Another installment of the close-enough-to-Friday Fictioneers.
I wake up at the workbench again, the dust of my unconscious labors packed under my fingernails and my hands aching from clenching the mallet and chisel all night. I recoil as I see what is emerging from the block of plaster: Morpheus and Hephaestus—Dream and Craft—overlapping and melded into a macabre amalgam; a thing which cannot be, yet is. It is a thing I feel myself slowly becoming.
People marvel at my sculptures at art exhibits. They beg me to share my secret inspiration, but I just smile.
Because I honestly don’t know.
And it scares me.
January 31st, 2013 at 12:06 am
Love it 😀
January 31st, 2013 at 12:15 am
Thanks, Alastair. I find myself getting more and more into these 100 word challenges.
January 31st, 2013 at 12:24 am
I did the Trifecta the other day as part of my ongoing story, but I felt it left too much out, so i won’t be doing that again. You are good at these though
January 31st, 2013 at 12:22 am
love it too nicely done
January 31st, 2013 at 12:37 am
Thank you~ Glad you liked it.
January 31st, 2013 at 12:29 am
Dear David,
Haven’t I warned you? It’s an addiction. Personally I’m not looking to recover anytime soon.
Now. Your story. You’ve captured the artist’s psyche. I speak from personal experience. Often I’m asked, “Where on earth did you come up with that?” My answer is an honest, “I don’t know. It just came.”
Another good one!
Shalom,
Rochelle
January 31st, 2013 at 12:35 am
I’m not much of an artist, but I feel that way about my writing sometimes, like it must have come from somewhere besides me. Usually the stuff I’m proudest of. 🙂
January 31st, 2013 at 1:10 am
That is scary – sleep-carving. A premise, and nicely written.
January 31st, 2013 at 9:50 am
I’d probably wake up missing fingers if I started doing that. 🙂
January 31st, 2013 at 1:31 am
It’s an interesting point how the origins and promptings of art can be wholly mysterious.The ending of your piece has great impact; I’m scared!
January 31st, 2013 at 10:59 pm
I tried to leave it on a sinister note, since that’s my personality. It’s true though, at least for me, that sometimes I don’t know where inspiration comes from: it just pops into my head and I write it down.
January 31st, 2013 at 1:52 am
Inspiration is a tricky thing. It can come from anywhere and sometimes so out of the blue that it hits us from left field. Fantastic story. 🙂
January 31st, 2013 at 11:00 pm
Thank you. I’d be scared if inspiration was so forceful as to control me in my sleep, but sometimes it feels that way. 🙂
January 31st, 2013 at 2:38 am
Haunting…I love the realization at the end. Bravo, David!
January 31st, 2013 at 11:01 pm
So…where do you think his inspiration and craft is really coming from?
February 1st, 2013 at 2:42 am
I feel like it was coming from the sculpture itself even in its unformed stage. That was my feeling of it. But, I suppose it could be something within your character (who is sculpting) or even an external force. My first thought is that actual unformed materials of the sculpture, the clay I guess.
January 31st, 2013 at 5:13 am
Clever, and well-framed. Deep stuff…one imagines the madness settling in a few years hence…
January 31st, 2013 at 11:03 pm
Yes, that would be one outgrowth of this sort of story; the artist whose work becomes weirder and weirder and slowly devolves into insanity. It seems to be a more-common-than-usual affliction of the artistic personality.
January 31st, 2013 at 7:28 am
I just say, chip away the part that doesn’t look like the sculpture. We do the same with those wooden Indian Chiefs at the cigar stores.
Story really truthful, descriptive and, you’re right …!!! Great!
January 31st, 2013 at 11:04 pm
Thanks~ It takes an artist better than me to distinguish between the bit of useless stone and the essential part of the sculpture right next to it. 🙂
January 31st, 2013 at 7:58 am
Super.
I have a character who experiences fugues and awakens before a tree with a carved and very much living false-face emerging. I very much enjoyed your take.
January 31st, 2013 at 11:05 pm
It’s an interesting exploration of where art comes from.
January 31st, 2013 at 8:35 am
“I honestly don’t know.
And it scares me.” ——- beautiful. just beautiful.
i smiled at the mention of Morpheus and Hephaestus. i so love Greek mythology .. Dream and Craft, yes that’s perfect
January 31st, 2013 at 11:07 pm
Yeah, I liked the idea of using Greek figures to represent the concepts, especially since this was a picture of a sculpture. Originally I meant it only literally, as in he was crafting while dreaming, but later I realized it could also represent art in general, the creative Dream side and the technical Craft side. See, I didn’t even know where this story came from. 🙂
January 31st, 2013 at 11:11 am
I loved this! It’s beautifully, intelligently written. Excellent!
January 31st, 2013 at 11:08 pm
Thank you. I so glad you enjoyed it. I kind of like myself. 🙂
January 31st, 2013 at 1:15 pm
I enjoyed the POV of the artist. You channeled him well.
January 31st, 2013 at 11:08 pm
He is a troubled, confused soul, to be sure. Not sure that’s me, but I guess we all have a bit of everything inside us.
January 31st, 2013 at 3:57 pm
Wow.. that’s an amazing interpretation of the pic. The end line “I don’t know” speaks volumes and it sure can be scary to not know how the creativity flowed with the piece.. or art.
January 31st, 2013 at 11:09 pm
Especially if the art suddenly turns dark and you can’t stop it… That would be an interesting idea for a longer story.
February 1st, 2013 at 4:45 am
Oh yea.. Totally..:-)
January 31st, 2013 at 5:44 pm
The concept is equaly true of writing and is beautifully captured. Well done.
January 31st, 2013 at 11:10 pm
Thank you, Sandra. 🙂
January 31st, 2013 at 11:18 pm
I really do know how to spell ‘equally’ Duh! 😦
January 31st, 2013 at 11:43 pm
I didn’t even notice. Don’t worry, we’ve all done worse. 🙂 WordPress really needs to have a way for us to edit our comments after we’ve posted them, like Facebook does.
January 31st, 2013 at 7:20 pm
Dear David,
This is one of your best word sculptures I’ve had the pleasure of reading. A touch of class, an education and a psychological thriller all in 100 words. Loved the details of dust and sore muscles. Loved it all.
Aloha,
Doug
January 31st, 2013 at 11:11 pm
Doug,
thank you. Your praise is quite effusive. I think it’s one of my favorites of the few Fictioneer pieces I’ve done. And like most, I don’t really know where it came from. I guess that’s the fun in writing. Thanks again for your comment,
-David
January 31st, 2013 at 10:03 pm
I chisel away to fashion and … am fashioned instead.
January 31st, 2013 at 11:12 pm
It’s an interesting concept to play with; the idea that art changes us as much as we change it. It’d be a fun theme to explore in a longer piece. Who knows, perhaps some day.
January 31st, 2013 at 11:41 pm
i believe lot of geniuses will say similar thing!
February 1st, 2013 at 3:39 am
Very, very well done David! Love it too 🙂
February 1st, 2013 at 3:39 am
Interesting take on the prompt David. It has a sinister ring to it. Very well crafted work!
February 1st, 2013 at 6:28 am
Word sculpture is a great description. Very inspirational.
February 1st, 2013 at 7:00 am
I really liked this. The muse at work and well described. Could be good, could be bad–who knows? You captured the artist’s tension.
janet
February 1st, 2013 at 7:38 am
‘Beware of Greeks bearing gifts’ they say, (harking back to the Wooden Horse of Troy). I see you were ‘visited’ by Greeks bearing the gift of inspiration. Me, too. Mine were Pygmalion and Galatea! There is no doubt in my mind that we are ‘changed’ by the art we create. It is logical, in that we research our subjects. Then there’s being ‘in the zone’ when the work takes over. I painted non-stop through the night once. It was like flying without wings 🙂
February 1st, 2013 at 9:56 am
I liked your Greek theme as well. It seemed to go with the sculpture.
I get those periods where I just write for hours and the words flow onto the page, but it’s not very common.
February 1st, 2013 at 7:38 am
I like your story. Forgot that bit!
February 1st, 2013 at 9:56 am
🙂 Thanks.
February 1st, 2013 at 11:10 am
Yes! I too enjoy quirky and weird, as you mention in your “About,” and thoroughly enjoyed this submission as well! Great work!
February 1st, 2013 at 1:21 pm
Love the glimpse inside the artist’s head. I think all of us who undertake creative projects feel that way sometimes (or all the time, haha). Great job 🙂
February 2nd, 2013 at 2:04 am
Hi David,
Masterful writing here and an interesting and thought-provoking story. Ron
February 2nd, 2013 at 2:13 am
Nicely done David, scary to think where our thoughts really come from, but that’s the fun part.
February 2nd, 2013 at 2:40 am
Well done–perhaps the inspiration behind the work is not as important as the results.
February 2nd, 2013 at 2:44 am
Slightly chilling. I really want to know what the future holds for this artist.
February 2nd, 2013 at 3:51 am
You are an artist david. Do not forget that…your words all over the canvas for us to see. Great work even if you have no idea where it came from….
Tom
February 2nd, 2013 at 5:10 am
A little creepy, in a good way! I like the idea of the sculptor producing art without being aware of the process. And then again, how many of us can give a flat and logical explanation of exactly where our stories come from? I think there’s a lot more merging of Morpheus and Hephaestus than your sculptor realizes!
February 2nd, 2013 at 10:00 am
Ominous.
February 3rd, 2013 at 4:53 am
Nice.
February 6th, 2013 at 12:18 pm
brilliant last line. well done.