Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Blogging as a revision...

for my LHP 453 a.k.a Creative Writing paper. Why not? My lecturer had always said that blogging is a good way to improve our writing - because we expressed the way we think through blogging. But I guess my writing is still not improving- thus the B grade I got for my 70% coursework for this paper. When it's already a 70% coursework, it means there's no hope for an A (or even A-), so no chance to follow the footsteps of my sister when she sat for this paper last semester. I need to maintain its B status or perhaps aim for B+, but if my grammar is still so poor, I guess I have a fat chance of dropping to C. Oops!

So let me do a little experiment of writing for a duration of 1 hour in a topic - let's say there are a group of five words and I need to use them to write a story.

rain, old woman, dead, baby, sobbing, dark,

Ok, let me start, and let the story begins.

I could never forget that dream, or nightmare to be more precise. This nightmare had always haunt me whenever I tried to sleep these few nights. It had been four days since the accident, and I wondered if these nightmare had anything to do with it. The nightmare, no matter how hard I tried to erase them from my mind, had a strong effect on me - the vivid images of an old woman standing in the rain staring me straight in the eyes. Those stare, it was somewhat piercing, somewhat accusing, somewhat condemning me.

I tried to drink in the image of the second class hospital room which was my home for these four days to replace the image of the old lady from my nightmare. My attempt was quite successful when he arrived.

"Hey Tia," my younger brother, Tom, who never fails to visit me every morning before school begins, greeted me.
"Good morning," I replied with a forced smile. "How's Mom?"
"Okay," he answered and quickly asked "did you sleep well?" He always tried to change the subject whenever I asked about Mom - perhaps Mom was angry with me for not taking care of myself and involved in a car accident like this. She had every right to be angry with me. And honestly though, I could not recall what happened before the accident. I wished I could because then I would make up with Mom for the mistakes and wrong deed that I had done.
"I slept well," I lied nonchalantly. I don't have to worry him with my nightmare, I thought.
"Are you sure? You looked tired, and you got eyebags - I think you don't sleep enough," he elaborated while putting his palm on mine.
"Go to school, Boy," I told him and ate a sleeping pill after he had gone.

It was raining heavily and the temperature was freezing cold. I tried to make my way at through the heavy rain - it was almost impossible to move even an inch against the strong wind. I saw a figure standing a few feet away and being desperate, I asked for help. The figure did not move.

Instead, I heard a cry of a baby from the figure. As if from a scene in a movie, suddenly lightning flashed and I could made up the figure that was standing in front of me. It was a figure of an old lady, and with her, a little baby crying continually. The cry was piercing and I could not stand it.
"STOPPPPPPPPPPP!!!" I screamed - and suddenly the baby's cry really did stop.
"YOU~!!" The old lady looked at me with piercing eyes. I was confused.
"YOU KILLED THE BABY~!" She voiced in a rage. Then she started sobbing, mourning for the dead baby.
I was speechless. I killed the baby? But... but how? And why?

Suddenly everything went dark.
"She couldn't remember what had happened," I heard my brother having a deep conversation with someone.
"Boy," I voiced up when I was wide awake.
"Ah, Tia," Tom looked awkward. I looked at the person whom he's having a conversation with - ah, a doctor.
"Hi Miss Tia, I am Dr Jacob," the doctor introduced himself without wasting much time. "I am from your therapist from now on."
I was speechless. A therapist? But why?
"You lost your memories of the night before the tragedy, I was informed," he said matter-off-factly.
I nodded.
"Why doctor, is it something serious, I mean, my condition?"
"Urm, yes, but to tell you the truth, it wasn't as serious as the tragedy itself," he replied.
"Doctor," I heard my brother trying to object something.
"Perhaps I need to let you know something about that night because I think you are living in denial, trying to forget everything about that night," he explained. "And actually, that night, you murdered your own mother and your 2 month old daughter."
His tone was dead serious I could die. How come? How.... come? I tried to swallow down what he had just said.
"No, no I didn't," I whispered to myself as the memory of that night came haunting back.
It was already dark. I just came back from work as a salesgirl in a shop, and I couldn't endure the stress anymore. I came back and saw Momo, my 2 month old baby sleeping peacefully.
She could have a bright future, I thought silently, but not with me. I wanted to give her up for adoption but Mom disagreed. Mom said she is our own blood, and she accepted her as her precious granddaughter though she came to this world illegitimately. I was so tired, I couldn't stand it anymore to worry about Momo's future,and Mom's sentiment towards Momo is not of my concern, so I tried to abduct Momo inside the car. Perhaps I can give her up for adoption since Mom was nowhere in sight. It was something so spontaneous, yes, I always do this kind of thing, thus the pregnancy.

Suddenly, Momo was awake, and she looked at me. I tried to signal her to keep quiet, but as a 2 month old toddler, Momo had no idea so she cried instead.

"Momo!!" I heard Mom's panic voice calling. Ah, that sensitive old lady! I started the engine and Mom saw me.
"What do you think of doing?" She looked at me as if I were crazy.
"Doing what I was supposed to do 2 months ago," I said and trying to reverse my car.
"You, you Tia!! Stop! DON"T YOU DARE!"
But I was headstrong. Mom tried to stop me through the open window but I just stubbornly reversed the car slowly.
"OVER MY DEAD BODY, TIA, BEFORE YOU CAN GIVE HER TO ANYBODY," She said and that was when the accident happened. While struggling to break free my stereng from Mom's grasp through the window, I stepped on the accelerator instead, and it moved the car forward until Mom was..
Oh, my goodness! I knocked Mom down until her body was smashed against the wall of the house. And Momo, Momo fell from the seat and her fragile head was bruised and she was unconscious. It was happening so fast! Panickly, I reached for Momo and to my horror, she was dead. They were all dead. Did I just caused their deaths? Did I just murdered them?

"Doctor, I am ready to tell you everything now," I said with tears on my eyes, looking from the doctor to Tom. How I wish this was just a nightmare that I could escape.



PS: I know there are a lot grammatical errors in this story, and the weaknesses in this storyline. Feel free to correct or critic them. Thank you. ;)


14 comments:

Merissa K. said...

there were some. but i dont know how to highlight it. hee. its not that bad tho.

but babe, the story was good. i think it would be better tho if u made her recall fragments of the memory.

say, she remembers arguing with an old lady while holding the baby. but the memory has to be in the form of short flashes.

and right at the end of the story, the doctor says : you killed ur mum and daughter.

i think it would probably work better. :)

Mad Maureen said...

Merissa, thanks so much for the comment and idea. You're the right person for an advice in writing - i like the writing in your blog (you should be a writer) Thanks ya girl. ;)

Ya, your suggestion added more suspense and thrill to the story. ;) I think i gave away too much for letting the doctor told her about the murder in the middle of the story - not to mention the grammar mistakes in the story. hehe.

I hope i could do better during my exam this friday. thanks again for dropping by. ;)

Kevin Chan said...

Hey i was just dropping by.

I love ur story. Its really creative and i really hope i could have a creative mind like yours.

KEEP IT UP! You'll get good results dun worry!

Mad Maureen said...

CMajor: Hi, thanks for dropping by.. ;) and thanks a lot for the compliment - though i don't really deserve it, but i am glad u like the story. I wish i can improve cause it's hard to impress the lecturer. last but not least, thanks for the assurance ya.. ;)

Merissa K. said...

awwwh, i dont deserve the compliment. but thank you.
heheh.

you've got terrific ideas though. im pretty sure ud do fine in the exams. good luck eyy?

:D

Mad Maureen said...

Merissa: girl, i wasn't the only one who gave u that compliment so you totally deserved it.. ;)

hey, thanks so much for the good luck wish~! I really need tons of good luck for the exam tomorrow... :)

*in wishing the lecturer will be more generous in marking mode*

Anonymous said...

wah.. surprise, surprise!

this is a good story. first time ur not being draggy :p wahahah, i get to say that cos i'm ur sister mah...

yah.. just improve on the grammar and do what Merissa K. said and ur good to go.

btw, not stereng la. LOL. reli-reli spoilled the mood. baru je nak rasa saspen... tetiba... arghh... rasa cam gila-gila plak. LOL. It's steering wheel.

Ya, abt the grammar, just polish it and the story will be perfect. post up the corrected version ya. or just email it to me. hehe *kepo mode*

oh, also.. adakah therapist akan cakap dgn tone yg accusing "you murdered your own mother and daughter"? A therapist! Sounded more like a lawyer leh... just my opinion la. cos dua-dua pun i xde pengalaman tapi berdasarkan pengalaman i menonton cerita wayang/tv.

Mad Maureen said...

Mel: i was surprised too - haha, i timed myself while writing this (1 hour - can't have the chance to be draggy - blessing in disguise rupa2nya).. oops, i forgot the spelling. and the matter-off-factly was wrongly spelled too (matter-of-factly) lol..

yalah -abt that therapist part, hmm, maybe i wanted to highlight that this particular therapist is emotionless. ahahha.. ok la, i know, it's illogical.. kuangx4..

btw, i didn't get to finish the story i wrote for my test today - just short of one last sentence eh.. huhu.. but it's ok, since i wasn't aiming A for this one. gotta concentrate on next paper... *semangat berkobar-kobar mode*

Anonymous said...

WHAT!!!!!! just short of one last sentence????

Apu~~~ wei, if like that i mati-mati pun nak tulis la wei. u shud have just ignored the pengawas and WROTE the last sentence. bukan dia nak cop u punya kertas and tell Encik Ahmad (or watever his name is) bahawa u telah mengambil half a minute extra to tulis the last sentence. CIS! CIS! CIS! sekali lagi.

Kenapalah kau skema sangat?

*wondering* are we even related?

Mad Maureen said...

Mcjayn: ala, on second thought kan, i think short of one sentence also good - he can imagine a better last sentence himself than the one i was going to write.

aku skema sebab - on 2nd thought, skemakah aku? i wore slippers to sit for exam like u. muahahah.. and brought hp inside though was reminded repeatedly by the pengawas.

ala, sometimes people are destined to be related with someone totally opposite of them so that they can learn to tolerate others with that kind of attitude once they are out of their comfort zone later.. hua3..

Hawa said...

Mr Ahmad Sufian wil b proud wit u when he read dis post with da comments..(^^,)

Anonymous said...

ya, true pun... mbe that's where i learn to tolerate the LEECH. lol. but she's way, way, way annoying. consider this a compliment.

ala, congratulations lo krn pakai slipar and bawak hp ke dlm exam hall. *snickering*
itu org buat slambe je... xde announce dlm blog le oi.

Mad Maureen said...

Hawa: hahahaha.. if he stumbles upon this blog now, takpe dah.. hua3.. cos i no longer attend his class.. hopefully he will be 'proud' ya.. XD

Mcjayn: cheese berkulat~! perluka bandingkan me with the LEECH? hmm, ingat pasal the constant variable (yeah, i learned while blogging) and manipulated variable thingy? hah..

thanks for congratulating me. *ignoring the snickering* aku takde announce pun.. aku taip jer dlm bahagian komen.. hua3.. ;)

Hawa said...

Tiba2 isu variable ya dbangkitkan semula...apakah????(^^,)