Daniel Langer, 4/19/2021, Period 5, Day B

Creativity & Fiction

• Craft a piece of fiction that addresses one or more of the following: 
• Literary elements (i.e. structure, tone, diction, mood, irony, and figurative language) to craft a narrative and/or poetry.
• Structural features of drama (stage directions, character attributions/tags, dialogue, monologues, and/or soliloquies) to craft a script.
• Multidimensional characters to develop themes and create socio-political metaphors. 

Bryan had spaced out and his brain was on autopilot, inching forward in line as numbers were being called. 

“598, go. 599, go. 600, go. 601, go, 602, go.”

“602 WAKE UP AND GET A MOVE ON DAMN IT!”

Bryan snapped back into the present and jumped, and just for a moment, just before gravity kicked in and pulled him downward, felt truly at peace. But then gravity took back control and his stomach flew upward. The sudden change in force, together with the suddenness of falling made him black out. 

- * - * - 

When Bryan opened his eyes, he was back at home, watching from the window and his older brother and uncle were leaving for the war. His mother was crying, and his grandparents were trying to calm her down, saying “Be strong for them, Mary, please be strong.” No matter what they said, the tears kept flowing and wouldn’t stop for another hour. 

Bryan was young then, around 14, but he still understood what was going on and what had led to this. His country, Gladensdom, bordered two other countries, the Thrulian Republic, and the country of Hiddlensbury. Depending on the time of year and the profitability of trade with either country, there was always a war going on. At that time, Gladensdom had called a cease-fire with Hiddlensury, and was 6 months into a conflict with the Thrulian Republic. This ongoing war, however, was different from the previous conflicts, and might even be the last war for a long time. 

This was all because of a single man, Julian Grugfar, a genius level inventor. 

Now note, the world that Bryan lives in is not like our own, for his world has a form of magic. Only a few random people are born with the ability to use it, and their power and abilities vary greatly. Julian was one of the lucky few to be born with an aptitude for magic, but little was known about what his abilities actually were, but right around when Julian entered university he discovered his true ability. He could reshape magic crystals, and make them output a certain element of magic. One of his first inventions was making a cup that could produce as much water as the magic crystal allowed it to, and ever since then, he had been working on creating bigger and better inventions. Not too long after his debut, the army found him and hired him to create weapons, and he improved the technology used in wars. However, once he created a new type of technology, other countries would quickly find a way to copy it, leading to a back and forth battle. Because none of Julians inventions had enough of an impact to end the war, he strove to create something big enough to end the war overnight, and devoted many years of his life to doing so. 

Julian eventually found a way to use wind magic and magic crystals to make a flying machine, and after some time it was ready to use in action.

 

- * - * - 

Bryan closed his eyes again and when he reopened them, he was coming home from the market with fresh fruits and vegetables when he was approached by a neighbor. 

“Bryan I am so, so sorry. I think you best hurry home now, your mother needs you.”

At first he wasn't sure what was going on, but as he was on his way home, it hit him. It was probably his older brother. His uncle and brother had been gone for almost three years, and there had been no news from his older brother for a few months now. 

Was David gone? David, the older brother who had taught Bryan to read and write, who had taught him how to hunt, and was the most cheerful person Bryan could think of? No, it can't be, thought Bryan, desperately hoping that what he feared had not come to pass.

When he got home, however, his heart dropped. The reality in front of him was worse, much, much worse. 

David and Bryans uncle were home, and alive, but that was it. David had a giant scar down his left eye, was missing a few fingers, and had a permanently broken leg. The uncle wasn't much better off, missing his left hand and having burn marks almost completely covering his chest. Both David and the uncle had lifeless looks in their eyes, and almost seemed as if they were dead. 

Seeing this, Bryan dropped the groceries that he was holding and ran off, enraged at what he saw. He had not seen his brother and uncle in the last 3 years, and they came back like this? ‘This was unacceptable. Whoever did this must pay!’ Yelled Bryan as he punched a brick wall over and over, until he finally passed out from the pain.

- * - * - 

Bryan woke up in the barracks to the sound of the breakfast bell being rung, and got ready for his day. He was scheduled to redeploy to the front lines tomorrow, but before that he had a meeting with his commander. When Bryan tried to get more information about what the meeting was about, he was simply told “Show up on time and you will find out.” 

Bryan, although unsure of what was going to happen in said meeting, showed up on time anyway, and was met with his commander, as well as someone whose face he had never seen around the base. When he introduced himself to the stranger, the stranger introduced himself as Julien Grugfar, and upon hearing the name Bryan began to connect the dots. This was the genius inventor Julian Grugfar, who invented the fire cannon that was used to burn his uncle, the faulty crossbow which caused his brother David to lose some of his fingers. 

He was about to be overcome by rage and anger when Julian calmly stated “I see. He is perfect, I’ll take him.” Now Bryan was just confused, and when told to accompany Julian and his commander he simply obeyed, absolutely bewildered. 

They travelled by carriage, and Bryan fell asleep at some point during the ride.

- * - * - 

Bryan woke up and glanced at the calendar. It has been almost 5 years since the war with the Thrulian Republic started, and unbeknownst to the enemy, this was the final stage of the war. Bryan had joined a special task force led by the genius inventor Julian Grugfar, and they had been training and preparing to use his most prized invention, the flight machine to launch a surprise attack against the enemy capital. If they succeeded and were able to fight their way back towards the front lines, they could meet their main force somewhere in the middle and finally end the war. 

As the 750 strong group of soldiers were preparing to get on the flight machine and head out to end the war, Bryan got his pack and weapon ready, and headed onto the flight machine. There, he found his seat and fell fast asleep.

- * - * - 

Bryan jolted back awake and took in his surroundings. It was a beautiful aerial view of a city, with mountains to its back, and an ocean to the side. For a second, Bryan forgot why he was here. But then looking side to side, he remembered his mission. He, and the other 749 soldiers, had to take control of the city below them, and then fight their way towards the front lines of the battle. Bryan looked around, and saw that some of the soldiers started pulling their parachutes. Bryan took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and pulled his chute.

- * - * -