I am allergic to all things with fur, whiskers, and four feet - as well as pollen, dust, dirt, or anything the remotely reminds one of the outdoors or nature. Grass is a true annoyance, especially if it has just been mowed. My eyes are itchy just writing about it.

I write so much differently than others. I choose a genre. I choose a genre that I'm not good at. Take horror as an example. Then I think about what makes a good horror story. It's usually something very common that is given a sinister twist. Then I write down common things, places, and objects and try to think of them in sinister ways. Then i attempt to write a story about it. Next stop - comedy...

For someone who has been writing since the age of five - nothing Earth shattering I assure you - I am embarrased to say that I really can't think of much to say. I am 29. I live in NY and work for the wine industry. It isn't as romantic as it sounds. Most of my work takes on Gothic tones and I am using this site to break free of my comfort zone, if you will. It isn't really working :). I am just happy to have found Story Mash and even happier now that I know who I am writing with. There is a very intimidatingly great amount of talent here! Also, as you read my work, please feel free to correct me and my spelling - as I think much faster than I can type. In vino veritas! Dawn

Please read "In the Beginning" first. It will give you a better idea as to what's going on.

Honestly, I was doing this to create a pared down story. Basically, it is a story without all the trappings of full sentences which guide the reader into a specific direction. Single words give the reader a myriad of ways to put the pieces together. I could have easily written something like - Beaten unconcious, Marcia longed for a reason why her captures would leave her on the brink of death and not finish what they had started? Why let her die alone, oozing life slowly from brutal wounds that were not deep enough to kill her immediately but would seep for hours? - With this piece, I would rather let the reader link these words in their minds and decipher what it means to be on the brink in agony and then gone. No it was not an easy read. It was not a poem. It was a story without the trappings of too many words. It conveyed emotion without telling you what the emotion was. Broken. Does the refer to bones? Does that refer to spirit? Is it both? The word by itself says more than - Her spirit was broken. That was the point of the exercise.

I love comments. I love ALL comments.

To get a real feel for this, you may want to start with Untitled and the second part of Untitled as well. Apparently the whole piece was more than 25000 characters which is a bit too long for an introductory chapter that begins rather in the middle of the story. I think i will call that chapter, "In the Now". This one is really titled, "In the Before" - but I was not sure how many people would read it. This is not an easy read to begin with.

I don't even have anything to say about this one. Just one of those trips down memory lane fueled by alcohol and boredom.

Honeygloom, you asked, "If this was purely revenge against someone Maybel hated, why would she go on killing?" This is a good question, however, when was the last time you went out and got or did something that should have felt satisfying and then wanted more? It's the same thing here. You hated this person. You throw them into a well. Then you start to think - why stop there? There must be other people in the world just like the person in the well. I'll go out and find them. You're dealing with achildish mind that wants instant gratification. Sometimes that's just not gratifying enough. Maybel wants more.

I was hoping that someone would notice that there were two people in the well! I thought that Maybel should be slow (an adult with child-like sensibilities). The description of her in the first chapter was of a very strong woman (physically) dressed up in the fashion of a child. I wanted to continue that theme. I wanted to leave this chapter open to many possibilities. Two people in the well - they could be her parents. Other killings - they could be random. The dog could have been her sister's. Her sister and her invalid mother (drowned) could be in a well with the dead dog. There's a ton of ways to look at the chapter. I think it could make for a very interesting Mash. Thanks for all the positive feedback!