Book 2, "Fruit People"

I skipped a few pages of Book 2, and it was liberating. I stumbled across a flash fiction piece that I hated, until the end. I liked that so much that I rewrote the story in honor of Past Justin. I hope he would appreciate what I've done with it. First comes the original, then the revamped edition. Feel free to read it in reverse if you think that would be better. I couldn't decide.

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8/22/07 Fruit People

Fruit on the picture on the table, they roll off, onto the ground and splat, the out of the remnants of the tarnished fruit walk little people, some are red because they are from tomatoes, some are yellow from lemons, green from limes, red green from water melons, purple from plumbs etc... They see they are different and begin to fight, and out of the fighting some of the different people from the different fruits start to talk, they come to the conclusion that wha the reason they are fighting is stupid, they try to stop the rest of them but the others turn on them and kill the thinking fruit people, but because those few had the guts to stand up and say this is wrong, they affected other fruit people and they affected others and so on and so fourth. The amount of thinkers of the fruit people would change, at times those a lot would think for themselves but more often than not they would fight. To this day I am still watching the fruit people fight, think, kill, and the occasional period of peace, but that ends quickly, th It seems they are driven to fight. I am still waiting for the day that either complete and utter war will break loose and all of them would kill themselves, or if the thinkers will get their message accross and create long lasting peace, If that happens I might have to smoosh them and clean up the mess.

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5/15/13 Fruit People

Once, a still life painting of fruit stirred. I sat, and still sit, watching what happened when the food fell to the floor. Splat. Out of the remnants of the broken fruit emerged little people. Some were red, some were yellow, some green, red-green, and and others were purple. These fruit people saw that they were different, and they began to fight. It began with squishy fists, none doing any real harm.

Some of the fruit people began to speak with one another over the fighting, while fighting. Insults came first. Words fueled rage, and the stems of apples became spears and clubs. Some (few) talked about why they were fighting, and in time realized that mere difference is not a sufficient cause for battle. They stopped fighting, and attempted to convince the other fruit people to join them in peace. They were slaughtered, and the violence persisted. The words those few spoke did, however, sow seeds of doubt among the more impressionable. In time those seeds sprouted, and the idea penetrated the fighting once more. Again, the soft speakers were put down, but more seeds were sown, and a cycle was established.

I still wait for the day when the fighting grows too immense and all are destroyed. I wait for the chaotic quiet to follow this artful carnage. I wait for the stillness to return, but not in life. I also wait for the soft speakers' message to be truly heard. I wait for the fruit people to find a lasting peace, for if that happens, I might have to smoosh them and clean up the mess.

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The denial of the expected is something I've been interested in for a while. There's something that pleases me about thinking something is going to happen one way, and it happening a completely different way. Obviously I'm not happy when I expect my toilet to flush, and then it doesn't, but throughout narratives and in entertainment this sort of jab at the audience is a lot of fun, even when I'm the audience getting jabbed at. It's apparently a fine line to walk when writing the sudden twist, though.

According to some study people like knowing about the twist beforehand. People like spoilers? I'm not quite sure this sits well with me, seeing as I've been planning on including surprises in my fiction. If they want to know what's going to happen ahead of time, should I be including the end in the beginning? It's not unheard of, I know, but I always thought the mystery was a large part of what drove readers to read. Sure, you can say that there's still mystery in how they get there, and yeah, that's valid (and important), but it's not the same kind of mystery.

There's a theory that people read because they want an ordered world. They want to be able to predict what happens, and predictable fiction provides that safe environment. The safe environment allows them to pay closer attention to the details of the story. That gives credit to the idea of spoilers being a positive thing. I would argue with the theory, saying that it's dumb, but I can't. Fiction that follows this line of thought is popular. It works. It's dumb, but as a writer I've got to respect its effectiveness.