Small piece I wrote around half a year ago for a story idea.
Liar. Liar, liar, liar. They said. Their eyes sunken and low. Their fake voices deafening. Long ago. Before, they began by pounding his chest in frail protest. But somehow, now, they were beating him with sticks until he bled. Liar, liar! They never gave him a chance to speak. He owned a tongue, yet he was afraid to use it. Liar. He had a pen he couldn't grasp. Fingers intertwined together in an impossible knot. Liar. They took advantage, of course. With him silenced, they began roaring louder, chanting, repeating their lies over and over and over. Their dark words seeping through ears and embedding into skulls, cut and clean. And yet they still claim him the liar... Went on waving their sticks, went on swinging down. A river of blood and they were proud. Just look to the other side, he wanted to say, just look to the other side! Liar. Mind your own greediness. No. They didn't care about the other side. In an argument, there are two sides. In war, there are two sides. Here, there was only one side. Their side. What of the other? Bomb it and cleanse it. Shut it up. Repeat your lies until you believe them yourself. Your propaganda. Force them down the world's throat, steady and patient. Keep it up a decade at least. A century. He turned shriveled and weak, like a pale old fish. Liar. Support the strong side, crush the weaker one. The unfortunate lives didn't matter. Insects. No, but their side did. And they were willing to destroy and burn for their own lies. He couldn't move now, broken bones and broken heart. Liar. They offered him a chance, if he would only join them in their winning battle, if he would only join the stronger side. Under one condition, he still is the liar. He plays that game. Liar, liar. They announced afterwards he was the devil. Tore out his tongue after he died sprawled under their shotgun. And of course, still the liar, liar, liar. Liar to the grave, liar to hell, liar for forever and always. Liar stamped for eternity. Always was, always has been.
Oh wow this piece is so fascinating with its unique form of poetical verse! It's certainly a great way to approach a story concept by grasping into the depths of an idea. I'm personally compelled by the way you repeated the leitmotif, "liar", throughout this passage, in an attempt to drag the reader into the concept and incorporate an uncanny theme. Of course, I'm not sure who the main character is, and I'm sure you've described them this way for deliberate effect, but just through the use of powerful yet mysterious figure of speech in a short extract, I can already visualise the protagonist and their ways, that they're a rival to the side full of propaganda that only believe in one side - themselves. The metaphorical use of language scattered throughout this piece allow for hidden jewels that reveal certain meanings that you have to crack to understand fully... analogous to the mysterious depths in texts you might study in an English exam! C: The text is disguised so perfectly that I had to read it twice to fully grasp its meaning and mine for those hidden gems haha. <3 And, having read this multiple times (it's too good ;-;), this phrase in particular, "Their dark words seeping through ears and embedding into skulls, cut and clean." reveals a progressive phase of delivering the lies and manipulation and does so in a very powerful three-part method that really intrigued me! I also found "He couldn't move now, broken bones and broken heart." a very impactful quote, because it has two very contradictory words "bones" and "heart" that are tied together all of a sudden, implying both a sense of physical and emotional pain. The passage ends just as abruptly as it started, when his death is implied after they "tore out his tongue". Aaah how could you end it on such a cliffhanger after I become so attached to this!
ReplyDeleteCan't believe I'm well over a year late commenting on this beautiful work! ;-; (Man I feel so bad, after all you put so much effort into such an amazing blog and I didn't comment a thing!) I'm still really curious about the plot, though... did you use it anywhere eventually or was it scrapped? Definitely going to read your other writing pieces too! :D Oh and I absolutely love the new banner you added to the blog and the way it reflects the red theme! Ahhh so good, so crazy good this blog is. <3