’t moved, Alissa lit a fresh cigarette in eir holder and slipped out the door.
Edward didn’t leave the room for more than twenty minutes for the rest of the day. When the blonde did eventually go, ey’d returned to find Sarah scraping around the parlor on eir hands and knees. The brunette was hysterical, cursing and shouting as ey dug under the wing-backed chair for the key, the key that only Edward and Alissa had ever known was there. And Edward certainly hadn’t told em.
As he struggled to yank Sarah back to eir room, Edward promised emself that ey'd do whatever ey could to save what was left of eir sibling’s sanity- and protect em from their monster of a mother.
World: Hollow Reverberations
Characters: Edward, Alissa, Sarah
Prompt: NaNoWriMo is all the prompt I need!
Word Count: 703
Rating: PG-13 (light gore)
Notes: I noticed I hadn't updated the site in almost two weeks! That's insane! So I decided to toss this out there, to let you guys know I am still writing, and I do still plan on updating this site. Hollow is a rather experimental piece for me, using a different variation on pronouns (explained in the World Synopsis), so I hope you guys enjoy it.
Hollow Reverberations takes place in a world called Ayberanthe, where every human is born with a phonograph-esque music box in their chests. These boxes begin to play music at the cusp of adulthood, and the reverberations (mostly internal) grow with each passing year. The louder the music in each person's body, the harder it is for them to classify it as white noise- leading some to a mental breakdown.
The sure-fire fix for that is to find the keymate for your music box. Each box contains a keyhole, and each person is also born with a chained key around their neck. Because the chain is submerged in the collar bone, with the key being the only protrusion from the chest, it is near-impossible to remove the key without damaging the person's collar bone. However, each human has a rare amount of potential keymates, and nobody knows, on birth, who those people will turn out to be. The only clues to what person you might be mated with is that they'll have the opposite sound of your own music box.
Gender is based on the speed of the rhythms of your music box, and is a markedly different point than a person's actual physical sex. The two categories are legato and stacatto, and both categories contain a fairly equal-amount of people per physical gender (depending on the universe's ratio of women to men, of course).
Because Gender is a different concept to the people of Ayberanthe, this novel will be written using Gender Neutral Pronouns. These can be a bit jarring at first, so here's the general run-down on their usage:
he/she: ey
him/her: em
his/her: eir
Preview: "Even as ey threw the key, Edward’s green eyes were shifting once again towards the mirror, taking in Alissa’s stiff form and eir casual elegance. Ey hadn't moved to grab the flying object, and it clattered off of the armchair and onto the floor."
---------
Eir mother stood hovering over em, white hair primly arranged with hundreds of pins holding it back. The typical cigarette holder was perched between eir fingers, mouthpiece never hovering too far from the thin red lines of eir unforgiving lips.
"Sarah's ill," Alissa sniped. Eir gravely voice rained down on Edward, repeating things that ey already knew. Ey shifted in eir chair, which was stuffed to the point that it felt hard and uncomfortable beneath its smooth exterior.
Snorting, Edward glared past eir mother and into the mirror, watching the back of Alissa’s head bob as ey smoked. The hazy train of toxins floated past Edward’s own blonde head, swiveling away into the painfully high ceilings. "Don't shed too many tears over it. Someone might almost think you cared."
"Don't speak to me that way.” Despite being halfway across the room, ey was raising eir hand as though to strike em. Edward knew ey'd never really hit em- after all, Ward’s skin might damage eir precious rings. True to form, ey was already lowering it, returning the errant cigarette holder back to eir mouth.
Alissa eagerly resumed pacing back and forth along the parlor, smoke slithering inside of eir mouth and then billowing back out of it. "Sarah murdered someone, you know.” Alissa paused thoughtfully. “Of course ey must have been confused. Agitated. Sarah’d never do anything like this otherwise. "
Edward's blood slowed. Ey’d known it had to have been something important to draw eir mother’s attention. Alissa hadn't been bothered by any of Edward's own reports on eir sibling’s well-being. In fact, Alissa’d refused to even discuss it for months.
In the end, Ward had been the one watching eir sibling’s steady decline, while their mother had simply wasted money trying to keep Sarah locked away where prying eyes couldn’t reach.
So when eir mother had called for an appointment, Edward’s nerves had dropped out. Ey'd spent the entire morning in the bathroom, vomiting away all eir fears -not that eir mother could ever be bothered to notice that, either.
"Murder?" The echo hadn’t sounded real, even as ey heard it coming from eir mouth.
"Edward! Not so loud.” Swiftly eir white hair swiveled around em, checking for their privacy. It was a ridiculous precaution; even the queen's guards wouldn't have been able to penetrate their mansion, and eir mother loved to keep it that way.
"I- what happened-"
Another puff and eir cigarette was out, being shoved in a glass ashtray in the corner. As ey did so, Alissa peered into the hallway, shutting the door and making a face at the apparent effort.
Turning back towards Edward, ey explained with clipped words. "Tore the fool’s heart out. Clawed away the valve to eir music box, and yanked out the key." As ey spoke Alissa was removing a chain from inside her suit-jacket's pocket. Holding it distastefully away from eir, the chain swung along it's short girth. Edward watched it twirl in the light, revealing the yellowed and red bone hanging near the chipped key.
Edward's stomach jerked. "Gods, mother, in your pock-"
"Might as well try it yourself," ey interrupted eim, tossing the key to eir child. Even as ey threw the key, Edward’s green eyes were shifting once again towards the mirror, taking in Alissa’s stiff form and eir casual elegance. Ey hadn't moved to grab the flying object, and it clattered off of the armchair and onto the floor.
"Miserable child.” When Edward still hadn’t moved, Alissa lit a fresh cigarette in eir holder and slipped out the door.
Edward didn’t leave the room for more than twenty minutes for the rest of the day. When the blonde did eventually go, ey’d returned to find Sarah scraping around the parlor on eir hands and knees. The brunette was hysterical, cursing and shouting as ey dug under the wing-backed chair for the key, the key that only Edward and Alissa had ever known was there. And Edward certainly hadn’t told em.
As he struggled to yank Sarah back to eir room, Edward promised emself that ey'd do whatever ey could to save what was left of eir sibling’s sanity- and protect em from their monster of a mother.