The Curse
© 2002
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| Technical Aspects | |
| Story length: | 9,950 words/34 pages double spaced |
| Voice: | Third person (dual related stories)/Past tense |
| Genre: | Speculative Fiction |
| Copyrighted: | © 2002 |
| Story information | |
| Main character: | Balthazar ("Zarry") |
| Character description: | A young boy who's been raised to believe he is a sort of messiah, destined to remove the Curse from mankind. |
| Supporting characters: | The Keeper of the Sight--A priest-like wise man Other priests The unspecifically-mentioned entire population of the world |
| Setting: | Indeterminate future/Partly urban setting, partly mountain-dwelling agrarian setting |
| General Plot | |
| Half of the story is dedicated to detailing the effects of "the Curse," a change that suddenly and without warning or explanation was visited upon everyone on the planet. Suddenly everyone's vision has shifted to include other input. The progression of humanity's acceptance of the Curse is one plot, and the activities of Balthazar--Zarry to his friends--make up the other plot, interspersed with the first in a switching pattern. Zarry's mission is to remove the Curse from mankind, which ultimately involves his intellectual battle with the Keeper of the Sight. | |
| Information, inspiration, and other notes | |
| First off I thought of this while riding my bike to work on a Sunday, but I have no idea what led me to write it. Also, I was trying to write it so that it was unclear whether Zarry caused the Curse or had it removed (until it became obvious at the end)--I was trying to play up the confusion between Zarry's tribe considering the lack of extra input a "Curse," while the rest of the world initially called its onset the "Curse." | |
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