Post by Silvercloud on Nov 4, 2015 2:57:48 GMT -6
Hi! So, I'm planning to apply for a writing programme next year, and for that I need quite a few works submitted as my audition. They do have to be tied together by a common theme.
I deeply apologise if most of my works here are a little incoherent. I tend to be in my head a lot as I write, and don't see my own deep errors in logic. As I approach the deadline, I'll try to summon up the courage to ask my family members to read it, but for now, it would be much appreciated if you guys could provide some tips!
So, this is the first work.
Divorce. To Aria, it was a hard word to hear. It meant so much more than what everyone said it meant. The lawyer had said it meant a termination of a marital unit. Her mother had said it meant leaving. Her father had said it meant not having to see her mother every day. Her little sister, Tanya, had no idea what it meant, except that it meant trips in the car to somewhere far away.
And that, that tore at Aria’s heart. For she had always been writing definitions for herself, writing meanings for things she wasn’t even sure there were words for. The feeling of terror when she heard yelling downstairs. The look on her sister’s face, innocent and yet terrifying in that innocence. No dictionary, no lawyer, no adult could help her see the definitions of those words. For those weren’t even words. Weren’t even things that a child her age would need words for. And so, she wrote them on her own. Imagined them in her head, chilling an yet comforting in their familiarity. For they let her name things, name things with words that would never change.
Familiarity was a foreign concept to her at best. It had been alright for 10 years, a happy 10 years. Her mother would sit on the couch with her father, sharing a bowl of ice cream as Aria watched the television. They would yell at each other, teasing words that held no malice. But now, everything had changed. The words that were yelled were no longer ones of love, but ones of hatred. Ones that struck terror into her. Ones that hurt.
So maybe Aria didn’t have to define divorce. It had been defined a million times, by people wiser than her. But one word that had never come up was blame.
Blame for everything. Everything seemed to led back to Tanya, the child born of hatred. A child who had never been wanted, never been asked for. So maybe it was all Tanya’s fault. Aria hated her sister for that. Hated her for the simple fact that had she never been born, none of this would have happened.
Of course her sister cried when they were brought away to their mother. After all, Tanya had always loved their father more, more than anything in the world. But the child deserved it. This was all her fault after all.
So Aria hated Tanya. So did her mother. Money was tight, and one more mouth to feed didn’t help anything. Neither did a child, yelling for her father. The spoilt little brat would always destroy everything.
And that was the way it had been, and the way it always was. But sometimes, just sometimes, Aria would look at the little girl building a house of cards on the floor. And she would think back, with a flicker of hope, to a time when Tanya was just as loved as anyone else. Just as comforted. But the house of cards had always come tumbling down.
Aria, the girl without a dictionary. The girl without a definition. And when she finally discovered the definition of blame, it was too late. Far too late. For the definition of forgiveness was a divorce away.
(If you're confused about the last line, in a dictionary, the letters "B" and "F" are separated by, amongst others, "D". I'll make it clearer soon.)
I deeply apologise if most of my works here are a little incoherent. I tend to be in my head a lot as I write, and don't see my own deep errors in logic. As I approach the deadline, I'll try to summon up the courage to ask my family members to read it, but for now, it would be much appreciated if you guys could provide some tips!
So, this is the first work.
Divorce. To Aria, it was a hard word to hear. It meant so much more than what everyone said it meant. The lawyer had said it meant a termination of a marital unit. Her mother had said it meant leaving. Her father had said it meant not having to see her mother every day. Her little sister, Tanya, had no idea what it meant, except that it meant trips in the car to somewhere far away.
And that, that tore at Aria’s heart. For she had always been writing definitions for herself, writing meanings for things she wasn’t even sure there were words for. The feeling of terror when she heard yelling downstairs. The look on her sister’s face, innocent and yet terrifying in that innocence. No dictionary, no lawyer, no adult could help her see the definitions of those words. For those weren’t even words. Weren’t even things that a child her age would need words for. And so, she wrote them on her own. Imagined them in her head, chilling an yet comforting in their familiarity. For they let her name things, name things with words that would never change.
Familiarity was a foreign concept to her at best. It had been alright for 10 years, a happy 10 years. Her mother would sit on the couch with her father, sharing a bowl of ice cream as Aria watched the television. They would yell at each other, teasing words that held no malice. But now, everything had changed. The words that were yelled were no longer ones of love, but ones of hatred. Ones that struck terror into her. Ones that hurt.
So maybe Aria didn’t have to define divorce. It had been defined a million times, by people wiser than her. But one word that had never come up was blame.
Blame for everything. Everything seemed to led back to Tanya, the child born of hatred. A child who had never been wanted, never been asked for. So maybe it was all Tanya’s fault. Aria hated her sister for that. Hated her for the simple fact that had she never been born, none of this would have happened.
Of course her sister cried when they were brought away to their mother. After all, Tanya had always loved their father more, more than anything in the world. But the child deserved it. This was all her fault after all.
So Aria hated Tanya. So did her mother. Money was tight, and one more mouth to feed didn’t help anything. Neither did a child, yelling for her father. The spoilt little brat would always destroy everything.
And that was the way it had been, and the way it always was. But sometimes, just sometimes, Aria would look at the little girl building a house of cards on the floor. And she would think back, with a flicker of hope, to a time when Tanya was just as loved as anyone else. Just as comforted. But the house of cards had always come tumbling down.
Aria, the girl without a dictionary. The girl without a definition. And when she finally discovered the definition of blame, it was too late. Far too late. For the definition of forgiveness was a divorce away.
(If you're confused about the last line, in a dictionary, the letters "B" and "F" are separated by, amongst others, "D". I'll make it clearer soon.)
